The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hi everybody!

I'm new to the forums, and I'm hoping to find some help. In a recent trip to Peru picked up a nice portable Victrola in perfect working condition that need some work outside. The leader that covers the actual wood is a bit dry and has some (I think, fungus marks). Anyway, I have been researching about it and haven't been able to find any info. The only brand it has is on the disc holder tab on the cover of the box, it is and amazing looking sticker that reads "Akustik", by any chance anyone has any info about the brand? or maybe this line? Regardless on price (I doubt it holds any value, seems not that old) the sound is amazing and I will like to know a bit more about it.. I'm loving it.

I will post a couple of pics later today, Here is a short video of the victrola working...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1IZ5Amkago

Hi! The video clip was great for showing how well it works and how clean it appears to be. Unfortunately you don't show a close-up of the metal ID plate or the company emblem on the inside of the lid.

It looks like it might have a Garrard motor, so it could be British, but a picture of the tag & lid decal may help.
It actually looks a lot like a Goldring portable I owned many years ago.

BTW: It's not a Victrola, but a gramophone. Victrola was a name used only by Victor.

Hey all,

Thanks for the info, I stand corrected it is a gramophone

I'm still trying to make osme time to take a couple of pics, however I can tell that the meal plate on top of it reads in spanish "Made for the Southern Import company Arequipa-Peru" no other brand present.

There is a decal(on the lid) the reads Akustic - CIDELSA (CIDELSA Stands for southern import...) ANd has a 111 in a box - brand kind of thing.

A friend suggested to open the box and take a look at the mecanism to find out more, to be honest I preffer not to know what brand it is than breaking something inside.

There is another clip here with some more detail.Not a lot of quality but I will ger the pics today. Please take a look..

Thanks for the help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4GqunMg ... re=related

Some pictures here :




Thanks for the help.

It looks to be some kind of a clone of an HMV machine. Pretty well made, nice swan neck tone-arm, HMV-like needle container, good sound box and a strong motor. Probably a locally assembled machine, using European components from Britain and/or Switzerland. Nothing wrong with it and certainly much better than most other off-brand portables that were a load of cr*p and will ruin your records in just a few playings. In short: a nice one!
It has a definite Ultraphon/Telefunken look to me. That label definitely gives me that association. They were a high quality brand, but had loads of financial problems during the depression era, mainly because they wouldn't lower their standards. Remember that the first high quality tape recorders were developed by Telefunken in the latter part of the 1930s. Ampex, set up by a certain mr. Crosby, only came in after WW2.
So my guess is it is an Ultraphon with a local brand name. I think I've seen a similar model in a friend's collection some years ago.

Hi

syncopeter is with Telefunken/Ulatraphon not so far from the truth... this is a german portable.

"Akustic" made in the 1930´s portables, electric pick ups and so on.

They made portables up to the 1950´s. Is looks that you portable is pre war, the after war gramophones have a more "modern" look.

After 1950 you can find electric record players made by "Akustic - Kurt Schröder".
Sadly I couldn´t find any more information about the company.

In the german shellac & gramophone forum there is a thread about an after war Akustic soundbox. Only in german, but with more pics:

http://grammophon-platten.de/e107_plugi ... 0#post_402

Nice, thanks a lot!
It was kind of sad to have this "conversational piece"
in my studio and not having any info in the origin but from where I pick it up.

I will look around for more info, thanks again.

By the way, the person who handled me this portable mention today that this gramophone was part of a lot for sale in a store x years ago. Her grand father had this store back in Peru and they decided to open the warehouse some 50 years later only to find around 25 of this and radios and such.

I just got confirmation that I will have a very nicely preserved RCA Victor vaquelite(?) radio.

Funny I must have missed this thread way back, I found it on the net looking for Telefunken Victrolas. Its basically the same phonograph I found locally here in Illinois. Mine is that sort of off green color but it has a large mica diaphragm. The reason I was looking for it was that its been sitting up in the closet for several years while I played mostly my Edisons. A week ago I went to a large auction that had an edison and some lousy edison records, but also a fair sized collection of acoustic and orthophonic records. My only machine to play them in the full size now is next door at moms so I bought first my Orthophonic Portable to play them on. They sounded pretty good I thought but wondered what that Telefunken would do. This morning I brought it down and sat it up next to the Victrola orthophonic portable. Frankly I wasn't ready for that little telefunken to play rings around the victor. It must be that the reproducer is poorer than I thought on the victor, condition wise. The telefunken produced tones and realism more to the way the good edison records sound only in a much smaller unit. I knew when I first found it that it seemed to be quite good for a tiny portable, but not this good. It seems especially well adapted to produce warm and full tones in the early electrics. Granted with a larger cabinet it would really excel but still at a distance this is pretty amazing sound for a such a tiny and mica driven phonograph. It makes me wonder about the abilities of a large mica diaphragm to produce such deep and clear tones. It may have a bit of a high edge but it was more noticeable on the acoustic pieces than the latter ones. Just an interesting observation I had to share here.