NICE RCA CTC-40 combo!!
 

I would LOVE to have this.....

BUT...it is in texas!! I CANNOT remotely justify going that far for ANY tv--and my old van may not really be up to a 1000+ trip EACH way--and I KNOW my wallet is not!!

but still...I would like to have it. It is a CTC-40 with a stereo, with the rare ""200 watt" RCA RS-246 SS amp, ONLY made for ONE year--1970..

Perhaps..someone could 'give it a hitch-hike, some of the wayt up here?? Maybe within a couple of states or so??
If not...hopefully one of us will end up with it...NOT TOO MANY of these left!!



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tab%3DWatching

Actually will be passing through Arlington, TX on Sunday. I am a going for it. :yes:

Now that I got my health back, I am back on the collecting trail. Missed out on a 16 chassis because of illness....it is amazing how little stuff matters when severely ill.

One thing is for sure, if you don't have your health, you don't have anything.

A little OT, but this made me start to think about what to do with my collection when my time comes. While hopefully not for long time but this really made me aware of things and the need to plan. Gotta make sure that the collection goes to folks who will take care of the pieces that I have hunted down and worked so hard to collect. Just have to figure out how that would happen.

I will see if I can get it. I doubt it since I am really busy and budgeted at the moment. If someone else needs help with it I can likely do so. It it is the exact cabinet I have but mine has more orange in the speaker grill fabric and mine has the CTC 54. My turntable is the slightly more modern version of that one that also does not have the Studio Strobe adjustment which is frustrating to me since it plays records too fast. I guess '68 or '69 was last year for Studio Strobe? Then RCA decided they could make more profit at customer's expense? Seems like there is no excuse to take the speed adjustent off the top model. Mine is from '72 which is the last year for that cabinet. It has a slightly cheaper version of that stereo control panel without those switching buttons and one of the round knobs takes thier place but I think it is also rated at 200 watts. It sure sounds like it. I have had that system full blast without distortion many times. I love the sound. Mine has remote control. I would expect this one to be remote but apparently not.

Wow, three bidders in the mix. Even if it weren't ten hours away I don't think that would fit in my Voyager van. Good luck RCAkid - hope you get her!

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At least it will not not likely end in a compactor truck and then a dump....crushed beyond all recogntion. As long as ONE of US gets it....that is fine.

Amen Brotha!

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Since I'm right here in Arlington, if any of you are the winning bidder and need some local help let me know.

I could short term store it but I'd hate to figure out how many people I'd need to move it and load into a pick-up.

And no, I don't know who's selling it either!

Just PM me!

you got it all wrong!
you put the minivan inside the set!

Lol I love it! Yes those sets are huge! I have a CTC-40 set that was cut out of a combo unit that looked like that one. Sure wish I could find a donor cabinet for it. I got the set playing very nice and the hi lite CRT is top notch and has great emmission.

If I were in town, I'd go get it. That's only about 20 minutes from our Plano house, but I'm in CA right now. UGLY gothic cabinet, but CTC-40s are getting more & more rare.

Charles

That CTC-40 is a very nice-looking TV from the front (cabinet), but does it work? I have an RCA 1967 television brochure I downloaded from Mediafire.com a few weeks ago; this set is featured in it, on the first page past the cover, IIRC. I'd love to have a set like this, as I like wood furniture of any kind (don't care for the modern resin-plastic stuff in the discount houses nowadays), but I just don't have the room for anything that big in my small apartment. As long as I live here (been here over ten years and I intend to stay), however, the closest I'll ever come to having a wood console TV again (after my 23" 1963 Zenith I had in suburban Cleveland in the late 1960s) is having my RCA CTC185 19" table set on a medium oak utility cart, with my VCR and DVD player on the shelves below. Not a real console, but when you're cramped for space you make do with what you have. I wanted to use a TV cabinet I'd had my Zenith Sentry 2 and VCR in at my previous residence, but the RCA set wouldn't fit in the TV opening below the VCR shelf. :no: So, I did the next best thing, and put my video gear on the utility cart I mentioned. Since the cart is real wood finished in medium oak, it even makes my gray-black plastic cabinet RCA CTC185 (plus my VCR and DVD, which are also in nondescript plastic cabinets) look good, IMHO.

