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Congratulations both! Amazing and heart-warming to know they are in safe and appropriate hands. Videos please!

Orchorsol wrote: Fri Apr 28, 2023 11:24 am Congratulations both! Amazing and heart-warming to know they are in safe and appropriate hands. Videos please!

Thank you Orchorsol ! Very kind and appreciated.

I did a quick video and you can see the link with my last comment on the previous page.

Amazing fortune indeed !

Orchorsol wrote: Fri Apr 28, 2023 11:24 am Congratulations both! Amazing and heart-warming to know they are in safe and appropriate hands. Videos please!

Thanks, Andy. I will have a go and try it on the 202. I rebuilt my current 5A from scratch so it does sound very good. The competition is on!

Well, 'borrowing' Steve's idea I have uploaded a video using the original 5a sound-box, so it can to some extent be compared to the Number 18 sound-box video.

Surprisingly, I much prefer the Number 18 as to me it seems 'smoother'. less 'harsh', more mellow and suits the style of music. On the other hand unlike Steve's 5a, mine has not been refurbished so maybe that is a factor.

Anyway, it was very interesting (and pleasing) to hear the results on my portable and I am looking forward to steve's findings very much.

Here are the video links:

https://www.youtube.com/@HMVNumber18Gra ... Box/videos

very interesting, many thanks for the videos. the sound is certainly very nice, warm and soft...

Inigo wrote: Sat Apr 29, 2023 5:06 am very interesting, many thanks for the videos. the sound is certainly very nice, warm and soft...

Thank you very much Inigo.

I imagine it would sound a lot better on one of my up-right gramophones but as I say I can't access them at the moment because of floor clutter - but I will create a video of that later in the year.

Yes, I think the Number 18 could easily send me to sleep with it's dulcet tones !

So good to see and hear these. Well done for getting them back to the UK.

I'm not sure if the rubber isolator has expanded a little in the back-plate but I can't currently seem to get my no. 18 to attach to any HMV tone-arm. The rear aperture is too small for the wide bore tone-arms.

I'm temporarily out of the game as far as uploading any video comparisons!

poodling around wrote: Fri Apr 28, 2023 10:23 am It would be great to hear your opinion about the sound - your personal collection of 'reference' sound-boxes may be in much better condition than mine of course !

It is hard to make comparisons over the you tube compressed audio, but it sounds similar to a 5a/5b soundbox in terms of reproduction. What is more striking is the visual impact of a square soundbox!

CarlosV wrote: Sat Apr 29, 2023 10:45 am

poodling around wrote: Fri Apr 28, 2023 10:23 am It would be great to hear your opinion about the sound - your personal collection of 'reference' sound-boxes may be in much better condition than mine of course !

It is hard to make comparisons over the you tube compressed audio, but it sounds similar to a 5a/5b soundbox in terms of reproduction. What is more striking is the visual impact of a square soundbox!

The square sound-box is certainly 'a joy to behold' !

Thank you for your thoughts Carlos. It is of course pure speculation, but if the diaphragm is indeed made of 'special material' then maybe HMV were trying it out and in the end thought it was (as you say) too similar to aluminium and the 5a's and b's.