RCA Orthophonic High Fidelity

Hello all,

I know I may not get a response right away, but I keep checking ebay for these things, and usually I see a lot of them listed, but
right now there doesn't seem to be anything. I am looking for an RCA Orthophonic High Fedilty. Some from 1957 on. My Great
Aunt and Uncle had a 1959 RCA Victor Orthophonic High Fidelity Dual Amplifier. This is actually a stereo model, most of them at
that time were mono. I believe it has a swtich to go in either stereo or mono. It's actually an actual console stereo. Some of these
Ortophonic Phonographs, at the time were actually table models. I remember something previous about this but I don't think I got
many responses. The kind of machine I am looking for was made between the years of 1956 and 1959. And most of the time their
model numbers begin with S H. If you think you have what I may be looking for send me a reply back with a picture, and I will let
you know if thats what I am looking for.

my Aunt Jeans stereo is an SHC-4 and looks like this
http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/rca_shc4_ch_rc_1168c.html

Hello,
I think I have this exact stereo. It is an RCA Dual Amplifier Stereo Orthophonic High Fidelity looks exactly like the picture you posted it is original wood and it works. I will post a picture of it as soon as I can. Are you looking to purchase?

yepp.. you are describing my 87 year old Great Aunts Stereo... her and my great uncle bought it shortly after they got married,
funny thing is if he was still alive they would be married like 60 years! The stereo I believe however is like 51 years old because
I think it was purchased in 1958, or 1959. but not sure! I would love to see a picture if you have it.

I have one here in Michigan a RCA Victor SHC-6 with "room divider" back intact, external speaker, original sales invoice and manual. Beautiful condition-
email if you'd like to discuss.

Hi Mike,

I think I have the same one. It looks just like the picture you provided and appears to be in very good condition. We are willing to sell it. Let me know if you are still looking for one and I can take a picture of it and post. I am not sure where you are located but I am in Rhode Island.

Oh yes!! If you have one you are willing to sell. Please let me see pictures, and let me know how I can contact you. What is your E-mail?

You can send a private message ("PM") to any member of this forum by clicking on his name posted on the right hand side of the post. Ron Rich

I have one of these RCA Victor Orthophonic High Fideltiy Stereos. Would love to sell it. Please contact me.

I have to add that depending on the model, the Orthophonic "DA" series of phonos are not really "stereo" in the usual sense.
True, they're "dual amplifier" models, but needed a companion cabinet to actually play sound in stereo.
These companion cabinets housed a seperate speaker, in some cases an amplifier, and some also included a 2-track stereo tape recorder.
Additionally, some units used odd components, such as out-of-phase cartridges now long gone. - retrofitting and modifications are needed these days. - a real PIA.
This era was RCA Victor's "transitional period" of experimenting with binaural/stereo sound. - thank god they eventually got wise and went to building equipment in a more traditional way later on.

This may be true for some models, but the RCA Console my great aunt has IS in "Stereo" I did correct her on one thing, she thinks the stereo was made in 1951 or 52 which was shortly after she and her late husbands(Grandpa's brother) got married. I corrected her and told her that it was manufactured in 1959, maybe late 1958. I found this out after spending years and years of doing research on this set.

It does say "Stereo Ortophonic High Fidelity" right on the main unit. And there is even a little lever above that indicating whether or not you want the unit to play in either "Stereo" or "Mono" and on the grill there there's a lil badge that reads the same "Stereo Orthophonic High Fidelity" Dual Amplifier. Granted I'm not sure what the dual amplifier means, but why would RCA place "Stereo Orthophonic" if it was indeed not "stereo" That would be false advertising. On my SHP 12, it says right on the back. "This is a self contained stereo model" in those exact words. I haven't done much with that yet because as you all know, my 1960 Maggie "Imperial" is my top priority. It WILL be a job for someone to restore, the way I want it restored, but I know it will be well worth it. I do also hope to get my both my RCA SHP 12 and SHF 7 restored someday.

I do know on some of RCA's earlier models. They stamped "New Orthophonic" High Fidelity on their systems, no where does it indicate that these units are stereo, but on the SCH 4 it does. I HOPE someone can explain the difference between what they meant by "Stereo Orthophonic" and "New Orthophonic" I know this sounds obvious but a lot of you are confused, so much so your making me confused.... ugh

So hopefully these pictures will clear up any confusion some of you have. I do know RCA Sold external speakers, but in the case of my Aunt's Stereo I don't know why, because you can hear the stereo throughout her whole house even when the volume is turned up less than halfway up. Seem deal with my Magnavox. I don't know why Rose had to have those speakers in her kitchen, The stereo goes up LOUD and I mean LOUD you can hear it outside. I'm sure people just purchased these external speakers if they had parties, gatherings or what not. Some people I'm sure would just take the EXT speaker and drag it outside in the summer. I heard one guy on youtube talking about that. I for one never had any external speakers hooked up to my stereos, I never felt any of my systems needed it, ESPECIALLY THIS ONE!! Peace Out!!

Phonomike wrote:It does say "Stereo Ortophonic High Fidelity" right on the main unit. And there is even a little lever above that indicating whether or not you want the unit to play in either "Stereo" or "Mono" and on the grill there there's a lil badge that reads the same "Stereo Orthophonic High Fidelity" Dual Amplifier. Granted I'm not sure what the dual amplifier means, but why would RCA place "Stereo Orthophonic" if it was indeed not "stereo" That would be false advertising. On my SHP 12, it says right on the back. "This is a self contained stereo model" in those exact words.
I do know on some of RCA's earlier models. They stamped "New Orthophonic" High Fidelity on their systems, no where does it indicate that these units are stereo, but on the SCH 4 it does. I HOPE someone can explain the difference between what they meant by "Stereo Orthophonic" and "New Orthophonic"


I know this sounds obvious but a lot of you are confused, so much so your making me confused.... ugh



So hopefully these pictures will clear up any confusion some of you have. I do know RCA Sold external speakers, but in the case of my Aunt's Stereo I don't know why, because you can hear the stereo throughout her whole house even when the volume is turned up less than halfway up.

Allow me to UNconfuse you about those RCA Victor models you mentioned....

The SHC-4 AND the SHP-12 are "stereo-capable" units indeed.
Thus the "Stereo Orthophonic" badge proclaiming this capability.
Meaning, they CAN play stereo sound, sure, BUT with an additional speaker system attached. (through jacks on the rear panel)

The SHP-12 consolette does indeed have a "dual amplifier" in it, but needs that external (an option) speaker to play full stereo sound.
Because the SHP-12 only has a single speaker system in its main cabinet.
One woofer, and a pair of tweeters. - by itself it can only play monophonic sound.
I should know, I own one. - and the fact that I'm a long-time RCA Victor servicer.

In the SHC-4 console model, the external (also optional) speaker also has a seperate power amplifier to power its own speaker system.
Alone, the SHC-4 can only play monophonic sound as well, although it has dual "preamps", making it "capable" for stereo as I mentioned before.

I hope this helps you and others, as far as "confusion" matters.