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I recently rebuilt my first Exhibition reproducer and did a comparison of playing the same record with the same type of needle on the same machine, and seems that the Exhibition is a bit more mellow of a sound with slightly lower volume as compared to a No.2 I also rebuilt. Since I have no other Exhibitions to compare this to, is this typically the case with these - they are less "bright" than a No.2? Thanks!

Loud, med, or soft tone needle ?

Soft tone

This article may be of interest to you: http://www.victor-victrola.com/Soundbox%20Article.htm

The one time I had a chance to compare the Exhibition with the no. 2, I much preferred the Exhibition. Note that it is the original fitment on my 1917 XI, whereas the no. 2 is original on the "fat tone arm" machines.

Thanks for the link - maybe what I considered brighter on the No.2 was just "harsher" as the article mentions. My Exhibition will be going back on a VV-IV I recently picked up as soon as the motor is overhauled.

The No.2 is an infinitely superior reproducer to the Exhibition IF (and only if) the rubber isolator is made of appropriately soft material. When Mr. Edie performed those tests he was using either an original, hardened isolator, or one of the entirely too hard replacement isolators offered by Ron Sitko.

When using Medium or Full Tone needles, a properly rebuilt No 2 with a soft isolator gives a full rounded tone, and almost no surface noise is evident in the reproduction when one is playing a good condition acoustically recorded Victor disc.

If it scratches, the reproducer is not properly rebuilt.