The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Owning about 5 of them would be a difficult choice here is my order of preference.


1. Edison Home B 2/4 minute with C & H Reproducer and Recorder, I could still
listen to both standard cylinder formats and record cylinders.

2. Edison Amberola 30, it is a great sounding 4 minute machine.

3. Columbia BK with recorder, nice machine for 2 minute only, can adjust speed
on top to play older records. Has a recorder, but not as good as the Edison.

4. Columbia B Eagle- Nice example of early machine with 2 springs and recorder.

5. Columbia Q - Nice and cute, but more ornamental than anything.

In the end it would be the Edison Home B machine.

Edison Amberola 1A, of course. Plays both 2 and 4 minute records (I'd want both the M and Diamond A reproducers). Has the BEST horn of any Edison machine and sounds the best of any original cylinder machine. Motor is a touch noisy, but the quieter 1B plays only 4 minute, so it's less versatile.

The last to go would be my fumed oak Amberola 1-A with gunmetal mechanism. My dear friend and mentor, Ira Dueltgen, helped me buy it years ago. Jerry Blais

The great thing about this hobby is that everyone has their own preferences.
When I started collecting twenty plus years ago, most of my contemporaries dreamed of owning an Opera, Class M, Idelia, or Amberola IA.
No question they are all fantastic machines in their own right.
For me, and I can't exactly explain why, I dreamed of an early Home Model A with the red banner on the case.
After years of dreaming, I was fortunate enough to find as close to a mint original example as exists. I owned the machine for five or six years and then was forced to sell it along with the others I had collected up to that point when my eldest daughter became seriously ill.
I would love to be able to track that machine down and be in a position to buy it back some day.
It would be the one I'd keep if I could only keep one.

My Edison Opera. Despite the loss of the 2M function, the quiet mechanics and Diamond A Reproducer more than make up for it. Besides, I can throw on a Mod. L and enjoy the many excellent directly recorded 4M Amberols that were produced from 1908 til 1912, many that weren't carried over to the Blue Amberol.

gregbogantz wrote:Edison Amberola 1A, of course. Plays both 2 and 4 minute records (I'd want both the M and Diamond A reproducers). Has the BEST horn of any Edison machine and sounds the best of any original cylinder machine. Motor is a touch noisy, but the quieter 1B plays only 4 minute, so it's less versatile.

Seconded. Having finally gotten one of these last year, it would definitely be the last of my machines to go.

If I didn't have the 1-A, I'd probably be perfectly happy with an Amberola 30, even though it would restrict me to 4 minute celluloid cylinders.

Absolutely an Amberola 1A which I still do not own. Would have to be able to play both 2 and 4 minute cylinders. Now to just find the perfect 1A.....

I've no regrets going the Triumph model D route, upgraded with a metal cyget horn, with Model O and Diamond B reproducers. I've heard all the arguments for the Opera and the Amberola 1-A, and suppose if I pinched my pennies I could "upgrade." But I like being able to play 2m wax cylinders, and the external horn is handsome and produces a nice sound. Sure, it's belt-driven, but even a fussy audiophile like myself can't tell any differences if the machine is kept in top operating condition.

I did own an Amberola 30 and then a 50; the lack of an easily accessible speed control knob was a pain.

Ralph

To specifically answer the question, I'd like to own Edison's original tinfoil phonograph. I could then sell it at auction and buy anything under the sun that I wanted!

My dream cylinder machine would be a "minty" Idelia Model-D or later with "O" and Diamond B reproducers, Spruce cygnet horn and huge matching "paw-footed" cylinder cabinet. I wouldn't even have to play it. I could just put on CD's, sit back and look at it and drool!

Bob S.