New Find In the Wild
- tictalk
- Victor II
- Posts: 338
- Joined: Sun Mar 23, 2014 11:10 am
New Find In the Wild
My wife and I were giving the task of entertaining the grand kids for a few hours while we were out of town with my son and his family this week, so we hit a few antique shops, Found this Oak Sonora Grand .Its been a long time since I have found anything good or at a fair price at an antique shop .
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Last edited by tictalk on Sat May 18, 2019 2:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- TinfoilPhono
- Victor IV
- Posts: 1926
- Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:48 pm
- Location: SF Bay Area, Calif.
Re: New Find In the Wild
Wow, a bombé cabinet in finely figured oak, and apparently in great shape! That's a terrific find.
- Mlund2020
- Victor II
- Posts: 291
- Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:04 pm
Re: New Find In the Wild
Nice find! I love the look of the Sonora Grand Bombe’ cabinets. Does it have the wooden tone arm?
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- Victor V
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Re: New Find In the Wild
Awesome find! Sonora machines are so beautiful...if only I had the money and unlimited space... definitely on my “most wanted” list next to the Credenza and Actuelle.
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- Victor Monarch Special
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Re: New Find In the Wild
I love the Sonoras with bombe sides and to find one in oak is icing on the cake. Jerry Blais
- audiophile102
- Victor IV
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Re: New Find In the Wild
Finding a Sonora Grand in oak is exceptionally lucky. Yours looks like it's finish is original. Congratulations. My Sonora Invincible is in my living room where I can admire it every day. Does yours come with the optional winding meter and wood tone arm?
"You can't take the phonographs nor the money with you, but the contentment the phonographs bring may well make your life better, and happier lives make the world a better place."
- tictalk
- Victor II
- Posts: 338
- Joined: Sun Mar 23, 2014 11:10 am
Re: New Find In the Wild
audiophile102 wrote:Finding a Sonora Grand in oak is exceptionally lucky. Yours looks like it's finish is original. Congratulations. My Sonora Invincible is in my living room where I can admire it every day. Does yours come with the optional winding meter and wood tone arm?
This Grand appears to be the later model , it is 52" tall the same height as a Supreme, it does not have the winding meter or wood tone arm, it does have the huge gold plated motor as the other premium models. The finish is original and in amazingly good condition. The Sonora machines IMO are designed superior to most other brands.
- Django
- Victor IV
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- Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2017 7:31 pm
- Location: New Hampshire’s West Coast
Re: New Find In the Wild
Very nice find. I haven’t bought a machine from an antique shop in years. Nothing worthwhile seems to show up in the shops any more. The last one that I bought from a shop was my Sonora.tictalk wrote:audiophile102 wrote:Finding a Sonora Grand in oak is exceptionally lucky. Yours looks like it's finish is original. Congratulations. My Sonora Invincible is in my living room where I can admire it every day. Does yours come with the optional winding meter and wood tone arm?
This Grand appears to be the later model , it is 52" tall the same height as a Supreme, it does not have the winding meter or wood tone arm, it does have the huge gold plated motor as the other premium models. The finish is original and in amazingly good condition. The Sonora machines IMO are designed superior to most other brands.
I agree with you about the superiority of the Sonora, at least in regard to the motor and cabinet. In my opinion anyway, the high end Sonora and Brunswick machines seem to be as good or better than any others and the motors are silent. I love Victrolas, but I think that a good portion of their success was due to patent ownership, marketing and that endearing logo.
Last edited by Django on Sun May 19, 2019 7:57 pm, edited 2 times in total.
- Django
- Victor IV
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- Location: New Hampshire’s West Coast
Re: New Find In the Wild
A little advice for rebuilding the reproducer. You may already be aware, but in case you are not, the back of the reproducer has a pair of gaskets that should be replaced along with the diaphragm gaskets. The back of the Sonora reproducer is nicely rubber mounted and will rattle if these gaskets have become hard. The material used to rebuild a Victor Exhibition works fine for both the back and the diaphragm. The first gasket that you see when the cover is removed has an internal wire to hold the shape during assembly. I chipped my wire out of the petrified gasket and reused it. Replacing the two gaskets on the back side made a huge difference on mine.