Description: If you're an uncompromising collector of antique technology, make sure to check out all my listings after you look at this one. I don't think you'll find a better, broader or more balanced assortment of technical antiques anywhere -- hundreds of listings each year, almost all of them featuring eye-popping "gee whiz" gadgetry in exceptional original condition. And don't forget, you can click this link to quickly add and then save me to your favorite seller list and Ebay will automatically send you updates when I put similar new auctions online. In the late 1890's the Talking Machine Company of Chicago began to market double-belled "Polyphones" which they claimed were twice as loud as conventional phonographs and "many times more musical." Sold as a complete phonograph, but built on a "base" of an Edison Standard or an Edison Home, the Polyphone had a heavily nickeled carriage that accommodated two specially-designed Automatic reproducers spaced far enough apart to provide a slight echo that, the company maintained, both beautified the sound and doubled its volume. Because Polyphone carriages were somewhat more elaborate than conventional carriages, the Polyphone's proprietary funnel horns were out of necessity thin and very light, since typical brass horns would weigh the carriage down to the point where it couldn't move. So that's the back story on the Polyphone. The front story -- on this particular Polyphone -- is that it's in excellent condition, and it's original throughout, including the Polyphone funnel horns (with their original integral elbows), the coupling loops for the horns, the horn paint (yes, it's worn in areas, but you never see Polyphone horns with original paint on them -- they've all been repainted), the original Polyphone carriage, the original Polyphone Automatic Sound Boxes, etc. The Edison Standard upon which the Polyphone is built is likewise in excellent condition, with a beautiful cabinet, a clean original finish, strong original pinstriping everywhere, glossy black enamel on the bedplate. If you're looking for a Polyphone and don't care to compromise on complete originality, it really doesn't get much better than this. The phonograph is in excellent working order, and yes -- it plays more or less as designed. Not twice as loud as a phonograph with just a single horn and reproducer, but with a clearly discernable echo/reverb that's about as close as anyone in 1899 could have come to what would be known 60 years later as the "stereo" experience. Comes with a wonderful celluloid re-creation (I think it was made by Vulcan) of Polyphone's "Stars & Stripes Forever." Please look at the pictures and consider them an integral part of the description. I'm one ebay's best known and most highly regarded sellers of antique phonographs. I've been selling and shipping them for more than 25 years. When you purchase an antique phonograph from me, you'll receive a phonograph that arrives safely because it's been carefully packed (by me, not by some well-intentioned but nonetheless confounded, doe-eyed teenager working at the UPS store who wouldn't know a phonograph from a farm tool), and you'll receive a phonograph that includes thorough but easy-to-understand set-up and operating instructions, so you won't be left scratching your head, trying to figure out how it works. Sure, you can probably get a lower price from Joe and Janet Barn-Find, but when your "bargain" arrives broken, and without any hint of how it works or how you might be able to put it back together, you'll realize that you really do get exactly what you pay for. MOST INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING VIA FEDEX.
Price: 7500 USD
Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
End Time: 2024-10-07T01:00:00.000Z
Shipping Cost: 90 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Seller
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Brand: Polyphone
Model: Double-Bell Edison Standard