(Topic ID: 300473)

Jukeboxes Wurlitzer or Rock-Ola

By Jukebox10

2 years ago



Topic Stats

You

Topic poll

“Jukeboxes Wurlitzer or Rock-Ola”

  • Preowned Wurlitzer 1015 OMT from 1987 (50 x 45 rpm vinyl records) 1 vote
    50%
  • Brand new Rock-Ola bubbler (100 x 45 rpm vinyl records) 1 vote
    50%

(2 votes)

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#2 2 years ago

I think the new Rock-Olas are probably the best versions of bubblers ever built, including those by Wurlitzer. I don't know which specific Rock-Ola model you are looking at, but some of them feature tube preamps driving high-power digital power amps; I heard a CD model with this amplification, and it was far and away the best sound I've ever heard from a jukebox. The Wurlitzer can produce a similarly big, powerful full-frequency sound, but the overall "fidelity" is trounced by the Rock-Ola (which approaches "audiophile" levels of clarity).

The full-size Crosley units (https://www.crosleyradio.com/jukeboxes/product-details?productkey=CR1213A&model=CR1213A-OA) are also worth looking at. A local store has one and it sounds, looks (fantastic lighting options), and feels equal to, if not better than, the Rock-Ola ones. (Note that the big Crosley jukes are made in the UK and have nothing in common with the typical cheap far-east made Crosley "nostalgia" stuff that you can buy at Target).

If it were me, I'd probably go for the Rock-Ola model with the most "classic" look, load an old Beatles record and get mesmerized by the spinning yellow/orange swirl, and be done with it! You'll get the same aesthetics as an old Wurlitzer, better sound quality, and no fears that the music will be silenced due to failure of an unobtainable 35 year-old part (mechanical parts are probably readily available or reproducible, but the 35 year-old electronics that control everything could be a different story, and I recall they also used a fair amount of slightly oddball incandescent bulbs that might be hard to source today).

The only way I'd pick the Wurlitzer is if I really cared about "heritage" or "provenance" (I don't), and the unit in question has been thoroughly rehabbed (everything lubed and adjusted, new tonearm/cartridge/stylus, amplifier recapped and power transistors tested/bias adjusted) and given some form of warranty, in which case it will likely cost almost as much as a NIB Rock-Ola (and at that point, why bother unless the nostalgia factor is really that important).

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