Whoa! I have read many things from the very impressive and generous Charles and never imagined he would ever even think of expressing an opinion that is anything less than the most diplomatic and polite response possible. I always imagined him being like a very good friend of mine who is a deacon of a local church. For Charles to call my set "UGLY" feels like a personal blow but is VERY refreshing! A little real personality can go a long way to entertain the guests here as well as increase the popularity of this site. Afterall, I think you need many users to keep it going? If it continues to stay so sterile in all that it discusses it may comfort a few incredibly valuable men who made this site so great but will it not keep many more from joining? Maybe I am wrong but I get that impression. Personally, I am not intentionally trying to "spice" things up. I have been trying to be honest while becoming part of a group that seems to want all to be the same in ways that clearly turn many potential members "off". It has often reminded me of being 13 and a guest at an RCA convention and the men all seemed nice to eachother but very mean spirited to anybody that is not just like they are. The numbers of men who are just like the stereotypical TV repairman are clearly dwindling at a fast rate. Maybe some who are different would become more alike if they were genuinely welcomed with respectful responses even if what they write may seem beneath the high level metality of the primary members who obviously know the answers but withhold info from guys like me who could do much good for this site and all it tries to do. Like when I wrote of the turntable of my combo going too fast not having Studio Strobe. No response from those who obviously know if RCA had a kit to solve that problem etc. I wrote of that a couple years ago and got no reply so I was not surprised when what is left of the same group of fellas still hold a grudge and lovingly hurt my feelings again. You all suceeded but I will outlive all of you and still be here with the new groups if this site lasts that long. Plus, I got a new friend who has sold RCA's since '64. I will ask him and he will know. I talked to him about life and so many things I just forgot to ask about the products. I recommended this site to him but he doesn't like it for the reasons I just wrote about.

While I can see how many could think this beautiful set is "ugly" it is certainly no more ugly than every other set we all love to look at. I like the model Andy likes better but this "UGLY" set angles it's speakers out just a little which is the main reason I like the cabinet over others and it helps distribute the sound a little better in huge rooms. Plus, it goes great with many popular homes and cars of the late '60's and '70's. I was showing it to a young lady friend of mine who liked it's look very much as she said with frustration as she tried to come up with words: "... it looks like... a... a church!". I thought that was pretty cute of her and not just because she was rather cute too.

White foundation makeup black eyeliner and nail polish and clove cigarettes playing some depeche mode. Yeah I remeber those days. So young and innocent.

I think that is very cute... seriously, I do! However, I think u two fellas got lost in the alternative scenes of the '80's to see that and gothic in a Spanish theme from the late '60's. I like the alternative people too :)

Lol i'm only 33. Just remember the early 90's. My dad had a CTC-46 I believe it was with almost an identical cabinet as yours. Sure wish he never tossed it.

A strobe and fine speed adjustment are not necessary on a record changer equipped with a synchronous motor, as this one is according to the catalog page posted elsewhere in this thread.

A synchronous motor will always run at synchronous speed according to line FREQUENCY. Line voltage will have no affect on it.

If a changer equipped with a synchronous motor runs too fast, it needs a new idler wheel.

My eyes hurt.... Not sure if it's from having to see that awful cabinet again, or from reading :saywhat:

Just know that my observations come from my honesty... And my '84 Corolla Diesel hatchback is a beautiful piece of artwork, and is a chick magnet-supreme!

Charles

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...rolla11-09.jpg

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I think you would like any of Zenith's console stereos, TVs or wood-cabinet table model radios, as they are in the type of cabinet you describe. I have three Zenith wood-cabinet radios and like their looks quite a bit. Zenith obviously did not believe in putting fancy stuff on their cabinets; I think theirs are what you refer to as "economy basic."

BTW, I think the quality of Zenith's cabinets took a nosedive in the '70s when the company started using brown plastic overlays, instead of real wood, on the speaker grilles of their TVs, stereos, etc. It was a cost-cutting measure, I'm sure, but in my opinion it made the consoles look cheap. However, I don't think many or even most people noticed the difference. I have two Zenith brochures, 1971 and 1973, that I downloaded from Mediafire.com; I found, as I looked through both, that Zenith was by the '70s using what they referred to as "non-wood" overlays on the speaker grilles of their TVs and stereo consoles of the period, "non-wood" meaning brown plastic.

This unfortunately became a sign of the times as many other TV manufacturers followed suit, with TV cabinets eventually being made entirely of plastic--leading, inevitably, to the black-plastic cube cabinets today's televisions come in. One way to make these sets look good, IMHO, is to put them on a nice real-wood stand, in an entertainment unit, or even in a wall; the first option (putting the TV on a real-wood stand) is what I decided on with my own video system, and I like it a lot, since I am one of those folks who like the look of real wood (all of my furniture is wood, and everything matches almost perfectly); I despise today's plastic and resin stuff that cracks or breaks if one looks at it cockeyed or if it is left in the sun too long (as is often the case with plastic chairs, tables and such used outside the house in summer), and sometimes wish it had never been invented.

