2 organs, any opinions?

[stevekatzenmoyer]

Hello Organ Superheroes!

I've got my eye on two used instruments, comparably priced. Any opinions one way or the other on either?

Ahlborn - Galanti Praeludium II

or

Viscount Jubilate 230

I realize they are of the similar parentage, also. I'm looking for something with a full 32 AGO radiating pedalboard that doesn't take up an entire room!

Opinions welcomed and most appreciated!

Best,
Steve

[toodles]

I owned a Galanti Praelusidum II in the early 1990's. I liked the voicing and selection of stops. The construction was not the most rugged, but it was adequate. What I didn't like was that the Great and Pedal could not be put under expression and that the Great did not have a tremulant.

I haven't had any experience with Viscount, but it looks like it is a larger stoplist than the Galanti. Also, I suspect you'll have better luck getting product support with Viscount.

(FYI, you may find Admin moves this to the Electronic Classical Organs section, where it will get better visibility).

[jbird604]

I'd vote for the Viscount too, for more than one reason. Technical support is readily available for Viscount. Possibly not as easy to find as Allen tech support, but it is far more than a shadow company. And the sound of the Viscount, IMHO, is marginally better. I believe the Jubilate is also somewhat newer than that old Galanti, thus more modern-sounding in certain ways, and with a slightly better console layout.

Technical support and parts for the old Galanti Praeludium I and II has all but disappeared from the planet. There are discussions on the forum about the extreme difficulty of getting anything out of whatever remains of the old Galanti organization. Depending on who you talk to, they are either totally out of business or still selling some old instruments out of warehouses that were built a decade ago. Not very encouraging for the future in any case.

I have playing experience with both these models. My present church had a Galanti Praeludium II for many years, and it was only after I became organist that we replaced it with an Allen MDS I was able to find used. The Galanti didn't sound bad, but the pedal board was in sad shape. Compared to Allen, the console amenities were flimsy. My main distaste for the sound was in the Celeste stop of the Swell, which was extremely sour in the octave right below middle C, and there was no adjustment for that whatsoever. In fact there was little or no voicing latitude of any kind, and I just couldn't make it sound the way I wanted it to sound, adding to my frustration with it.

As to the Jubilate 230, if I'm not mistaken that is exactly the model I had in my home for a practice organ for several months back in 2016 before I sold it to a young organ student. It is one of the most-loved, in my memory, of all the organs I've ever had in my home. (My story is that as an organ tech/re-seller, I've been in the habit of changing out my home organ whenever I get a chance to sell the one I'm using, and I've had more than a dozen different home practice organs over the past 15 or 20 years.)

When I had the little Viscount at home, I had it hooked up to my modified set of "Conn Pipes" (which are normally a single-channel speaker, but which I had modified into a two-channel unit) and I found that the extra dispersion and treble crispness provided by these extra speakers made it sound a lot better than it did with the simple stock speakers (which are, surprisingly, nothing more than two 12" paper cone wide-range drivers, no tweeters at all). I also tried it at times with some small external speakers such as Allen's "PP" units placed on top of the console pointing up at the hard ceiling. Anything to add a little more sparkle and space to the sound seemed beneficial.

But what I remember most about it was the very pleasant tone of the individual stops. They were all quite lifelike and interesting, with just-right attack and air sound components. About as good as the individual sounds of any digital organ I know of. Of course with only two channels, the "ensemble" did not build up as beautifully as it does on a larger instrument, but it was perfectly acceptable.

So, I'm a fan of the Jubilate, and would certainly recommend it, especially if the price is right.

[stevekatzenmoyer]

Thank you very much----I took the plunge, and ordered the Viscount Jubilate 230!

Thanks for the advice!

My next question----any ideas where to find an online link to an owner's manual?

Thanks!
Steve