The Victor-Victrola Page   

VV 8-12 / VE 8-12

RARITY: ¤¤   VALUE:  ¤¤

The VV 8-12 was a mid-range floor-model Orthophonic phonograph introduced in the fall of 1927, replacing the discountinued VV 8-4. The 8-12 had a much thinner profile (less cabinet depth) than previous large Orthophonics, making it much easier to fit into a room. This was accomplished by "folding" the exponential horn vertically rather than horizontally, as had previously been done on all large Orthophonic models.  While this design reduced the cabinet's depth, it also changed the form-factor and efficiency of the horn, resulting in somewhat reduced high frequency response and a different overall sound quality, sometimes described as slightly "hollow". However, many collectors prefer the 8-12's unique sound quality to other machines.
The 8-12 had a beautiful and practical cabinet design, and sold quite well.  It was available only with a mahogany finish (although some custom finishes were produced on special order, as shown on right), and included an automatic brake and a 4 spring motor. It sold for $235.00, which equates to approximately $3,500.00 in today's money. Early-production 8-12's have gold-plated hardware; all later versions use an antiqued bronze finish. Otherwise, all 8-12's are identical in features. 
Production of the 8-12 ceased during the summer of 1928, when electronic phonographs were becoming affordable to most buyers. 
Approximately 22,800 Victrola 8-12's were produced. 
Electric-motor versions (VE 4-20) were available for $35.00 extra. An estimated total of 5,500 VE 8-12's were made.

 The current survivor database shows the earliest existent VV 8-12 to be S/N 519 and the latest to be S/N 22491.

The earliest existent VE 8-12 (electric) is S/N 547 and the latest is S/N 5906

Do you own a Victrola 8-12? Please take a moment and enter some basic information about your machine into the collector's database by clicking here. No personal information is required.