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What is the best HMV orthophonic style portable? Where is best place to find one?

As far as I know there's only one: The HMV 102, it has a 5/5A/5B soundbox, which is nearly identical to the Victor Orthophonic soundbox.

The best place to buy one would be in the UK, I think. You can also find them on Ebay, but despite the fact that they are not rare at all (especially the black ones are very common) they demand very high prices. I've seen them for sale for $ 400 and upwards, and while they're very good sounding for their sizes I think that's a little too much.

There are also two Columbia badged versions of the HMV102, differing only in minor details. These are the Models 206 (1938 to 1941) and 9000 (1946 to 1957).

Although much less common than the HMV102 they tend to sell for lower prices, a state of affairs which I can only suggest is the result of badge snobbery.

Some years ago I bought a Columbia 206 which I later passed on to my son. It comes out occasionally to amuse the grandchildren, and it's sound quality is indistinguishable from it's HMV sibling.

HMV made some gramophones that it called "portable" but were quite large, like the 113A, a l6x16x13 inch box that weighs a ton but has a handle on the side. If your pastime is ripping phone books you qualify to include this 113A in the portable category, and definitely it is the best sounding in its category, with the good 5B soundbox and an exponential horn. It is not easy to find, though, it was made for export to India. Excluding it from the category, the best sounding HMV is the 102, which was produced up to the end of the 50s and it is very common up to our days. Side-by-side to the RCA Victor VV 2-65, though, the 102 pales. The VV 2-65 does not get much publicity, but it is the best sounding portable made by Victor or HMV.

Victrolacollector wrote:What is the best HMV orthophonic style portable? Where is best place to find one?

A good site for info on the best Orthophonic-era portables, in case you or anyone else has not seen it yet:

http://myvintagetv.com/updatepages1/cha ... tables.htm

CarlosV wrote:HMV made some gramophones that it called "portable" but were quite large, like the 113A, a l6x16x13 inch box that weighs a ton but has a handle on the side. If your pastime is ripping phone books you qualify to include this 113A in the portable category, and definitely it is the best sounding in its category, with the good 5B soundbox and an exponential horn. It is not easy to find, though, it was made for export to India. Excluding it from the category, the best sounding HMV is the 102, which was produced up to the end of the 50s and it is very common up to our days. Side-by-side to the RCA Victor VV 2-65, though, the 102 pales. The VV 2-65 does not get much publicity, but it is the best sounding portable made by Victor or HMV.

The most likely purchasers of these heavyweight machines would have been members of the British Raj in India, and they would have had servants or "bearers" to carry them. The few examples which turn up in the UK would have been brought back by their owners at the end of their colonial or military service.

With a production run of about three years, the RCA Victor VV 2-65 portable must be a rare machine indeed. Even the excellent Victor-Victrola website does not have details of prices or production figures. I want one!

epigramophone wrote: With a production run of about three years, the RCA Victor VV 2-65 portable must be a rare machine indeed. Even the excellent Victor-Victrola website does not have details of prices or production figures. I want one!

Indeed these 2-65 are not common. I bought one about five years ago, and haven't seen another for sale since. It is well designed, with a decent horn and the orthophonic soundbox makes the difference, when you get one that is not damaged by the pot metal aging it outperforms the HMV 5B. When I play the 102 with the orthophonic soundbox it sounds as good as the 2-65.

I just broke down and bought a HMV 102 for 500.00 including shipping. I think it was an expensive purchase, but I will just be selling my Polly portable, Japanese Victor J-80 orthophonic to defray the cost.

You'll certainly never regret it!

Is the standard black version, or a de-luxe coloured one?

Phono48 wrote:You'll certainly never regret it!

Is the standard black version, or a de-luxe coloured one?

Also, is it from the 1930's, 40's or 50's? Perhaps you have some pictures?

The 102 is a great little machine. If I could only keep 1 gramophone it would be my black 102 from 1946. Mine was probably also a little expensive, but it's in excellent condition (fully original and unrestored), it even has the original key and all the labels on it.

I used to have another 102 from the early 1930's (with the no. 16 soundbox), but I sold it a couple of years ago to my next door neighbour for EUR 150,-. I probably could have sold it on Ebay for a lot more, especially since it still had the often missing record tray. But at least I still have the photo's (and a YouTube clip): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0aLz3MiCOo