The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I uploaded a Youtube demo today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPXo-oWkJmI

Polyphones are fascinating. Two reproducers and two horns, supposedly "doubling" the volume but of course that claim was scientifically flawed. But with two stylii playing the same groove a fraction of a second apart, there is a pseudo-stereo effect which is fun.

I've owned several Edison Polyphones and I enjoy the sound, but Columbia Polyphone attachments don't work anywhere near so well since the design of the Columbia floating reproducers puts the stylii twice as far apart as in Edison machines, creating an echo effect that is too jarring. Plus, it's devilishly hard to get into alignment. Edison Polyphones are challenging enough, Columbias are close to impossible, despite the fact that (like most Edisons) there is a small bracket to link the reproducers and theoretically keep them in alignment. Even when you finally get the Columbia properly lined up, it's common for one of the reproducers to jump a groove midway through a record, sometimes several times, making for very discordant playback.

This demo worked well but you can see even in this short clip how much the delay between the two stylii throws the sound out of sync. This plays as intended but it is not very pleasing, unlike Edison versions.

Considering the crazy high price of the attachment -- $15 -- it's a wonder that any were sold. They're a royal pain in the rear to deal with, and the payoff is certainly not worth the original cost. But what fun today!

The Edison version is infinitely superior, and at least by the end of production it cost less than the Columbia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GCF9YACuaw

Absolutely beautiful machine...Is this a new acquisition or has it been a part of the collection? Wish I could locate one for myself. Congrats on a beautiful machine...and thanks for the YouTube link....

Joe

very nice video... I just love your Youtube channel.

The Edison wins the sound quality test. The Graphophone is a pretty example.

James.

Yes, the Graphophone Polyphone is pretty to look at but the stylii are way too far apart and to my ear the sound is unpleasant, whereas I really like the sound of Edison Polyphones. In the Columbia, especially when a loud passage comes up, the lag time is really unsettling with too strong of an echo. You can get a small sense of that in the video but it's more obvious in real life.

Not to mention that aside from being devilishly hard to get into adjustment in the first place, it's pretty much impossible to keep in adjustment. The Edison is no fun to set up but once you nail the sweet spot it usually holds. Not so with the Columbia. The design of the reproducers makes it pretty much impossible to avoid one or the other of the reproducers occasionally jumping a groove, which really gets discordant.

It's not surprising the Columbias flopped. Expensive, awkward, and poor sound. Not a winning combination. I hate to think of the disappointment of some buyers after playing it for a few days. Maybe if they were very lucky they could get a dealer to take it back, otherwise I suspect most attachments were removed and set aside since the machine sounds much better with a single reproducer.

A very short lag time, as in the Edison, makes a great audio effect. A very long lag time, in the Graphophone, sounds almost painful.

Rene,
What a beautiful machine and thanks for posting it for all of us to see!

Enjoyed the videos. But I agree that, while it is a lovely little machine, the sound of the Columbia is not all that pleasant.

Clay