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https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auct ... 6400ddf7d1

Probably under pressure from Victor, HMV replaced their elegant Sheraton Gramophone Grand with this L-Door Victrola clone.

And just to be different they switched the V and the I?

Maybe making theirs the 14 made it sound younger and fresher than the 16...

The 14 was the pre-WW1 apogee of the Gramophone Company cabinet range. Its slightly cheaper brother, the Style 13, was identical but offered in mahogany.

Curiously though it was the Style 12, also in walnut, which was the most technically advanced of the range being the first machine offered with the cast iron internal horn in place of the earlier box wood horn. The table grand Style 9 in mahogany would also receive the same "advanced" horn.

The 13 and 14 were indeed Victor clones and a leftover from the earlier Gramophone Grand era.

Warning to prospective buyers: this will be very cheap. At one time this might have been sold for upwards of £750 but in the current dismal UK market I'll eat my hat if this breaks the £100 mark.

PS. - I can't buy this as I've run out of room. No more. I'm not doing it. I've just bought a walnut Apollo nobody wanted. It would go well with that and the Style 12 I have though. Stop me somebody!

It seems to be a no4 soundbox, not the original exhibition...

Steve wrote: Fri Jul 16, 2021 7:10 pm Warning to prospective buyers: this will be very cheap. At one time this might have been sold for upwards of £750 but in the current dismal UK market I'll eat my hat if this breaks the £100 mark.

A hundred quid? One could easily part it out and recoup the investment. The #4 soundbox, knobs, crank, motor and turntable are worth more than that. Not that I am recommending that course of action ...

Inigo wrote: Sat Jul 17, 2021 12:31 am It seems to be a no4 soundbox, not the original exhibition...

A very common period update to extend the useful life of older machines when electrical recordings appeared.
This was an expensive machine when new, which the owner clearly had no wish to replace.

Results with a number 4 soundbox are not bad... Better using those Recoton/Laubscher needles with the thin point, por fibres. Of course you'll notice the short horn path, etc, but they are playable.
Watch this example, with a modified exhibition and the bamboo needles.
https://youtu.be/wzqAdohSilQ
This one with the same soundbox and Laubscher needles
https://youtu.be/gEvTnv9_qfI
And yet it is a smaller horn than the XIV!

Well it made a miserable £130 in line with my worst prediction. Its pathetic really.

The UK is not the best place to have a collection anymore evidently.

I suspect the new owner is Brian Chesters, from lancashire, as he's asking for info on the machine herein
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=50183