The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

So now I'm familiar with Victor and I know a little about Edison machines.
What are some of the other respected manufactures of the early 1900's and into the radio age?
Not "off brands" but the ones that had some respect for craftsmanship.

Well, Pathé was quite active from 1896 well into the 1920's with machines and records, including the US American market. Brunswick came up with their quite impressive Panatrope machines and also Sonora once was quite popular. Edison-Bell is certainly another name mention for European brands, as well. And certainly I missed a lot of others...

Berliner, Zon-O-Phone, Columbia. Also the Euro variants of Victor, Columbia, and Zonophone are quite well made and interesting. G&T, HMV, Deutsche Grammophon, Electrola, Odeon, Telefunken all made nice machines.

Also, Silvertone, sold exclusively by Sears -- http://www.searsarchives.com/brands/silvertone.htm . The higher end pre-1926 models, especially, were well made. Don't know much about the "Tru-Phonic" era machines, which were designed to compete with Orthophonic Victrolas, etc..

I should also add Cheney Talking Machines -- http://www.antiquephono.org/cheney-talk ... j-wakeman/

OF

EMG and Expert in England, definitely at the high end of the spectrum. And Carl Lindstrom's brands in Germany; Parlophone, Odeon, etc

Brunswick machines were part of the top tier in the 1920s, along with Columbia. This is my Brunswick Cortez, which is the Rolls Royce of machines when it comes to sound quality.

That is beautiful Bigshot!
Thanks guys. I've heard of some of these but this gives me a lot to look into. Not buying... just learning for now.
I've seen one today made by Capehart Phonographs. I really like the looks of it a lot!

Suggestions:

Focus on what you like best within your budget.
Buy the best quality you can afford.
If you enjoy projects, buy worthy projects that make your collection more interesting.
Buy some of the many great books on our hobby.
Join the Antique Phonograph Society.

Jerry Blais

Genius, Jerry. the perfect set of guidelines.

I agree with and will follow your advice.
I decided that my first step toward that is finding out what it out there worth considering.