Nowadays we have flat-panel TVs with no cabinet to speak of (they are almost all display), with the rest of the set hidden I don't know where. One way to make these sets look good in today's living rooms/dens/family rooms, IMO, is to put them in an entertainment center, with the TV opening just big enough to accomodate the set, giving the illusion of a built-in screen. A friend of mine did just that with a 25" Toshiba TV; he put it and his stereo/video system in an entertainment cabinet that I swear must be seven or eight feet tall. The thing just barely touches the ceiling in his family room; I'm darned if I know how he got it into his house in the first place. :scratch2:

I'm also not a huge fan of the "spanish/mediterranian" style that was popular in the early 70's- however, I think this particular combo looks pretty nice. at least all the wood carvings appear to be actual wood and not plastic as many have mentioned.

I think whether or not a person likes the styling will depend on the type of furnishing they already have. In my case, even though I think the combo looks good just by itself, it wouldnt match any of my living room furniture and would really clash. So far, I dont think I've seen anyone who has an entire living room decorated in that style. I used to have a ctc-40 combo as well, but I was lucky to get in the contemporary cabinet style with with very simple lines. I believe it may have been from 1969, since it still had the old "new vista" branding.

I'm kind of curious as to the styling tastes of the early 70's, as I come across a lot of furniture from that era which all seem to have the same themes- very heavy decoration, turned spindles, and chunky looking- and very dark wood. I've seen end tables that have panels covered in gold colored velvet like a speaker grill. I always check to make sure its not a stereo- and they usually are not. Also most of the decorations are all molded plastic painted to look like wood. It looks convincing enuf from about a foot away. I was born in the 80's so I wasnt around to know what the mood was like back then.

Can some members of the board who lived through that period tell us why they think that style was so popular? Also whether most people actually prefered that style?

I also have a magnavox combo from 1967 that has similar styling- except all the fancy wood work was molded plastic. Its not badly done, but I'm surprised since magnavox seems highly regarded for its fine furniture cabinets.

The 70's were a very strange time for style from hair to clothes (double knit polyester leisure suites), and of coure kitchen furnishing (avocado green, orange tiles, lemon walls) and carpet (shag).

The funny thing was there was such uniformity in taste (everybody wore the same dumb outfits, the same hair etc...)

Of course today is no differnt in many regards to odd (too me)styles (low baggy pants, multicolor hair, body art) but it does seem more variety is used in expressing ones self.

I am sure that 40 years from now people will be asking young people today to explain the styles of today as well.

Personally I like the 40's and 50's the best, at least from the way people dressed and groomed themselves. This is my take from someone that lived the 70's as a young person, and I really cant explain the style of the time other than to say that eveyone was doing it.

Also the views of the vietnam war and the idea of women wanting more than just being homemakers had a lot to do with changing attitudes that exploded in the 70's

watch an eposide of Mike Hammer or Leave it to Beaver. I love the way everyone dressed and the homes and cars etc.. of that time (mid to late 50's)

I do know that there was a revolution taking place in the youth culture and the womens movement that I think drove change for the sake of change, just to be able to say look how we are rejecting the past.

Thanks for the great explaination Dave! I kind of have a fascination for that era since I feel like I caught the remanents of it growing up. When I visited relatives, a lot of their homes were still decorated in that style, so I also recalled the shag carpeting, velore sofas and avocado colored applicances- and 8 track tapes. Even in elementary school they were still showing educational films on 16mm, and I saw many films from the late 60's. Many of them seemed ominous in tone and kind of creepy.

I also agree that today's styles seems more varied, and a lot of people seem to be borrowing fashions from all decades. There seems to be more of an interest in vintage furnishings and electronics. I'm not sure if that was a popular thing to do back in the 70's.

The 70's seems to be quite a contrast to the early 60's, which appears to be an era where things were smartly styled. The trend for most items seems to be slender and elegant, while the 70's were more on bulk and heavyness. I think a good comparison would be the slender ties for suits in the 60's versus the fat wide ties from the 70's. My personal prefernce for a time frame to live in would be the early 60's. I really hated the 80's- even when I was growing up in that decade. I thought everything was really cheesy- like how they tried to make things look cool by adding neon geometric shapes and squiggles to stuff. That was also the beginning of those non descript black box plastic tv sets. Even looking back today, the 80's seem pretty idiotic. I'd take the fake spanish styling of that ctc-40 anyday over an 80's tv set

Thank you very much for that. I think I should have known that but figured the previous RCA models with Studio Strobe had the same motor with a voltage changing cirsuit.

