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That RCA console that looks like a hutch, I have the exact unit. Unfortuneatly it is located at my dad's in Minnesota. Still in my old bedroom. One of these years, I'll bring it down here to Arizona. Not sure where I'll put it once it is down here, but I'll figure that out at that time.

 

I wouldn't mind having that Magnavox. I already have one from 1959 in an all black cabinet. I love watching TV on it.
 
Zenith Combo

My dad bought a zenith combo - but it was a behemoth taking up about 8 feet of our 11' x 12' living room(mom not happy). That was an outstanding stereo and record player, in a walnut cabinet, Danish modern leg. We've talked about here before -" Zenith..the quality goes in before the name goes on" Here are some more Zeniths shown by a avid collector/restorer that are great to view (good music, too)

 
…and I wanted to mention, but couldn't amend my posting (will change that this month)…our combo Zenith had a color tv with remote.

Justin - is that wall unit just a stereo and record player? I was wondering it that came with a black and white television, too?
 
There's no TVs in those "hutch" RCAs...

I've had several of them, aka the "RCA Mark II", ours was a 3VF61 Series, the last 2 numbers designated the furniture style: Danish Modern, Provincial etc. They were fairly TOL for RCA around '60-62. The electronics were good quality, 4 x EL-84 output tubes and decent sized open frame transformers, decent FM/AM front-end design. The speaker set left something to be desired as it was totally "open baffle" ie no sealed acoustic suspension or even ported cabinet, all 6 (2 x 12" woofers, 2 mid, 2 tweeters, all paper cones) speakers were mounted in one common open compartment with a flimsy fiberboard backing, leading to less than ideal acoustic reproduction. The woofer magnets were kind of shrimpy, and the other 4 are mediocre components. The furniture was very nice grade and very attractive. While sounding decent enough, the Mark II was hardly high-end, or even much better than average for a console unit, personally I liked Maggies and Zeniths we've had better. Still like RCA "Mark" Series though, one of the more interesting consoles.
We had a huge Bell console once that was even larger, built as part of an actual bookcase, with all the components and speakers housed in the lower part. Heavy as heck.

Still have a Mark II complete 6 speaker + front mounting board assembly in perfect condition, even has original speaker cloth on it, suspended from the ceiling over our basement "electronics test lab" bench, to use for checking out amps and such. Will probably chuck it out next year when we move, so if anyone wants the whole shebang (6 speakers + crossovers + mounting board) it's yours for the asking.
 
Downers Grove sounds very nice. I see attractive homes and tree-lined streets with no palm trees or cactus in sight. Thanks for the enjoyable posts added here 
smiley-laughing.gif
 
firedome: Your description of the Mark II reminded me of the RCA I just acquired this weekend(pictured) but it's far from a Mark II in size, thank God. What it does have in common with the Mark II is the flimsy fiberboard, meager looking magnets for the dual 12" woofers..etc. I have a '57 tubed Maggie, no Zeniths and to be honest, I tend to look at those more than the RCA's. I'm like wood and have done some woodworking, and this RCA cabinet, though not in style to today's trends, is really nice. And the sound is appreciably decent. Yet, looking at all that space back there it continually begs the question from me, "doesn't it need some sound baffling material, fiberglass, insulation, towels, anything? " LOL! It lights up beautifully and sounds surprisingly good for having sat for so long in a dusty area, but it's far from prime time presentable. So, just acquiring the RCA, I was curious about the Mark II having a tv, and you hit on some other things that reminded me…

Thanks for clarifying, Will and Roger.

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Re RCAs

If you really want to hear something, play a record on a TOL RCA such as the hutch model...then play the same record on a mid line Magnavox or Motorola, the tone and power of the M or M will blow the RCA out of the water.
 
Magnavox

I have a Fisher Philharmonic at the Michigan house that I'm sure will do the same as the Maggie's and Zeniths. I hope to find that Magnavox Imperial and dream about a C.Grand. I'd be pleased to find a tube-era Zenith. But I'm like you Hans - picky picky. I see so many consoles that don't do much for me, in quality of materials, design and proportions. Well, that's part of the adventure here. Thanks for your opinion! :-)

Phil
 
Can't see it close up...

Phil... does that RCA say "Orthophonic" on the dial? It could have been the series that directly proceeded the "Marks", or a concurrent but different/more compact series.

Oddly RCA also made a series of "Orthophonic" HiFi in England, they were big, high power, and expensive discrete components on the order of McIntosh components, they even looked like them with big top-mounted potted transformers etc. I had one of the pre-amps once, the build quality was like Leak, all turret board military-type construction, very impressive. They sold a small number of them here through RCA dealers for the very few that wanted the best of the best. Nowadays one of the mono amps alone can sell in the $2-3000 range. Very rare and desirable. RCA did briefly around 1962 also sell a Fisher-type component AM/FM receiver called the MX-5, and they are also fairly rare, but not in the English-made Orthophonic component class, most people paying what the MX-5 cost wanted the Fisher name so they didn't sell all that well and after this RCA abandoned the mid-high end component market completely.
 
RCA Correction!

the RCA component receiver was the MX-7... working from memory is increasingly problematic these days LOL ... I must have been channeling the Miata MX-5!
For the curious there's some pics of the RCA MX-7 if you Google it. They are a nice sounding and very well designed receiver, RCA could match anyone when they put their mind to it.
 
TWO for $130! Record Player, Magnavox Mid 50s Split Console

If it were closer - gone!

