Phonoland

I recently acquired this very nice 1956 Voice of Music 560-A which is called the "Fidelis." You wouldn't believe this player. It has a console sized amp with push-pull 6V6s, a 6x9 inch woofer and two 5x7 tweeters, one of which is mounted on a wooden angled baffle. The cabinet is sealed and is a bass reflex enclosure... everything has to come out through the changer compartment for service. There is even a brace in there that has to be removed before you can get the amp out. I recapped it and fully serviced the VM-1200 changer, and I can tell you this player puts out a sound comparable to a console. One nice feature is a lucite lazy lite rod on the front that when you push in half way, it turns the unit on; and, when you push it all the way in, it rejects the record. I added an idler modification retraction kit from Gary Stork of VM Enthusiasts, which pulls the idler away from the turrets and platter when the unit shuts off. I also added wrought iron hairpin legs. This set is a real beauty, and sounds absolutely wonderful.

That is sweet...I always did like VM stuff, was more familiar with them before Magnavox. I had a nice VM reel-to-reel that had an "add-a-track" feature to it. I was a kid back then and probably trashed it somehow. I see you have another little goodie of some sort sitting back there in the background.

We had some dark brown suitcase models in school back in 1965 (I'm sure they were VM), but can't find them anywhere, even on the VM website. They had those nice floaty automatic changers and a single speaker (I think) in the front grille. I remember seeing similar units in an Aldens Catalogue (Maybe not VM, but had their changers) back in the day. These were not like the Califone or Rheem school record players available at the same time.

I think they were mono, but I remember looking at the cartridge and it had 4 wires. I was 10 years old at the time, but I definitely remembering looking at it. --BB


Bobby Basham
Tucson, Arizona

On the back of the owner's manual for this player, VM claimed to be "the world's largest manufacturer of record changers and phonographs." RCA and Magnavox may have argued with that, but when you consider how many other brands were made by VM or had VM changers, then VM might actually have been the largest manufacturer, at least in the 1950s.

I do know this much...this VM Fidelis has a sound that simply blows away any other tabletop high fidelity record player. I love the RCA New Orthophonics, but I can tell you that this VM sounds significantly better than the tabletop RCAs of the same vintage.