To all the old fogey, grudge holding over nothing, selfish RCA men who obviously take a twisted pleasure in keeping RCA's info in dealing with this problem from everybody just because you are jealous of me personally... go jump in a lake. Seeems like that should cool you off. To bad you will never be really cool :( . Why did so many of the cool personalities from the '50's, '60's & '70's become such bitter old sticks in the mud? Is it from breathing too much solder smoke or just old fashioned jealousy?

Your eyes hurt from reading what I wrote. The "powers" are getting back at you for turning into an old curmudgeon.

Hey... you got the same car as my church deacon friend!

At least your intentions are good... for the most part.

I have wrote several times that I prefer the styling you like in the Danish Modern, etc. I can like just about any styling if it is the best in any category. I can even like that elderly lady white French Provincial design like the Dumont I posted with the Cartier cabinet design. It reminds me of Liberace. He was really cool. I saw some of his TV show. He was very funny and oh how the ladies swooned over him! I do have trouble liking Early American designs and stuff from the middle east... now that stuff is definately gaudy.

I am very impressed with your apparent knowledge. Looking at most everything from the '80's makes me think people were being different simply to be different without any logical direction except to feed the hungry mouths of big-business. That wierd geometry in everything including hair and shoulder pads which are retarded on men and creepy on women is just awful to me in every way. Seems to me the general popular mindsets matched very well to that fashion. I believe the peak for popular style and interestingly enough for all of mankind in general in every regard was from about '67 to '69. One of the greatest examples is most everything shown in the Elvis '68 comeback special. His look was a cool as it gets. The women have never been more sexy. I do like the looks men and women had in the early seventies like in the Bobby Sherman in the retro VH-1 music video of his song Easy Come Easy Go. It's on Youtube. Bobby's look and vibe is great. I was showing my brother the video and he got frustrated saying: "... why do guys that act like girls get all the attention"... I thought that was pretty funny of him to think. The most popular guys are not so because of other guys. Popular fashion for young guys is pretty much dictated by what young girls are influenced to buy. Presently, the most popular styles are much like the late '60's & early '70's. Yep... it's a pretty gay time these days :) Any body seen Justin Bieber? Doesn't get much gayer than that. Today the look is cool but there is a serious lacking in the most important things that were more prevelant before Bobby & Martin were killed like most everybody trying to seek the knowledge to do right by all of mankind.

Pffft. Mostly, folks were not seeking the knowledge of embracing mankind before or after 1968. Don't idealize past times too much - there was as much crap going on then as there is now. There were bills, sickness, war, mortgages, love, hate, politics, good and evil, Bohemians and yuppies, straights and gays, peacemakers and hustlers...nothing has changed fundamentally. Just the styles and technology.

Personally, I admire they style and quality of the products from days gone by, but they were no indicator of an easier idyllic life. Don't get too wrapped up in it.

Thank you for expressing my thoughts... saves me the typing effort.

I think you make a very good point and I believe you are correct. I think what I was trying to say is that it seems as though a greater percentage of the population then were trying to do the right things by everybody as opposed to today's population seems to be more selfish than good for all. That is what it seems to be based on all that is in the media today versus all I can find that was in the media then. Also, I think many others would agree that the greatest generation of people were those who were adults in the '30's and '40's like all those that fought in WWII, etc. I know great people existed throughout all times including today but I am thinking in terms of what era had the highest percentage of people that were trying to become educated to do right by all. I certainly intend no offense to anybody. I intend compliments to all that deserve such. With that said I do think greater times could happen soon enough for all of us to experience and a site like Videokarma.org is helping in my humble opinion.
Thanks,
John

I have lived through 4 decades now and all had strengths and weaknesses, as far as products go this era of today likes purchasing cheap and have "new" replacements. Probably by going from manufacturing based society to service based society we have weakened ourselves a bit. Manufacturing was the strong point of this country, now we tend to sell out heritage and "take the money and run". Actually I think manufacturing will make a big comeback, in the 70's 80's driving a car was like driving a luxury recliner on wheels, today the interiors of cars look like an igloo cooler from the taxi cab/police car versions or the European style econo box vehicles. I think everything (including tv) cycles just like the weather. Speaking with a fellow from London he said European cars are considered junk there as to American cars, he said European styling in America still isnt as junky and cheap as the real deal overseas and is not even similar in quality. He said he chuckles at the American fabricated term "European Styling" he said most Europeans dont like their products over there. I think we are still doing good myself.

