schyllerwade wrote:

The continental silenta...I may have to go look at that machine again after all. I hadn't been back since we discussed everything, but only because it was a shop closing down and the hours were irregular.
Remind me, is the silenta a thrust action?

No, it isn´t. It may look like one if you take out the cover (as several noiseless typewriters do), but it´s a "normal" one. Now that you mention it, thrust action machines maybe are a little quieter because they strike the platen with a bit less force, or at least it´s what I get from my Adlers.

As for the mentioned Olympia SM9... Well, it´s a great one as well (one of the best of its time), but here comes the question: Which ones are better? The earlier or the later ones?
 

I had raised the SMs simply in the context of their quietness in returning the carriage, not because of inherent quietness during typing.

Hmmm... my Super Ghia models are fairly quiet typers, but their carriage returns make a growl that sounds like a sportscar revving up.

My old tuxedo styled Smith Corona Silent is probably my quietest (the later tan model is definitely noisier) followed by my Hermes 3000 (although that one squeaks a bit at times)

im curious...What years are considered 'earlier' and which 'later' regarding the SM models? Mine is a 67 or 68...it has gray keys but some of the other functions seemed to correspond to different years

Not 100% on topic for this thread but...ehhhhhhhh

Yes, better suited for a dedicated thread in the Portables sub-forum. There might be an existing thread too, because I seem to recall beak (or someone else) starting a thread about SM9 variants.