Value question about Victrola 8-35X

[Uncle Vanya]

While I agrree 100% with the above comments, I can shed some light on the highest side of the price range. I know personally one of our members sold one for $3500 (or $3050, I forget) on ebay with all original albums about a year ago. When I congratulated him, I learned that he had heard of one that was sold for $4500 some time prior. Also around a year ago, I had offered another member $1500 for just the complete set of albums from the VE 8-35 they were selling for $2000 and I was turned down. I believe these albums are unique and were only available with the (VV or VE) 7-11, 8-35, 9-54, and 9-56. I'm not sure if they came in the RE-154 and RE-156. However, I did see a set in a 7-26 for sale recently with them.

It was $3050, exactly 1 year ago in December.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Victrola-VV-8-3 ... 7675.l2557

In a world where a Victor II with a Thorens Motor fetches more than a perfect original, nothing surprises me.

...and Merry Christmas to you as well.

.

I much prefer the 8-35X to the 8-35. Not only is the electric motor of the "X" machine more convenient than the spring motor of the standard model, the electric light of which is supplied with the "X" is practically a necessity given the design of the record compartment.

As I recall, the $3050 machine was spring-motored. In fact, I'm pretty sure that it passed through my hands. The eventual seller, however, went to great lengths to complete the set of albums.

[Chilesave]

Thanks everyone for all the info. I am going to check the things about it as you advised and then see if I can get it.

thanks again,

[EarlH]

Isn't the 8-35 is one of only a couple that have a metal horn in it? That's partly what the interest is in that machine isn't it? There was one over in Galena, Illinois for $125 2-3 years ago, but I'm sure that's long gone. It was in kind of bad shape and I had no interest in the project. Does that share horns with the 8-8 & 8-9, or is it a larger horn? I have an 8-9 and they are a little different sounding than a Credenza and probably a little louder.

[Uncle Vanya]

Yes, it shares the metal horn with the 8-8 and 8-9. A rough 8-35 is always worth picking up, for one occasionally comes across a good 8-9 or 8-35 cabinet that has been gutted. The horn is an easy transplant, unlike the horn of a Credenza.

[EarlH]

Those Credenza horns certainly aren't easy to swap around. I did it once, and got the horn from a Credenza that some people sat out in their yard with the lid up and they had fit some sheet metal into and filled it full of dirt and put flowers in it! I got it cheap enough though and a few weeks later she called me and they had found the motor, tone arm and brass sound box! The metal horn must have been cheaper for Victor to make so I suppose that was one reason for the change. They are nice looking though and well made. Well, I hope he can get the thing bought. The 8-35 doesn't turn up very often.

[Uncle Vanya]

I suspect that the change in horn construction may have been largely driven by a desire for improved high frequency response. Remember that in 1928 all of the new designs in the industry went over to all metal horns, Victor, The Gramophone Company, and even Western Electric, in applications where first cost was no object.

[EarlH]

That makes sense about the high frequencies. That horn does sound good with a clean record being playing on it. They were certainly getting some serious competition from the all electric machines after the end of 1926, if you had the money to buy a good set. I still can't get over how good those early electric Brunswick Panatropes sound. And how much volume they are capable of. And the metal horn in that 8-9 is more brilliant sounding than the Credenza, that's for sure.

[marcapra]

High treble sound can also be achieved with a wooden horn! I'm thinking the big spruce horn in my Brunswick Cortez! After all, a Stradivarius violin also uses spruce wood for the sounding board of the violin.

[Uncle Vanya]

Yes, but the Cortez horn is not folded in on itself, nor is it bifurcated. As far as the spruce is concerned, in a violin or a piano sounding board a thin piece of spruce acts as a diaphragm which vibrates and actually creates the sound. On the other hand the surface of an ideal horn should not vibrate at all. Perhaps the ideal talking machine horn would be moulded of concrete!

[EarlH]

I've always thought one reason the Opera horn sounds as good as it does it because of the elbow on it not being able to vibrate & it's heavy enough not to absorb any of the sound. I also heard a man at Union bawl a guy out for putting shellac on the inside of a Credenza horn saying that they are supposed to be a bit on the rough and unfinished side to absorb some of the high frequencies and make them more mellow sounding. I'm sure there is a huge debate in all of this of course, but the diaphragm and record itself has a lot to do with all of it too of course. And where it's setting at in the room.
I've had a Chippendale Edison setting right next to an Edison Beethoven and no matter what the three of us did, swapping reproducers around or anything else we could think of, when both machines played the same record, the C-19 sounded better each time. I've had that argument with others, but the three of us phonograph collectors that were doing the listening were all surprised (and actually kind of glad) at how that one turned out. But that was probably because the horn is higher on the C-19. And maybe somewhere else I might feel differently about it, but I'm not playing my records anywhere else! We had all three of the Edison disk reproducers to mess with. Terry had a dance reproducer that was VERY loud and the only gold plated one I've ever seen. And we used both electric & acoustic disks. We also had several Edisonic and regular reproducers as well.