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VV 8-35 / VE 8-35

RARITY: ¤¤   VALUE:  ¤¤¤

The VV 8-35 was a large Orthophonic Victrola introduced in the spring of 1928. The 8-35 had a lower-profile and a more modern-looking cabinet than it's predecessor, the Credenza. Unlike previous Victor phonograph designs, the 8-35 did not have front doors covering the record albums; albums were stored with their colorful spines exposed on shelves located on both sides of the machine. At the time this model was introduced, the price of Victor's Electrolas (electronically amplified phonographs) had dropped significantly; these newer machines provided better performance than the acoustic models. Consequently, the popularity of acoustic phonographs such as the 8-35 was rapidly diminishing during the latter half of 1928; the 8-35, and it's virtual "clone" the VV 8-36, were amongst the last large acoustic phonographs that Victor ever produced. 
Interestingly, the 8-35 utilized a re-entrant (folded) horn design as did many other Orthophonic models. However, the 8-35 (and a few other late acoustic models) utilized a stamped steel horn, rather than the usual pressure-formed wood horn. It retained the same exponential horn design as had had earlier Orthophonic machines, but the use of steel proved easier to shape and assemble during production, and also had the benefit of providing exceptional volume and performance due to reduced sound wave absorbtion within the horn cavity. These late-vintage acoustic machines have a very lively sound quality with improved high-frequency response when compared to their wood-horn counterparts. The downside is that the 8-35's horn is smaller than the Credenza, resulting in slightly reduced bass response.
The VV 8-35 was available with the choice of a mahogany or walnut finish, and included an automatic brake and 4-spring motor. All 8-35's are identical in features. Production was discontinued a few months after it was introduced, although it remained in the Victor catalog during 1929.  The original 1928 selling price of the 8-35 was $300.00, which equates to over $4,500.00 in today's money.
A total of 5,200 hand-wound Victrola 8-35's were produced during its short production run.
The 8-35 was also available with an electric motor option for $35.00 extra (VE 8-35), and a total of 6,300 of these machines were produced. Most US households had electricity by 1928, and thus for the first time in Victor's production history, more electric 8-35's were produced than spring-wound versions.

 The current survivor database shows the earliest existent VV 8-35 to be S/N 596 and the latest to be S/N 6078.

The earliest existent VE 8-35 (electric) is S/N 555 and the latest is S/N 6729

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