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I've decided to sell my Edison C-4 Radio/Phonograph in favor of the Victor RE-45. I only have room for one, and the RE-45 matches the furniture better...

-Pickup rebuilt by George Epple
-Radio chassis, motor, and wiring refurbished by ChuckA (member of our forum, he does great work)
-Speaker re-coned
-Cabinet as found, decent shape, though finish is a bit cloudy and lid has some rings on it.

Machine is complete, plays great, and sounds very good. New owner will get a reproduction owners manual, and most of the original record dividers (i have them stored). Pickup in Detroit area, or you arrange transport. I can also bring it to the 2015 spring Stanton auction or Union. I have over $750 invested in this machine, but realize market value has dropped on these. I'm open to trades for a more space-efficient horn machine of any type (I guess I could put it on top of the RE-45... )

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1JA5QcBIB8[/youtube]

Does the re-45 or the Edison sound better in your opinion. I plan on someday replacing my re-45 with a Edison c-4 or c-2 but I haven't finished my re-45 yet. And I don't have the room but if it doesn't sell let me know.
-Tom

That's odd! I just sold my C-4 at the CAPS show for $600. Not because I wanted to get rid of it, but because I had just bought another C-4 with a better cabinet. $600 for a restored C-4 done by those experts is a great deal!!! Someone should buy this fast! but I have found that not everyone in the old phonograph hobby particularly likes the music, so machines like this often sell to just a few. One thing I do with my C-4 is plug my Ipod into it for great sound! you have to get an Ipod or Ipad cord and cut off the end. Then you have to solder on some 1929 era pins so you can plug it into the phono jacks. My tech found some pin material of just the right thickness and makes the adapters for me as I have some more Edison radios. One thing I like about the C-4 phonograph is it shuts off automatically at the end of most records. It does not work on the Victor eccentric groove principle, but just on when the needle gets to the label of the disc, so on an old record where the needle doesn't get near the label, it doesn't work.

Tpapp54321 wrote:Does the re-45 or the Edison sound better in your opinion. I plan on someday replacing my re-45 with a Edison c-4 or c-2 but I haven't finished my re-45 yet. And I don't have the room but if it doesn't sell let me know.
-Tom

To be honest, I like the sound of the C-4 slightly better, but the RE-45 still sounds great. It could be due to the fact that the Edison has been re-coned and the electrics overhauled, whilst the RE-45 has never had any work done besides the pickup. I find that the hum on the RE-45 is more evident than the C-4, I might experiment with grounding it at some point. I like the Art Deco styling of the RE-45 better which was really the selling point for me.

HisMastersVoice wrote:To be honest, I like the sound of the C-4 slightly better, but the RE-45 still sounds great. It could be due to the fact that the Edison has been re-coned and the electrics overhauled, whilst the RE-45 has never had any work done besides the pickup. I find that the hum on the RE-45 is more evident than the C-4, I might experiment with grounding it at some point. I like the Art Deco styling of the RE-45 better which was really the selling point for me.

If you haven't had the electrics on your RE-45 overhauled, you should. I am willing to bet that after being in the hands of a competent restorer, your RE-45 would both sound better and be safer to use. Continued use without replacing the wire, capacitors, and other parts is just asking for trouble, in my opinion.

Garret wrote:

HisMastersVoice wrote:To be honest, I like the sound of the C-4 slightly better, but the RE-45 still sounds great. It could be due to the fact that the Edison has been re-coned and the electrics overhauled, whilst the RE-45 has never had any work done besides the pickup. I find that the hum on the RE-45 is more evident than the C-4, I might experiment with grounding it at some point. I like the Art Deco styling of the RE-45 better which was really the selling point for me.

If you haven't had the electrics on your RE-45 overhauled, you should. I am willing to bet that after being in the hands of a competent restorer, your RE-45 would both sound better and be safer to use. Continued use without replacing the wire, capacitors, and other parts is just asking for trouble, in my opinion.

That's the plan, yes. I will be using the proceeds from selling the C-4 to have it gone through. Incidentally, I've been told by several collectors that these are pretty bullet proof and there isn't much that goes bad in them, other than the transformers (mine has an old replacement, so I'm not really worried about that either.)

HisMastersVoice wrote:That's the plan, yes. I will be using the proceeds from selling the C-4 to have it gone through. Incidentally, I've been told by several collectors that these are pretty bullet proof and there isn't much that goes bad in them, other than the transformers (mine has an old replacement, so I'm not really worried about that either.)

Yes, the RE-45 has the reputation for being as sturdy as a tank. Indeed, the amplifier weighs a ton! However, getting it gone through by someone who knows what they are doing can't be anything but beneficial. I can't wait to hear how it plays for you when the restoration is all said and done, as I know that they can sound phenomenal. Do you have the demonstration disc made for these later machines? If not, you need to own a copy.

Demonstration disc for a Victrola RE-45??? Never heard of it. Can you describe it? Thanks, Marc.

marcapra wrote:Demonstration disc for a Victrola RE-45??? Never heard of it. Can you describe it? Thanks, Marc.

http://randsesotericotr.podbean.com/e/v ... nstration/

I can bring this to the fall Stanton auction if that helps anyone.