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This question was provoked by the thread on "underappreciated Diamond Disc machines"...

Some responders remarked about space limitations impacting their collecting habits...


So, if you could only have one disc machine, what would it be ?


(I'm curious if "Brunswick Ultona" would be anyone's choice ?)

I was just thinking about this. I have had several Victor V's over the past few years come in and out of my possession. They seem to be ideal for both playing records and display of a classic horn machine. But they are pretty large! Maybe a Victor III is just right.

De Soto Frank wrote:

(I'm curious if "Brunswick Ultona" would be anyone's choice ?)

Funny- I was going to say one of the bigger Victor Orthophonics OR a high quality combination machine.

I don't own a Brunswick, but my Cheney does the same thing.

If I could have just one ,it would be a four door spring wound credenza.
There was one in my bedroom that I played in our rental house in Oklahoma City in 1950.
I have always wanted one. I do have a wonderful 8-9 that I love so that will have to do.

Cheers from Dallas,Texas

Jerry F Bacon

I would keep Victor IV. It is a perfect example of understated elegance. Jerry Blais

If I had to keep just one, I'd choose an 8-12, even over the Credenza. I like the combination of size, style, and sound. Other contenders would be a Sonora bombe cabinet, 8-35, or functional 10-50 if I were dreaming.

I'll have to take two: my Credenza (four-spring, 4-door)and my VV-IX. The Credenza for electrics, the VV-IX for acoustics. If really pressed, really, really pressed, probably the Credenza, although the VV-IX was my grandfather's and the first Victrola in the family. Still, acoustics on the Credenza sound boomy and muddy, while electrics blast the VV-IX.

It's my desert Isalnd - can't I take two?

An E.M.G. Mark VII, the most expensive machine the company ever made and one of the rarest. Total production has been estimated at no more than 100, so the chances of finding one today are remote.

In Walnut it originally cost £50, compared with £35 for a Mark X.

Pleasing to the eye as well as to the ear, and no sagging problems with it's internal Ebonite horn!

I didn't comment on the Edison diamond disc thread so this is quite apropos. So if I could have only one it would be an early Edison A250 diamond disc. And one from late 1912 with the louvres on the side, please. It was an Edison C250 that got me...as a nine year old kid.. into records, machines and serious music. I think it's a "first love" thing. Not only that but as several pointed out when the planets align and everthing is working well, " comparison with the living artist reveals no difference.." ( Or sort of..)
Jim.

I refuse to imagine a scenario where I can only own one disc machine. I need at least 3: VV 8-30 for electrics, Vic V for acoustics and C-19 for DDs. I know this does not answer the question as asked, but I don't care that much for floor model machines. But, DD and Orthophonic machines don't come with outside horns. If they did, I probably wouldn't have any floor models.

Jim