The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I have a friend who is slowly becoming fascinated by phonographs. Took him to Wayne NJ show... brought him to the park with a phonograph..... and now hes asking what he would have to spend to get a horn disc player.... And now it begins....

What machine would be a good and most importantly really affordable first horn machine? Any suggestions? Id say a Standard disc machine, but the records are not easily found.

I'd suggest looking for a non-humpback Victor II with standard black morning glory horn, with an exhibition reproducer. A Number 2 reproducer could be used as well.
Also, perhaps a Royal machine. I believe these were made by the Standard company, but with a regular-size spindle. (Or was it Columbia?)
Bob

I know!!!.......why not sell him one of your machines that you don't use.

What would the going rate be for a Victor II? I just sold my Royal!

I use all my machines...some for records, other as dust collectors!

I would not start him with a standard talking machine or something like that with odd spindle size if he want's to listen to it. Those standard records are hard to find, usually sound like crap when you do find them and not much variety of music on them either.

I think the Victor II would be a good starter machine. If he can live with some repro part... $600-900? They are down quite a bit. I sold a nice one with brass bell horn a couple years back for $1200 but I'm not sure you could get that much today.

Another suggestion is to consider an Edison Standard in good condition. It has a horn, and will be a good machine to start a collection.

Here is a Standard that was recently listed on CL for a reasonable price. Looks to be in good shape. Of course you would need to see it in person to confirm that it is complete. But if so, not too bad for the money.

http://toledo.craigslist.org/atq/1902066418.html

Or...here is a decent looking Standard with two horns and a few cylinders for $250. Not too bad either considering the horn goes for $100-$150 if it is original paint.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/clt/1902656794.html

In my opinion the best disk horn machine for a newer collector or a one time buyer is a Vic III. The Vic III was second only to the Vic II is sales during that era so it's commonly found today. It has a rugged two spring motor coupled with the large tone arm and the Exhibition reproducer. Also, it is found with a variety of horns. Replacement parts are easily available. Jerry Blais

Jerry B. wrote:In my opinion the best disk horn machine for a newer collector or a one time buyer is a Vic III. The Vic III was second only to the Vic II is sales during that era so it's commonly found today. It has a rugged two spring motor coupled with the large tone arm and the Exhibition reproducer. Also, it is found with a variety of horns. Replacement parts are easily available. Jerry Blais

I agree with Jerry. I'd suggested a Victor II a few posts back guessing that your friend might be limited in funds. If he can step up a bit on the price, a Victor III would not be much more expensive and would be a much better option. That two spring motor is pretty powerful and as Jerry says, replacement parts, optional horns etcetera are widely available. My first external horn disc machine was a Victor III. I sold it at some point to generate cash for purchase of a Victor V. Since then I've purchased, and kept, two more of them though.