The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Why would a Victrola shopper purchase a Victrola IX with a matching cabinet like mine, vs a Victrola X floor model? The only rationale I can think of is spreading out the cost of the pair.

Really good question. I love the classic and simple lines of the VV-X floor model. I imagine the cost was comparable. I'll guess that the original owner wanted a talking machine that was a little more portable.

Jerry B.

I would guess that the dealer had more room to negotiate on the price with that set-up. With the contracts they had with Victor in those years, the dealers weren't given much wiggle room on price. And what you said about "spreading out the pain" is another thing as well. I got a player piano from an old woman a long time ago and I asked her if they ever had a bench for the piano. She said they never got around to buying one as they had a chair already and they decided to buy more rolls instead and never got around to buying a bench! That's a nice looking machine. I had one of those for years and really liked it.

I like the modular idea of being able to take the victrola and some records out to the porch or something, but not have to move a huge upright machine.

Also, the different look of the table top and matching cabinet might have been more aesthetically appealing to some people.

I'm guessing you can put more records in the stand than in the Model X upright.

My guess would be that a person would buy the tabletop model because they could afford it and decided later on that they wanted and could afford a base cabinet.

Django wrote: Sun Feb 12, 2023 6:54 pm My guess would be that a person would buy the tabletop model because they could afford it and decided later on that they wanted and could afford a base cabinet.

This makes sense to me. Another possibility: some time after buying the tabletop machine, the owner found that he'd accumulated enough records that he needed somewhere to store them.

According to Look for the Dog, at the outset the Victor IX was $50, the X $75. In those days, $25 was a lot of money. I don't know how much the Pooley cabinets cost, but I can see how someone starting out might not want to spend half again as much as the IX cost to get a X.

Is it possible that the record cabinets just weren't available when the IX (or other table tops for that matter) were first introduced, but were produced after the success of the floor models with integral storage? Then people who had bought the tabletops could upgrade without buying a whole new machine.

Dale H

dale h wrote: Mon Feb 13, 2023 8:51 pm Is it possible that the record cabinets just weren't available when the IX (or other table tops for that matter) were first introduced, but were produced after the success of the floor models with integral storage? Then people who had bought the tabletops could upgrade without buying a whole new machine.

Dale H

From the Victor Victrola web site, " Its introduction in the summer of 1911 was concurrent with the launch of a wide lineup of newly-designed machines which included models such as the VV-X and VV-IV." http://victor-victrola.com/IX.htm