HMV 163 Versus Victor 4-7

[need4art]

It has reached a point, as it has for many of you that space and wife dictate what we do in some cases. Rather than let you think she is a nasty sort lets just say that there are 43 machines about and many of you have met her at the APS show in Ca.
That being said I own a very nice complete Victor 4-7 with a great reproducer that in today's market I would sell at a loss. Have had the machine 15 years and its great.

However a HMV 163 has shown up that belongs to a client, its in very good shape, though at some point it lost a bottom leg wrap around section and the center brace must have been broken out. The leg section was made-it comes down to a piece of corner trim, and was glued on and screwed in place. The center brace was refitted and while not great if you really did not look hard you would not see that it was repaired. In any case with a bit of work I can make them look good.

Both machines are about the same size, so there is no need to move things around, and I think the HMV is a rarer unit. Dark Oak rather than golden. Asking price is $600.

Thoughts?
Abe

[PeterF]

The 163 is a great performer, and uses the metal reentrant horn. I think that price of $600 is a bit too high for a rough one though. I would definitely prefer one over a 4-7, any day of the week, any hour of the day, any minute of the hour, etc.

Try $400, and go $450.

[Frankia]

I don't often chip in, but I happen to have had a HMV 163 and a Victor 8-36 at the same time some years back. The 8-36 is the Export version of the 8-35. I would have considered them to be just about equal as far as amount and quality of sound reproduction was concerned. Both have the metal horn of course. Hope that is of some help in "situating" the 163 in American terms.

On a different but slightly related subject, I often find it enriching to couple my present HMV gramophone with a Victor Orthophonic soundbox - an alternative sound to the HMV 5a/b. When two sounds are close to each other quality wise, I find it unhelpful to try and work out which is "best" - whatever that actually means. For me, I would hate to be without either the HMV 5a/b sound or the Victor Orthophonic soundbox sound. End of red herring!

[OrthoSean]

Go for the 163, as for the $600 asking price, I have no opinion there. These machine rarely turn up and they sound MUCH better than a 4-7. I ended up selling my 8-35 to regain some household real estate since the 163 does indeed perform about the same, at least in my opinion.

Sean

[OrthoFan]

As noted, there should be a major difference in sound quality between the HMV 163 and the VV-4-7.

Like the Victor Credenza, the HMV 163 was fitted with an exponentially tapered re-entrant style six foot tone chamber -- though made of metal instead of wood -- which branches off into four sections that reunite at the horn's mouth: http://www.graham-ophones.co.uk/hmv163/4581911678 This means that the 163 is capable reproducing bass notes.

In contrast, the VV-4-7 contains a much smaller wooden exponential style horn--about four feet long, or so I've been told--divided into two sections that reunite at the mouth. While it provides a satisfying, mellow tone, and can pump out a solid mid-range, the 4-7 cannot reproduce the bass spectrum.

The last HMV 163 I saw in the Bay area, which was in excellent condition, had a price tag of $1200, but that was about 15 years ago, and prices have fallen since then.

OrthoFan

[Damfino59]

Simple. Get the HMV 163. Larger metal re-entrant horn = great sound. As suggested the orthorphonic sound box also improves the sound. As that is how I do it on my HMV 194.

https://youtu.be/qf--LX7xixM

Glenn