Don't know what this is, maybe YOU want it

[JHolmesesq]

I find these here for around $200-$250. That is a nice one, but... yeah. Really over priced.

I envy you guys - since I live in South Korea, everything is way, way overpriced.

I know one of very few Antique Phonograph dealers who recently sold this same machine for about $6000. Well, he is selling those cheap Columbia portables for $300, so there's nothing I can say.

Like someone say, it's the seller's market in Korea.

Mark.

Wow, Columbia portables for $300?! I'm wondering if it's worth the shipping cost to send mine out there - I could probably only get £30 tops for mine in the UK

[Uncle Vanya]

The 4-3 has its place. It is just about the best machine available for playing acoustic records. Whilst the straight horn
doesn't have the bass response of the larger orthophonics, its reproduction of midrange and trebel is excellent.
When acoustic records are played on these little machines they retain their brilliance, but otherwise the reproduction
is more accurate than that of, say a Credenza, which does not quite have the crisp midrange of the smaller machine.

[SonnyPhono]

I agree that that is very high on the price scale for a 4-3. I have owned two and paid less than $100 for both. I had them when I was new to collecting though and got ird of them due to space issues. Now I wish I hadn't. There is one at auction tonight near me so maybe I will try to go and bid. Although I just bought a C-19 yesterday and had plans to pick up a VV-IX with a continuation top record cabinet today, so who knows?

[Zeppy]

Of course all of this discussion about the value changes on the slim chance the reproducer is brass rather than pot metal (pretty had to be sure from the picture, but I still think it's probably pot metal).

[gramophoneshane]

Isn't that the Victor equivalent of the HMV 157?

Visually, the horn appears to be smaller on the Victor, than a 157, but not having measured either I dont know for sure.

Just reading Uncle Vanya's post, it also appears the Victor has a "straight" horn, where as the 157 has an exponential horn dividing into 2 chambers, so I'd assume the 157 has far better bass responce.

[gramophoneshane]

Victor never really got into metal internal horns like HMV did, I know the 8-8 and 8-9 had them, not sure of others. Maybe metal horns fared better in the damp UK climate.

I think it had more to do with quality than climate. Victor horns appear to be little more than cheap packing case timber that warps & comes apart at the seams, where as HMVs terne plate was specifically developed as a horn material, deadening the metalic sound of the sheet metal, and which doesn't warp, crack or split at the seams unless you attack it with a hammer

[SignatureSeriesOwner]

My VE 8-35X has a metal horn.

[gramophoneshane]

Did Victor also use terne plate for these metal horns, or just normal sheet metal like external horns?

[brianu]

Isn't that the Victor equivalent of the HMV 157?

Visually, the horn appears to be smaller on the Victor, than a 157, but not having measured either I dont know for sure.

Just reading Uncle Vanya's post, it also appears the Victor has a "straight" horn, where as the 157 has an exponential horn dividing into 2 chambers, so I'd assume the 157 has far better bass responce.

I'm quite certain the 4-3 had an exponential horn. I used to have one. some early victor "orthophonic" machines did have a straight horn, though... the early granadas and the colony, for example. the only real real difference between the 4-3 and the 157, again, is the wood vs. metal horn construction.

[brianu]

I agree that that is very high on the price scale for a 4-3. I have owned two and paid less than $100 for both. I had them when I was new to collecting though and got ird of them due to space issues. Now I wish I hadn't. There is one at auction tonight near me so maybe I will try to go and bid. Although I just bought a C-19 yesterday and had plans to pick up a VV-IX with a continuation top record cabinet today, so who knows?

less than a hundred for one of those I'd say is a steal (so, nice finds) and not typical of what they're typically selling/sold for (not terribly long ago I picked up a VV-XX for well under a thousand, but I would by no means consider that purchase in terms of setting a value on that model in general). I really think depending on condition, whether the motor and reproducer have been properly rebuilt, etc., that up to 450 for a 4-3 still is not excessive. although for an unrestored as-is example, I wouldn't want to pay more than 200 or possibly 300.