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Auxetophone

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The Auxetophone was one of the most unique phonographs ever produced by Victor. Introduced in August 1906, it utilized a small air compressor to provide additional audio amplification to the large horn. The compressed air was used to modulate the needle-induced vibrations at the soundbox diaphragm. Through a very clever valve scheme, it could produce remarkably loud and clear volume in virtually any situation. This concept was originally invented in England, and licensed to Victor for the sum of $10,000.00, a huge amount of money at that time. It underwent a partial redesign in 1910 to improve performance, and modifications were made to the cabinet design.
The Auxetophone sold new for a whopping $500.00, which equates to almost $14,000.00 in today's money. Therefore, most customers were hotels, large restaurants and other business establishments who could afford such an expensive machine. It has been estimated that total production did not exceed 1,000 units, however there have not been enough documented survivors to verify the accuracy of this figure. Since survival data are so sketchy for this model, no accurate correlation of serial numbers to dates of production have yet been determined. The Auxetophone was discontinued from the Victor catalogs in 1918, however a number of units were shipped from the factory as late as the mid-1920s, by which time they were quite obsolete. These were likely sold at a significant discount. This would indicate that many more were manufactured than could be sold during the 1906-1917 "heyday" period. The Auxetophone is highly prized by collectors today.

Only 12 surviving Auxetophones have currently been logged into the survival database

Do you own a Victrola Auxetphone? Please take a moment and enter some basic information about your machine into the collector's database by clicking here. No personal information is required.