Zonophone Royal Grand
Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 12:09 am
This Zonophone Royal Grand and mahogany record cabinet are the treasures I brought back from the recent APS sale in California. I bought the machine and cabinet from different sellers but they look like they have been together for the last one hundred years.
After returning home I looked through my late Zonophone catalog to read the particulars on the Royal Grand. It was the top of the line Zonophone and sold for $75. All the machines in the catalog were rear mount models and all but the Royal Grand were continuations in name of earlier front mount Zonophones. By the time this machine was introduced, Victor owned and promoted the Zonophone line and kept it in production to compete with Columbia. I surmise that the Royal Grand was purely a Victor idea made to compete with the finer Columbia machines. The $75 price placed it between the Victor V and Victor VI.
Todays collectors determine the ballpark range of values for any machine and those values are interesting. For example a VE-XVI and a VV-XVI have roughly the same value today even though the electric version represented only about 10% of that models sales. But if you look at an electric Triumph, called an Edison Alva, the value of the electric machine is many times the value of a spring driven Triumph. With Zonophones there is great collector value with front mount machines, good value in early rear mount models with cast metal motor decks, and modest value in Zonophones with wood motor boards. Before I made the purchase I was talking with another collector and was told it was a very late Zonophone. The translation of that comment was a warning about its value because it's a Zonophone made by Victor. But I like the machine and I only have myself to please (Yes dear, I'm almost done with this post.
) so I bought it. When I arrived home I placed my new Zonophone on my new cabinet and they look like they've been together for the last century.
Jerry Blais
After returning home I looked through my late Zonophone catalog to read the particulars on the Royal Grand. It was the top of the line Zonophone and sold for $75. All the machines in the catalog were rear mount models and all but the Royal Grand were continuations in name of earlier front mount Zonophones. By the time this machine was introduced, Victor owned and promoted the Zonophone line and kept it in production to compete with Columbia. I surmise that the Royal Grand was purely a Victor idea made to compete with the finer Columbia machines. The $75 price placed it between the Victor V and Victor VI.
Todays collectors determine the ballpark range of values for any machine and those values are interesting. For example a VE-XVI and a VV-XVI have roughly the same value today even though the electric version represented only about 10% of that models sales. But if you look at an electric Triumph, called an Edison Alva, the value of the electric machine is many times the value of a spring driven Triumph. With Zonophones there is great collector value with front mount machines, good value in early rear mount models with cast metal motor decks, and modest value in Zonophones with wood motor boards. Before I made the purchase I was talking with another collector and was told it was a very late Zonophone. The translation of that comment was a warning about its value because it's a Zonophone made by Victor. But I like the machine and I only have myself to please (Yes dear, I'm almost done with this post.
) so I bought it. When I arrived home I placed my new Zonophone on my new cabinet and they look like they've been together for the last century. Jerry Blais
That is beautiful. Congrats!!! That cabinet has been on my "Wish List" for a long time.
