The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hi! I'm new to the forum, this looks like a great place. Just wondering what everyone's favorite machines are?

Hi Wilson,

Welcome to the forum!

You may want to do a search for favorite machines, as this is a very frequent topic.
Here are a couple of recent polls:

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =2&t=18445

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =2&t=18467

Cheers, Bob S.

Hi Wilson, Welcome to the Forum. You'll find a bunch of friendly phono-nerds here. If I had to go down to one Edison, it would be my Amberola 1-A. For disk machines, my favorite is my Victor IV because of its simple elegance. Of course, my next machine is my probably my favorite. Jerry Blais

Gosh: that's like asking a mother who her favorite child is...

If it came down to a 'desert island' situation, I would probably nominate my Home for cylinders (combination gearing and K reproducer), and the C-250 for discs (with the lateral adapter)...

Bill

Goodmorning Wilson,
Welcome to the forum, it's a great place for information and to meet
a great bunch of phononerds who are willing to help with every
aspect of this hobby. My favorite machine is easy to pick, it's all
the ones I own, otherwise I wouldn't have bought them but I
do tend to favor my 1904 Victor E and just upgraded it's horn to a
medium sized Dog decal Black & Brass I aquired from Forum member
Jerry B.
Again Welcome good to have you on board
Gene

Welcome to a great, and addictive, hobby!

As someone else said, picking favorites is somewhat like trying to pick a favorite child. You love 'um all. They all come with memories of where you got them and what drew you to them, whether those starter machines or something that made your mouth water in later years that you just had to have.

My favorite cylinder machine has got to be one I hope to be picking up next week. I have had an Amberola 1A on my "bucket list" for a long time and will finally be getting one (after hocking my gold fillings to pay for it )

As far as lateral cut disc machines, while there are several I love, number 1 has just got to be my Victor Credenza. This is about as good as it gets in terms of sound quality for an acoustic machine and I think they are quite handsome as well. It is the machine I play most often and would likely be the last one I would part with.

For vertical cut disc machines, I would have to say that it would be "Big Tom," my oak Diamond Disc C-19 because he turned out to have an interesting back story (see the September/October 2014 issue of the MBSI Journal, Mechanical Music) as well as sounding great and having a really beautiful quarter sawn oak case.

Clay

Welcome Wilson, I've pondered this question for years and have never quite settled on one machine. That is due in part because we add new machines occasionally and each one seems to occupy the favorite ranking position for a while. Yet, in the long run, I think our favorite cylinder machine would be the Columbia BG (for its beauty and reliable quiet running) and for disc machines, it is a toss up between the Edison C-19 and Pathé Actuelle (both of which play suberbly and are good looking). Past favorites have been the Victor Credenza, Columbia Mignon, Victrolas 17 and 18, Columbia BI and Amberola 5. Cheers, Russie and Lori Ofria