Preserving the Sound of an Age
The Antique Phonograph Society
A worldwide fellowship devoted to the phonograph, the gramophone, cylinder and shellac records — the machines that first gave voice to recorded music, restored and remembered as they deserve.
Established 1976
Victor III Talking Machine
circa 1906, with after-market flower hornOur Purpose
Why the Machines Still Matter
Before the radio, before the record shop, a spring-wound motor and a horn of brass turned a groove of shellac into song. We keep that first miracle turning.
Preserve
We rescue and restore antique phonographs, gramophones and cylinder players, keeping original mechanisms sounding as their makers intended.
Research
Members identify makers and models, date rare machines, and document the history of recorded sound through our library and price guide.
Celebrate
From the quarterly journal to the annual banquets, we gather collectors the world over to share the machines, the music, and the mania.
The Gallery
A Cabinet of Curiosities
Each machine a portrait — framed, catalogued and adored. A selection from members' collections across five continents.
A very early hand-driven disk talking machine made by Emile Berlinercirca 1895
Columbia Type N Graphophone with 4 listening tubes, made in 1895This was the first machine priced at a level accessible to a wide consumer market
Columbia Type AA Graphophone, made in 1903An unusually tiny cylinder machine
Columbia Type AB Graphophone, 1901The smallest and least expensive machine capable of playing 5” diameter “Grand” cylinders
Edison Amberola 1A. Made in 1910this was an expensive luxury phonograph which played both 2 and 4 minute cylinders
Victor Type R Talking Machine. Circa 1903with scarce “Rigid Arm” tonearm
Interactive Guide
PhonoWizard
Not sure what kind of phonograph you have? Let our interactive wizard help.
For Members
The Library & the Journal
The Library
Thousands of catalogues, manuals and maker records — the reference archive of early recorded sound, open to every member.
The Price Guide
Realized auction values and rarity notes across makes and models, so you buy, sell and insure with a collector's confidence.
The Quarterly Journal
Four times a year: restoration features, discoveries, member collections and the finest scholarship on the talking machine.
Gather With Us
Annual Expos & Banquets
A society is its people. Through the year we meet to trade machines, compare crank and horn, and end each season in black tie.
- The Annual Expos & BanquetsEvenings of dinner, awards and rare-machine display — the highlights of the collecting calendar.
- Regional Meets & Swap TablesLocal gatherings where members buy, sell and demonstrate their finest finds.
- The Worldwide ForumAn always-open room for questions, identifications and the friendships that outlast any auction.
You Are Cordially Invited To Join Us
Join the Society
Take your place among collectors, restorers and historians the world over — and receive the journal, the library, the price guide and a standing invitation to every gathering.