This is my office.....

[Sandy G]

Love the towel hangin' on the cabinet door..Indispensible item, that..

[Kamakiri]

I never touched the tube! I have NO idea how that happened, unless someone's playing a joke on me here, and nobody in this house would know to do that

[Kamakiri]

Originally Posted by ChrisW6ATV

Very nice. And, I see the DeWald in the picture, too.

Yep! Was supposed to get to that in the spring, but then somehow a bunch of TV restorations came in from other people that actually wanted to pay me good money to do!

It's going to end up being a fall thing. We'll get it going

And, of course, as stuff happens, the moment you get neat clean and organized with a LOT of room, more stuff just works its way in (sigh)....

The Victrola XI was a gift from a friend (busted mainspring), the Bendix TV I couldn't pass up at $60, and the Victrola VV4-7 was a $40 Craigslist find that was so badly water damaged it wouldn't stand up on its own. Bought it for parts for the XI, and ended up fixing it and regluing the snot out of the cabinet, which is now nice and sturdy . A coat of Howards Feed N Wax brought the finish right back....mostly

[Reece]

Those are some impressive devices! By the way, I've read, and bet you have, too, that the mainsprings on phonographs aren't anything to toy with, that they can kill you, and might be worth it to send it off to a specialist.

[Kamakiri]

For sure. Figure 30 feet of coiled spring steel lubricated in a mixture of graphite and vaseline. Noooo thanks! Even if I didn't manage to cut my hands, the mess would be incredible!

I just got a replacement restored motor assembly off ebay for the Victrola XI, and it arrived damaged. The capstan was bent due to poor packaging, and the secondary mainspring was shot. Seller was so nice that I figured I'd save him most of the bother and switch the capstan from my old one, and just send him the secondary mainspring back.

Looks like you've got a Kentile cork floor. Very nice.

[Kamakiri]

Actually, it's one of those asphalt tiled floors, like the kind in most high schools, etc.

Or is that what it is? I dunno

They had real cork and faux cork. Real cork is a little springy kinda like modern cushioned roll vinyl. The imitation was hard like other tiles. Either way, I like the look.

[truetone36]

If that VV4-7 is anything like my VV4-3 I bet it's loud! Gotta love those Orthophonic Victrolas.

[Kamakiri]

DAMN is it loud!

I'm using medium tone needles, and the cabinet doors usually remain closed unless I really wanna party, 1920s style . Beats the hell out of my Victrola XI as far as, well, just about everything. Not fair to compare yet really, because the reproducer on my XI needs rebuilding....

[Kamakiri]

In fact, I wanted to listen to some music on it last night, but I couldn't get Dolly to budge. She was all cuddled up fast asleep with her favorite toy.....I would have felt guilty kicking her off

I put the cat bed on there yesterday because she kept pacing across my desk and I couldn't get any work done. As soon as the bed was there, she stayed put.

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by Kamakiri

DAMN is it loud!

I'm using medium tone needles, and the cabinet doors usually remain closed unless I really wanna party, 1920s style .

If only I had thought to ask my grandmother what that was like.

[truetone36]

The XI is a good machine, but it won't be as loud as the Orthophonic. The XI has a mica reproducer and a straight horn, while the Orthophonics have an aluminum diaphragm in the reproducer and a logarithmic folded horn.

[Kamakiri]

The XI has the Exhibition reproducer, which is supposed to be good, but there's a crack in the mica. It needs rebuilding, so it's not fair for me to judge sound quality at this point.

Honestly, quieter would be just fine by me. That Orthophonic could fill a whole house with sound! It's just me down here in the basement office, so with both I have the best of both worlds

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Love the towel hangin' on the cabinet door..Indispensible item, that..

This may sound dense, but how is a towel so indispensible to TV service? I can't recall needing one in all the years I've worked on TVs.