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I bought some Pathé Cylinders. Some of them are really weird- theres like 4 different sizes. How do I play them?

Pathé standard sized cylinders play on any 2-minute machine with a "normal" mandrel, like an Edison Standard. For the next size up, the "Salon" or "Inter" size (about the size of a Progresso soup can), you need a Pathé machine or a Wilson Home electronic player and a slip-on larger diameter mandrel sleeve, as shown in the attached photo (of a Wilson Home, with standard sized mandrel for comparison). The next size up, I think known by Pathé as "Stentor," corresponds to the "Concert" size Edison cylinders and would play on a machine designed for those. Pathé also issued "Celeste" cylinders, like elongated Stentors, that require a special Pathé machine, but I'd be surprised if you got any of those; they are real rarities, I think.

[edit] I'll add that in my experience, more often than not Pathé cylinders have "problems": grooves that skip or hang, mold issues, faint sound, poor fit to the mandrel, etc., etc., etc. Don't be surprised if, when/if you play them, yours give you some trouble.

Ohhhh, thank you!!

[quote=m_nakamura post_id=360750 time=1751197789 user_id=37254]
I bought some Pathé Cylinders. Some of them are really weird- theres like 4 different sizes. How do I play them?
[/quote]

Will you please show images of your Pathé Stentor and Pathé Celeste cylinders? These are very rare.

Starkton wrote: Thu Jul 03, 2025 12:44 pm
Will you please show images of your Pathé Stentor and Pathé Celeste cylinders? These are very rare.

I posted some time ago the photos of two stentor cylinders I found, that I mistakenly named celeste (and was dutifully corrected), see the link viewtopic.php?p=335041&hilit=Pathé+celeste#p335041

I don't have the machine to play them, but as it was the first time I saw these cylinders for sale, I bought them. Concerning the Celeste, the only cylinders I saw were in the Phonogalerie in Paris, together with the machine that plays them, also the one one I have seen to date.