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VE 9-25 E

RARITY: ¤¤¤¤   VALUE:  ¤¤¤ 

The VE 9-25 was one of several 'high-end' radio/phono combination machines introduced in the summer of 1927. It featured an RCA-produced Radiola Model 28 radio (RCA's best set) and Victor's Electrola (electronically amplified) phonograph. The use of the latest paper-cone speaker paired with a high quality amplifier provided vast improvement in sound quality when compared to the Victor's best state-of-the-art electromagnetic-driver/acoustic-horn sets which were produced just a few months earlier.
These expensive sets were intended for the early audiophile who wanted the most advanced sound system that was available at the time. The incredible rate of advancement in radio and amplifier technology during the mid-1920's timeframe is hard to fathom today, but if you spent a small fortune on a premium machine, it would likely be obsolete in less than one year. Plus, due to the manufacturing efficiencies created in producing huge quantities of electronic components for radios, prices were falling significantly. For example, the newly-developed marginally-performing paper-cone speaker cost over $100.00 in early 1926; a greatly improved speaker of similar design could be had for less than $30.00 one year later.
The 9-25 housed the large conglomeration of mechanical and electronic components, with an array of interconnecting cables, in an elegant walnut cabinet. It offered the same radio and Electrola tonearm system and amplifier as did the company's top-of-the-line VE 9-55, without the addition of the automatic changer mechanism. 
The 9-25 sold new for $1,150.00, which equates to approximately $17,200.00 in today's money.  Due to the extremely high price, not many of these machines were manufactured or sold.  While this model is very rarely found today, the cost of restoration of these early and complex radio/phono combination sets limits the interest of most collectors in the current market.
An estimated total of 1,000 VE 9-25's were produced; all were manufactured during the latter half of 1927.

The current survival database shows the earliest existent VE 9-25 to be S/N 505 and the latest to be S/N 1411.    

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