The orthophonic reproducer literally came apart while playing a record. Needle housing came uncoupled from the backing, rubber gasket fell into crumbling pieces, and my record has a fabulous new scratch where the whole thing came tumbling down, baby and all. I put my old HMV 5b back on the tone arm,...

I found out that I had the broken off part of the connector flange from an old sound box still attached to the tone arm. It looked like part of the tone arm itself. I only figured out that it wasnt supposed to be there by looking at pictures of other orthophonic tone arms *sheepish grin*. So I got t...

I purchased the HMV 5b, which sounds AMAZING except for a little problem. The rubber flange connecting it to the tone arm was crumbling -- pretty much fell away at my touch. It still sounded good when I broke the rubber away, removed the ring and dead rubber inside, then force fed it to the tone arm...

Thanks so much for the detailed response! I found something that was labled as a 'no 21 hmv soundbox' online when I was looking for an orthophonic, or its hmv equivalent reproducer. As far as I had heard, the hmv no 16 was pretty much the end of the line, before it all went electronic. I found it at...

So I picked up my first Orthophonic Victrola today, the 4-40, which was apparently the next generation of the Granada. Super excited, since I have been scouring Craigslist looking for an Orthophonic in my price range (well below poverty level) since spring. It seems to be in great shape, but the pot...

Yet another question for anyone with more experience than I (which would truly be anyone). I have a few 78s now that are actually from the 20s. They sound pretty good as they are, but I would love to give them a thorough (safe!) cleaning. I have read about using a very thin soap and water scrubbing,...

Joe_DS and TripleSpring -- Thank you both so much for the awesome information!

Thanks everyone for the incredibly good information! One more question -- I've been reading about needles made from fiber/bamboo/cactus needles etc. Apparently there was a special cutting tool made for the Victrola back in the day, and bamboo needles that could be recut after each play. Has anyone a...

Hey awesome possum! So went ahead and bought a no 4 reproducer made of nickle, which seems not to be fraught with the evil *cue the ominous music* 'pot metal'. Another question, though -- The Orthophonic victrolas, are they orthophonic because of the soundboxes and their internal horn configuration?...

Hey guys and gals! I have a question that I haven't been able to thoroughly Google to my satisfaction. I recently found a 19(16?) Victor Victrola VV-XI at a garage sale for 40 bucks. It didn't have a soundbox at all, but I managed to get a refurbished no 2 reproducer from an antique store in Pennsyl...