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I am VERY familiar with the large cars of the 70's and 80's. Top Gear once tested an '88 Town Car to demonstrate the horrors of American cars of the 1970's. To accentuate their point they were driving on collapsed shocks. So it made for a good story but I would hardly take them seriously, especially after seeing that.

It was akin to test driving an old MG with the choke knob left out and proclaiming what a smoky sputtering POS it is.

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I have kind of a theory on that choice of colors (yellow/orange/avacado/purple). LSD. Lots of it. Remember this was the Pink Floyd/Jimi Hendrix psychadelic era when everyone was imbibing in chemical experimentation. The decorators of the era were trying to "release their creativity" with every kind of pill they could get their hands on! So I'm told, when you're on LSD, everything is an "acid" color -- neon pink, orange, lemon yellow, fuscia green, intense orange-purples. Everyone latched on to it like lemmings.

I just bought a 1951 Truetone radio bakelite AM/FM at an estate sale that had been "Acidized" with a "groovy" orange/yellow/purple/pink striped grille cloth and purple-painted pilot lamps. Still trying to find a more appropriate fabric for the grille after reviving the electronics LOL

KX250: I had no clue they made diesels in that body style. I remember seeing the NUMMI Novas as hatchbacks but very few Corollas in the south. How long until Toyota gave up on Diesel in the US?

I agree 100 percent. :thmbsp: The present conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are the 21st century equivalents of the Viet Nam war, we still have drug problems today (good grief, even marijuana is making a comeback), et al...in short, forty years later, I swear the '70s are coming back to haunt us. I grew up in the late '60s-'70s but am glad I can't go back, and frankly, I wouldn't want to even if I could. Too much bad stuff going on in my life at the time, especially between mid-1972 and mid-1975 (long story and OT). By 1976 things were getting better for me, but still, I'm glad I can't go back to that era. It wasn't all bad (one bright spot of the mid-1970s was the Bicentennial celebration in 1976), but the world still had problems, as it does today and as it always will.

I wouldn't mind going back if I could bum around and cruise on Route 66 and so on. I'd love to take my VCR (and a boatload of tapes), a camcorder, my digital camera and laptop and start snapping pics and tape TV programs. B-) I know we had a lot of problems then.

As to the 1970's, I was a kid then, the BiCentennial had a special place in my heart, 1976 was a tough year for me, I was 9 going onto 10, my parents divorced and I almost flunked third grade had it not been for a good teacher and my mother working with me to get over that. The celebration was like a vacation in my mind from those problems.

Hmmm, you got a good point there, it seems like we have been tossed back into the 1970's with all the events going on today, heck, Jerry Brown is running for governor of California, if he wins, I wonder if Linda Ronstadt will be the new first lady of the state. :D:screwy:

We did have a local fast foodchain called "Winkys" in the Pittsburgh area, I'd love to go back and down a few "Great Ones" and "Big Winks" though. :D

Returning this thread to its original topic......I BROUGHT HER HOME TODAY! :banana:

The fellow that sold it to me had the stereo playing when I picked it up. Man that thing sounded great even in his garage. A bit of cataracting on the crt but the tv does indeed work. CRT looks like it may be a little tired but hey, it is a CTC-40 and she is home!!!!! :yes:

I would have to agree with Andy about cars. I lived through the 1970s and can repeat horror stories from the that era about all of the American brands. For example-a friend of mine had a 1970s GM car where the crankshaft in the engine broke in half at 20,000, miles-GM would only pay half of the repair. My sister and another friend had other GM cars-the door handles came out of the doors and the headliners fell down with in two years. I, myself have a 1978 Ford Mustang II(It goes to car shows now and wins all the time as there are so few of these left). It came from the factory with a bent rear axle, the water pump had to be replaced at 45000 miles, and the transmission coolant lines were incorrectly routed and crushed requiring a transmission re-build at about 50,000 miles. Once I got all the poor initial quality items fixed, it was ok(headliner and door handles still in after 32 years) until the radiator clogged up after many years and overheated the engine. I say ok, but it is a 1970s V8 with carb, so gas mileage is nothing compared to cars now. Another example is a friend of mine that had a Dodge-pulleys started falling off the engine before 50,000 miles. This is how Toyota and Honda got their start-this stuff did not happen to their cars in the 1970s.

The only area that I can say that 1970s cars are better than cars now is in the hubcaps. The metal ones used then last forever-the plastic ones used now are crap.