I have some friends who found a beautifully restored Credenza in Arizona a few years ago... Karen's eyes watered the second she saw the machine in the antiques shop, and that was all it took to sell it to Tony. They were very excited to share their discovery with me the next time I came to visit, and we played records for more than an hour. While I thought it sounded fine, it certainly didn't bowl me over the way I'd heard the Credenza would, in all its Orthophonic splendor. It sounded like every other wind-up I'd ever heard.
Well, sure enough, no Orthophonic reproducer. The reproducer and tonearm were nickel-plated Silvertone stock, as evidenced by the reproducer's markings. I don't want to think the antiques guy farmed out the tonearm & soundbox to pay for the cabinet restoration, but... Well anyway, the soundbox matched the tonearm perfectly in color and finish, and I can only surmise both would need to be replaced to restore this machine to its former sonic glory. And that's where you folks come in (I hope!), with your wisdom, experience, and guidance! I only saw Tony & Karen's phonograph once, 6 or 7 years ago when they first brought it home, but I wanna say it's almost exactly like this one: http://www.lisaandmike.com/Graphics/victorcredenzaopen.jpg or this one: http://home.earthlink.net/~bchurt/credenza.jpg. I'll ask her if it's an 8-30 or what, but that may not even matter to what I'm trying to accomplish here with your help. Then again, it may be very important, I don't know. As a gift, I want to buy them a tonearm and reproducer that is original to their machine, and that will blow them away sonically. I just need to know exactly what I'm looking for. I can root through eBay with the best of 'em, but I don't trust my own research to find the right purchase. I have no idea how many different models of Ortho's are out there, and no idea what variations exist in the tonearms and reproducers. I need to have exactly the right one for their machine because they live 14 hours away from me, and Tony will have to swap the parts out himself, something I assure you he won't have the first clue about how to do. So can you help me? All I need is a few examples of what I'm looking for, and I'll gladly take it from there. Or if any of you have what I need for sale, I'd prefer yours over some stranger's on eBay. I also intend to have the reproducer thoroughly inspected and totally rebuilt, if necessary, something else I'll look to all of you for advice on. And I'll need to know a reliable source for the best needles. I've already got a stack of scroll-label Victors and some Viva-Tonals ready to go. Please let me know if there are any specifics you need to know about this machine before pointing me in the right direction, and I'll ask her within the hour. Thanks very much in advance to anyone and everyone with any input to offer! Best to all, Robert
