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  #1  
Old 01-04-2012, 08:32 PM
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Kamakiri Kamakiri is offline
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An RCA console stereo with a history.....

Caught an ad on Craigslist for an RCA Victor Stereo Orthophonic console record player yesterday on a whim of a search. Price was $40, and I called the seller, asking him to please hold it, as it was similar to the one my parents had growing up.

Called him back today, and on a nasty bitter cold evening, I went and picked it up tonight. Apparently there was another cash offer on the table if I didn't want it.....that person wanted only the tubes and owners booklets. While it turned out that this one was a bit newer than I'd wanted, it was in beautiful shape, and I simply couldn't see it going to the trash. Besides, I need a better record player .

The seller grew up in the neighborhood, and was selling off a few unwanted possessions of the deceased couple that had lived there. He told me that they were both in their 90s, and were the nicest, most generous people you'd ever want to meet. I handed the seller the $40, and we loaded it in the back of my old van.

Got home, and only some odd sounds coming from the unit, almost a bass line but nothing else. A long story short, there were two speaker plugs on the back of the 6BQ5 stereo amp that were missing, presumably the owner had wired the console into some type of in-wall speaker system or such. With two jumper wires, the unit came to life, sounding crisp and beautiful. The low notes I found were coming from a third reverb amp, which was all that was driving the speakers in absence of the plugs.

Hearing the guy, presumably in his late 20s, speak so fondly of the couple, I decided to look up the obituary, to see who they were. This is what I found, I omitted the names to escape the Google bots to give the family privacy:

May 1, 1917—August 3, 2011

***********, a World War II Army Air Forces veteran who retired as an electrician, died Wednesday in Veterans Affairs Medical Center after a long illness. He was 94.

Mr. ****** served as a flight engineer and turret gunner on a B-24 Liberator. He was shot down over Germany in 1944 and became a prisoner of war and sent to Stalag Luft 4. He was forced to work in the kitchen and spent more than a year as a POW before being liberated in 1945. He was the recipient of the Air Medal.

After returning home, he began his career as an electrician and worked in the copper mill for more than 28 years. He retired in 1976.

Mr. ****** spent many years after his retirement volunteering at Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Buffalo.

He and his family traveled to Washington, D. C., to visit the World War II Memorial shortly after it was built.

Survivors include his wife of 65 years, the former ****** *******, and two sons.


Wow. One of the greatest of the Greatest Generation. And the information would have been lost were it not for some simple searching.

I slid a copy of the obit in an envelope, and fastened it to the inside of the cabinet. If I have this unit for 40 days or 40 years, the information from whence it came will live on, and perhaps the memory of the man who owned it, to someone in the distant future.....not unlike a letter in a bottle.

Next phase is to completely tear it apart, clean it, reassemble it, and use it. God bless you, sir.....your stereo is in good hands

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Old 01-04-2012, 09:40 PM
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We should all make it a habit to document such things this way. I can tell you that the real "keepers" in my collection aren't always those considered valuable by the world; in most cases they are sets where I know the history, knew the original owner, the set was given to me by somebody close, etc.
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Old 01-04-2012, 10:10 PM
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I just wish my Boatanchors could "Talk"...What stories they could tell...
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Old 01-05-2012, 06:22 AM
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That's a great story, and a great find. Now, I believe, when you play that stereo, truly "the medium is the message" will come through: music played through it will always bring to mind that story. I have certain radios that are the same models as ones we had when I was growing up, and when I use them, it's like going back.
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Old 01-05-2012, 06:33 AM
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I think that finding out about who owned the unit is what we would all want, after our own passing. To think that someone many years from now would research who Tim Poliniak was, based on a "message in a bottle" on the inside of a unit, is a comforting thought, knowing that my own memories might live on in that way.

Our possessions will likely outlive us. We will just never know which ones make the cut.
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Old 01-05-2012, 08:07 PM
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I wish I could have rescued my aunt's Magnavox stereo console, it's what started me on my path to enlightenment. That's a beautiful story about the man who owned the beautiful RCA Victor that you are the keeper of now.
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Old 01-07-2012, 01:43 PM
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I've got a 59 FISHER 510 Consolette, from TheRed1, who got it from the estate of Lieutenant Mitchell Jamieson USNR, the WWII combat artist. Red has his "the Commanders Console" that was owned by a Navy Hurricane Chaser Pilot in the 60's. And my Sansui 1000A was purchased originally by a Retired Mustang LCDR who enlisted in the mid 50's went to the academy and retired a LCDR in the late 70's. A lot of military History in our gear. My thanks to all who gave to keep our country safe.

Larry
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Old 01-09-2012, 10:31 AM
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Managed to do some serious de-dusting and cleaning of the unit, and have listened to it for a while. I'm suspecting that the 12DT8 in the tuner that handles the FM portion of the signal is going to have to be replaced, the FM signal tends to flake out a bit, and come back when I tap on it.

One thing that's odd is that the stereo has one woofer, perhaps an early edition of a subwoofer . It tends to bottom out on bass notes even on non-bassy music, unless the bass control is kept about halfway or less. I'm thinking the original speaker might be a little bit brittle. Might make a small project of putting all new speakers and crossover caps in it.

Uh oh, that's where it begins, isn't it?
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Old 01-09-2012, 12:11 PM
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If memory serves my first tube console an all tube FM Stereo Philco has only a single woofer as well. maybe it was a design trend among manufacturers back then.
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Old 01-13-2012, 03:53 AM
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Great story. I like the way you honored him. Thanks for sharing.
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Old 01-13-2012, 05:39 AM
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Since bass is pretty non-directional, they could get by with one woofer.
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Old 01-13-2012, 09:15 AM
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Hello I was the proud recipient of my grandmothers magnificent magnavox from the late 50s when she passed away in 1993 I play the heck out of it and it is still going strong. Hopefully when it is my turn to see those pearly gates somebody else will appreciate the great hearty sound of this tube tpye instrument..
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Old 03-13-2015, 06:19 PM
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That's such a great story and I envy you. I have one RCA stereo console that I have some history on, but the Magnavox and other RCA SCH-2? No idea. It's so cool that you have been able to find the original owner and know he played alot of great music on this treasured record player. Thanks for posting. - Phil R.
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Old 03-13-2015, 06:46 PM
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My wife comes home w/a story of one-Or often-MORE of "The Greatest Generation" going on to his reward, at least one a week. The WW2/Korea guys are dropping like flies now, the WW2 folks are I think ALL in their nineties, & the Korea guys are in their mid-80s. Seems like I can BARELY remember a Spanish-American war vet or 2, when I was just a little kid, but I EASILY remember a few WW1 guys...
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Old 03-13-2015, 08:10 PM
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This is also the same generation that taught most of us tube-heads what we know today. Bless them all, but what if we had greatness thrust upon us like they did?
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