The Elusive Columbia Viva Tonal 810

[James]

Last Saturday I finally brought home this monstrosity, after waiting since 2011. Luckily it came 40 minutes from my house transported by my Toyota Rav 4. It is in a very good condition, especially when it will be clean up. I want to share my joy to everyone.....Here are some of the pictures......thank you....Jim

[Cody K]

A beautiful machine, isn't it? It looks like it will clean up very well. Congratulations, James -- here's wishing you many hours of listening pleasure!(How's your back feel, though? I've heard that the 810 weighs more than a Credenza...but that doesn't matter really, now you've got it home!)

[Mr Grumpy]

Congratulations Jim!

I'm happy that you were finally able to obtain this machine.
I'm hoping to hear about how great it sounds the next time we meet.

[audiophile102]

Quite a beauty. Love to hear one someday. Congratulations.

[Canuk Phonographs]

Congratulations Jim.
I promise to come by and hear it play.
See you soon.
Blain

[marcapra]

Congrats on buying a fine phonograph! They may not be sought after or expensive, but I can attest to the fact that they are fine sounding machines! I own two, an 810 mahogany, and a 800 walnut one. They are big and heavy, even bigger and heavier that a Credenza. I found that they can be carried by one person, though, easily; as long as you have a good appliance dolly with the heavy duty strap that you can tighten around it. I see that your 810 is like mine in that it lacks a shut off mechanism. My 800 model has the shut off mechanism. This has been discussed before. Some have them and some don't. The only answer I can think of is that the ones without the shut off were early examples. The Columbia motors are bit trickier to work on than a Victrola motor. But after my phonograph tech worked on mine, it works great. At least you don't have to worry about cracking pot metal parts on a Columbia 810. One thing that looks different about your 810 is that the doors and bottom of the cabinet should be a dark mahogany finish rather that the same color as the bleached mahogany top. Also the twelve circles on the doors should be painted an olive green color, as well as the "wave" motifs along the bottom. Perhaps someone refinished your cabinet and didn't bother to repaint the decorative motifs?

Here is a poor picture of my Columbia 810 along with my newly acquired Credenza:

[CarlosV]

Congratulations, it is a great (in all senses) machine! Mine maybe the only example in Europe, and it is slightly different from yours, as mentioned above it has an auto brake, it has painted decorations around its body and the door handles are made of glass (as you would see in the early ads for this machine). When I play it with an English Meltrope soundbox it sounds as good as a Credenza (I also have one, and I placed it besides the 810 to allow a direct comparison).

This machine is completely incompatible with modern wives: she did not like when I bought the Credenza, but the 810 barely escaped from a very short European life when she saw the crate in the middle of the living room and became determined to unload a gallon of gas on it and light it up. It was saved because it was too heavy for her to push it outdoors to execute the fiery ritual, and evidently I refused to assist my loving wife in such task. Since we moved to a larger house I managed to place it in an inconspicuous place and the machine is now safely away from her eyes.

[bbphonoguy]

Congratulations! I am still looking for an 810 myself. Sooner or later, one's got to show up.

[bigshot]

What does the horn on that one look like?

[marcapra]

Carlos, are you located is Espana or Portugal? Sometimes wives and phonographs do not mix! La Vida es sueno! I'm planning a trip to Europe next year. Bigshot, here is a pic of the odd looking horn on my Columbia Viva Tonal 810: As you can see, the horn is bifurcated, but in a different direction than the Credenza.