The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

http://www.ebay.com/itm/131943748245?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

Not enough pics from the seller to tell a lot... but the price is pretty good.

I can't tell from the photos if the tonearm bracket is broken or not. If it's intact, (and if the reproducer has no cracks), that is indeed a good price, even with the very non-original grill cloth.

Was this a Orthophonic? I thought the VV 1-70 came from the factory with a non-Orthophonic No.4 reproducer ??

briankeith wrote:Was this a Orthophonic? I thought the VV 1-70 came from the factory with a non-Orthophonic No.4 reproducer ??

You are correct; it's not a true Orthophonic. Although the model number is in the same series as the Orthophonics, the 1-70 came with a No. 4 or 4A reproducer and does not have an exponential horn.

Still worth the money - looks clean except for the grille cloth

I've never seen one of these, or its sister models of the same era, with a decent/excellent original finish. Were every one of these things beat to hell for some reason? Even the one in question was just sort of o.k.

I saved the photos on photo-shop then enlarged them - this one actually looks much better than most I've seen - maybe they were cheaping out on the wood and the finish that year. From the Victrola page: Existing examples have a blended mahogany finish, although much of the cabinet trim is a stained ash. While these machines do occasionally show-up at auctions and flea markets, the condition is usually very poor. This is likely due to the fact that most were handed-down to children or simply junked when they became obsolete.

The 1-90 is the orthophonic version of this machine. I think there is also a 1-80 made for Japan