In a Nutshell
Another late 1920's success story shortly before the big crash, fully restored, working and in mint condition

Introduction:
RCA had been a selling agency for radio makers General Electric and Westinghouse. Victor Talking Machine Co. had been founded in 1901 by gramophone pioneers Berliner and Johnson. In the 1920's people started to abandon listening to phonographs and tried, with their early battery sets, to tune-in all the new radio stations. RCA had started its Radiola line of radios in 1924 with an unprecedented advertising campaign. But in the following 2 years Victor was still able to counter-attack with its very successful Electrola and Orthophonic Victrola lines of gramophones. So, it was not about radio or gramophone, it was about having both, and so Victor collaborated with RCA to build Radiola-Victrola and -Electrola combo consoles.
The VE7-26X was and is a fairly popular radio-gramophone combination, introduced in late 1928. It uses RCA's Radiola 18, introduced on April 1928 as one of the first AC powered radios and one of the last TRF (Tuned Radio-Frequency) receivers, together with a Victor Electrola gramophone. The speaker is a RCA model 100A, the same as recommended for early Radiola 18s. The wonderful wall type high-boy cabinet is made from walnut with black banded front, ornate metal speaker grille and turned legs. Centerpiece is the gramophone compartment with its concealed automatic lamp and two record storage compartments on either side. The 4 albums bound in colored buckram with gold stampings are specific for this model; mine have been expertly replicated by eBay seller ampico66. The spines are labeled AUSTIN LUCIA VOL.I, MARVIN ZIEGFELD VOL.II, AFRICANA LISZT VOL.III, and MELBA ZANELLI VOL.IV. The Electrola was used in a number of late 1920's Victor sets including the 1929 RE-45 Microsynchronous console (also for sale, ref.4) and has Victor's brushless induction disc motor and an automatic brake, that relies on a records last groove to be eccentric. The tonearm is made from the same parts as used for the same sets with an acoustic orthophonic Victrola, the head however hosting a horseshoe magnet electric pickup. These pickups need all to be rebuilt, and most of them need a new coil as well. I made a new low impedance coil by winding about 1000 turns of gauge 40 wire around a tiny 12x10x3 mm spool by hand (pict.44), that after proper adjustment gave quite good amplification. The 1928 selling price of the induction motor version 7-26 was $460.00, more than a Ford A Roadster. The Radiola 18 alone sold for $125. Only about 16'000 7-26 have been produced, that is 7 times less than the number of RE-45 (ref.6) and 30 times less than the number of Ford A Roadsters, which today sell for around $20 Grand. So, the 7-26 should be worth more than half a million?

Additional information:
ref.1:    "Radiola: The Golden Age of RCA, 1919-1929", By Eric P. Wenaas
ref.2:    http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/rca_7_26.html
ref.3:    http://www.davidsarnoff.org/vtm-chapter8.html
ref.4:    http://www.radio-antiks.com/IndexRadio-Antiks_Victor_RE-45.htm
ref.5:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DydsOElcaes
ref.6:    http://www.victor-victrola.com/Production%20Volumes.htm

About my Radiogram:
The console has been distributed in Canada (if not even manufactured) by the well-known piano manufacturer Mason & Risch ("The Home of the Victrola") in Toronto (pict.25). It is in mint condition with all 7 tubes of globe type with sockets engraved "RCA Radiotron" and lastly serviced and tested on Sept. 20th, 1934 by one of the B.C. Electric Alliance Stores, a company that today is Translink (pict.30). As already mentioned in my Victor RE-45 documentation (ref.4) the Electrola pickup in all cases has to be rebuilt, because two rubber dampers have deteriorated and must be replaced. In most cases also the pickup coil is open and has to be rewound. The coil is tiny (12x10x3 mm, pict.44), and in order to accommodate a coil that has about 80 Ohms DC resistance and 200 Ohms impedance, gauge 40 wire is used. The safest way is to wind the coil by hand (pict.43). In order to avoid galvanic corrosion, also the terminal connecting wires should be made from copper.
The radio and the Electrola play fine, as can be seen in a youtube video (ref.5 or click on thumbnail 49). Please e-mail me (Kris) for any questions, ich spreche Deutsch, je parle Français.

For pedants only:
The radio's tuning escutcheon has the shape as used in the Radiola 17, but is inscribed as a Radiola without number supplied to Victor Talking Machine (pict.32). The chassis also has a number AR-744, that differs from a regular Radiola 18 that has chassis AR-936.

Here are the specifications:

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