AD: " Price Reduced, Mid-'50s all-Tube Split Console Magnavox Record Player with 4 12in speakers for sale.

The record player comes in two pieces, both are about 18 inches deep, 28 inches wide and stands about 3 feet tall (on skinny legs). They look like tall, solid side table furniture. The top of one side opens to reveal the mono record player with auto-feed mechanism and includes an adapter for your 45's. The auto feed is pretty great. You can load up 5. . . may be 10 records at a time and just let them play one after the other.

The front of the unit is split in two parts: the door on the front swings open to reveal the controls for the record player and the radio with upright storage for your records. The otter half hides two large 12 inch speakers. The amp is 100% tubes.

The other console looks like an identical match to the first except the top lifts to reveal a deep storage area and there's even more storage for records in the front of this second unit. It connects with a wire to the main unit to power it's 2 12inch speakers for a total of 4 12inch speakers. The wire's pretty long, so you could place each unit one either side of a large couch or place one unit in a different room.

"This beautiful, tastefully vintage sound machine sounds fantastic!" you say? Well, metaphorically speaking it does. It needs a run through with a professional. The sound sometimes goes between 100% and 20% volume with a bit of added muddiness over the years. It could be a loose wire, or it could need new tubes. Other than that, it's pretty great.

Selling both units together for $130, price reduced."

http://bellingham.craigslist.org/atq/4839970306.html
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Nice Magnavox Hi-0Fis-On the one where the two speakers were shown-this unit is a lucky survivor.These sets often get plundered for their speakers-"G-Fiddilists" love them for their amps.Didn't know about the RCA High end separate components.The receiver shown has missing 6973 output tubes.Those were used in Seeburg jukeboxes and other RCA amps.And the 6973 tube was used in video DA amps in TV stations.And as audio DA amps,too.The two peice Magnavox unit may have been a mono-to stereo converted unit.Like how both cabinets have record racks for the "DJ's favorites"!
 
Reply to Firedome Reply #16

Roger - I just saw your question to me and interesting notes about RCA, England and Orthophonics….my apologies.

IF you referring to the RCA with the two doors open and the backside view in Reply # 13 that's an Orthophonic with a dual-amplifer(14-tube) that works in stereo with the record and tape only. I wouldn't mind if it was a mono, if it was worth 2-3K. :-) So, were the Orthophonic stereos made here in the USA, predecessors to the Marks? Mine was built in August 1958(deemed a 1959 model). I can see that the MX7 (and other MX) were no doubt made much later than 1958/59.

here's a closer look of my unit

ovrphil-2015020418413503032_1.jpg
 
Yes the US RCA Orthophonics

preceded the Marks, which were '61/2/3 era.

The English RCA Orthophonic line was in another class altogether, the McIntosh, Marantz, Fairchild class... as good as it got back then. RCA also dabbled in separate components earlier in the US in the 1953-56 era with some separate Mono components like the SP-10 and SP-20 mono amps, also preamp and speakers, quite nice but not as high-end or high power as the English RCA units that came along a bit later. Few of them were sold in the US.

GE also had a nice discrete component line briefly, made in Auburn NY, near here.
It also used 6973 tubes, like the MX-7, jukeboxes and guitar amps also used them. I have a NOS quad of 6973 up on eBay right now (Sylvania).
 
Here's a pair...

of the RCA New Orthophonic UK built amps. I think this pair brought well over $4k on eBay iirc. I'd love to have these, they are far prettier than any of the McIntosh or Marantz tube amps I've had in the past (quite a few). These used KT-66 output tubes which are a Brit version of the 6L6GC.

Still have here an RCA BA-4A amp that was built as a monitor amp for recording studios, also 6L6gc type outputs and an advance toroid transfomer and tons of plug in cylindrical electrolytic capacitors, it's rarer and probably better than the New Orthos above, but not nearly as pretty!

firedome-2015020508122503325_1.jpg
 
Impressive - RCA

I see a pair of RCA 1620 tubes with metal connectors on top in the BA-4C amp. I have seen these kinds of tubes before..want to say that my old floor model Zenith with am/fm/sw bands had one of those connectors on one of the tubes. I'm weird, but just looking at the tube brings back good memories of looking at the tubes light up and hearing the word in the early 60's over SW. Do you use that BA-4C in any system right now or is it strictly a commercial application type amplifier?

Plug-in cylindrical electrolytical capacitors - wouldn't it be nice if we could replace all our electrolytic caps that way. No soldering, just plug in and go?

Well, there are much more expensive amps I've seen in Audio magazines, so maybe $4K isn't a bad price? But it's hard to look at my Orthophonic amp with any interest after seeing those amazing English Orthophonics. I learn something new and interesting all the time here.
 
Plug in caps were common in commercial-industrial electronic gear.Made for very fast replacement of caps.At the SW transmitter site where I work we used to have a pair of Technical Materials Co. 40Kw SW sideband transmitters that used plug in caps in all of the LV power supplies.That was one example of gear using the plug in socketed caps.Now those transmitters are gone.Had to be taken out to make way for new switchgear.They were no longer used.They used to be used as a backup program dist source.
The RCA Mon amp shown-Have a companion audio processor amp to this.Came from a defunct Radio station near Baltimore.
The UK RCA Orthophonic amps appear to be very nice.Would love to try some of those.Never seen them before.KT 66 tubes-have seen those occasionally replacing 6L6 tubes in guitar amps.Some guitarists liked them better than 6L6 and insisted on them in their amps-usually Fender.
 

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