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Compared to other portables, the HMV 102 is obviously a superb sounding machine, both in frequency response and volume. I’ve never heard any of the full-size Orthophonic machines, like the Credenza (except, of course, on Youtube, where I’ve heard it many times). So... how does it compare?

New Yorker wrote:Compared to other portables, the HMV 102 is obviously a superb sounding machine, both in frequency response and volume. I’ve never heard any of the full-size Orthophonic machines, like the Credenza (except, of course, on Youtube, where I’ve heard it many times). So... how does it compare?

There is no comparison, it is another league. The best portable (and the HMV 102 is one of the best) does not even come close to the quality of a good cabinet machine. A matter of physics: horns need to have minimum dimensions well above those of the portables to be able to reproduce lower frequencies

CarlosV wrote:There is no comparison, it is another league. The best portable (and the HMV 102 is one of the best) does not even come close to the quality of a good cabinet machine. A matter of physics: horns need to have minimum dimensions well above those of the portables to be able to reproduce lower frequencies

Having owned both a Credenza and HMV 102, I'd say it's like comparing a good quality table radio with a five inch speaker to full size radio equipped with a ten inch speaker. (In both cases, AM monaural.)

For starters, in spite of the fact that the HMV 102 pumps out a strong lower mid-range and crisp treble, there's really no bass. With a Credenza -- one that's had both the sound box and tone chamber properly overhauled -- you not only hear the bass, but you feel it as well--depending on the listening room's acoustic conditions. Also, the Credenza has a far more expanded sound quality.

The major reason for this is the fact that, while both are fitted with exponentially tapered tone chambers, the Credenza's is twice as long -- six feet from the sound box to the horn's mouth.

While this is an entirely different gramophone -- these two videos illustrate the type of difference --

An HMV 31 fitted with a standard horn and EMG 2-spring sound box -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO4v99CVu_w
An HMV 31, playing the same record, but fitted with an EMG Oversize horn -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P1trPQYh_s

OrthoFan

I have a VV 2-65, the closest Victor portable to the HMV 102. It has excellent sound for a portable but the short tone arm and horn mean that you will never get the depth of tone and the bass response of even the smallest of the full size machines. This is no slur on these portables

Thanks for these insightful replies. Looks like a Credenza - or similar Orthophonic machine – might be in my future. Assuming I move somewhere with more space than my little 1-bdrm apartment!

I'll never ever forget the day I took my HMV 102 to Skip Kahl's place. He hadn't heard one before, and I had never heard a Credenza. The look on his face before he dropped the needle ... "I'm about to blow your mind." And it really did. I wish I had the space for one.