RCA Victor model VHT52W console stereo

I have purchased a RCA Victor console stereo model VHT52W. I believe it dates around 1968. I would love to have this working in the house so my young children can know and love vinyl. Turntable and radio works as it should. Only problems are:
1 overall volume is low. I have to turn it all the way up to get anywhere close to a normal volume.
2. Left speaker is stronger than the right when I use the balance to compare them.
3. Seems like not all the speakers are engaging at the same time. Only time I get any bass at all is when certain radio stations come in just right. Turntable sound is predominately treble and mid range. Everything else works perfectly. Walnut cabinet is immaculate! Would be perfect if it didn't sound so bad.
I want to get it fixed and I contacted an 84 yr old repair tech who has worked on these all his life. He will even make a house call. He directed me to the library to get the SAMs photo fact schematic so he can use it when he comes over. I figured out the the SAMs # that I need is 930-7. The library doesn't have it.
I want to get this working again without spending tons of $$$$$. I paid $100 mostly because the cabinet is so perfect. The repair tech estimates the fix to be between $100-175.
So, I guess my questions are: does all this seem to be the right way to go about it? And where can I find the 930-7 SAMs photo fact?

Those RCA consoles require a good thorough restoration in order to perform their best and be reliable.
I ought to know - I've done enough of them over the years.

$100-175 is cheap! - I'd charge more, simply because I don't think the work/labor/parts are gonna be that cheap.
I know the going rate of parts.

That 84 year old buzzard is either not making a PENNY on the fix, OR cutting corners and not doing the complete job that I know is usually needed for a "proper" restoration.
Use caution when the price is low.. you get what you pay for.

Thanks for the words of caution. I live in St. Louis if you can recommend an alternative for service.

Hey Matt--watch out who you call a "buzzard"---I know at least two elder gent's that still do excellent work, at mostly 50's prices.
They just work to have something "useful" to do, or for "the love of it", and do not need the $$$----
I hope that maybe, someday, I can achieve that "status"--- Ron Rich

Ron Rich wrote:Hey Matt--watch out who you call a "buzzard"---I know at least two elder gent's that still do excellent work, at mostly 50's prices.
They just work to have something "useful" to do, or for "the love of it", and do not need the $$$----
I hope that maybe, someday, I can achieve that "status"--- Ron Rich

Aww, Rich, I hope you become a buzzard, and you will, soon, you old goat!

But seriously, I know parts prices as well as you do, you being a pro jukebox servicer, and to do proper work on those consoles requires a substantial investment.
Capacitor prices have gone up - replacement rubber parts too.
And if those Germanium output transistors need changing, they're 30 bucks a pop!
The record changers need overhauling as well - gummed-up old lubricants eventually seize the mechanisms up.
At least another $20 can of electronic spray cleaner to clear away the ages of dirt - add that to the list.

See?

But..... it's a One-Time-Investment - to bring back the original performance and reliability - and people need to know that, because these things haven't been serviced or maintained in decades.
Once it's done, it'll go for a long long time.

I love my work too, but I also run a business, consider this a "career of love" - and keep my prices as reasonable as possible - but have to pay my parts distributors as well.

Matt,
"Prices up---" You bet--I just used a resistor that I have probably had around for over 30 years--it came from a "5 pack" Radio Shack package--marked "19 cents" (for 5). It was the last one of that size--I MAY have a few others around in other sizes--but what does "the Shack" charge for a 5 pack ( which is only a four pack) today ??-- and about that $5.00/ gal gas around here---
It's been three years since I raised my labor rates--hate to, but I gotta do it, again, or close my doors--first of the year--
Ron Rich

Matt,
"Prices up---" You bet--I just used a resistor that I have probably had around for over 30 years--it came from a "5 pack" Radio Shack package--marked "19 cents" (for 5). It was the last one of that size--I MAY have a few others around in other sizes--but what does "the Shack" charge for a 5 pack ( which is only a four pack) today ??-- and about that $5.00/ gal gas around here---
It's been three years since I raised my labor rates--hate to, but I gotta do it, again, or close my doors--first of the year--
Ron Rich

Ron, I'm not sure what RS charges for a "pack" of resistors these days - I rarely go there.
But the all too famous idler wheels for record changers - in 1965 they cost around $2.75.
Now?........ a rebuilt one cost me $25.00 + shipping.

One of those cute little RCA Victor "45" players - need TWO rubber wheels, a new cartridge, new capacitors, maybe a resistor or two.... then flushing, re-lubing of the mechanism.
Parts alone run about $90.00 - IF it doesn't need tubes...

But - once restored - they run like NEW again, and will last decades.
It's a one-time investment, like I said.

Sorry to resurrect this thread but I just inherited one of these RCA consoles (same exact model) from my deceased Aunt and I was wondering if someone can tell me if I will have any success using a modern day receiver with the existing speakers built into the cabinet. The speakers appear to be in good shape and my Aunt used to play this from time to time so I am assuming the drivers are fine.

What I am wondering is about the load (ohms), crossover and the sensitivity rating. Were these typically 8 ohm? There are 3 drivers: woofer, midrange and tweeter and it looks like the crossover is a fairly simply capacitor wired directly to the lug of the midrange and tweeter.

I would prefer to not gut the innards as I want to keep it in the same exact configuration but just use a modern receiver so I can play my plasma TV through the speakers built into the console. Some day I may decide to use it as a console player again and with any luck it might be worth some money if it isn't all gutted and modified.

I can post photos if it will help.

Thanks.

Will

No need to post photos, I've seen enough of them.
Those speakers are only rated for maybe 10 watts, and driving them from a higher-powered amp would eventually blow them out.

Have fun.

Will, most of these old relics have speakers of common impedance (4-16 ohm) most modern receivers will operate into those loads.

There is an important point though, the speakers in these types of set were not designed for the power levels modern equipment produces. Ten watts/channel was about it for most of them and the tone was shaped to keep the cone excursions within limits that won't damage them.

If you want to integrate one of these sets into your home entertainment system I suggest:

1) Have the original receiver-amp properly serviced and use it's Line or Aux. inputs for whatever you want to feed it.

2) Buy a small new receiver with no more than 15 watts per channel and still go easy on the bass and levels.

3) Go all out and replace all the speakers and electronics. Problem here is that you will still have an open-back enclosure (on most of these sets).

I took option #1 with a 1965 Magnavox. I rebuilt and slightly modded the original electronics, upgraded the phono pickup and connected a CD player to the "tape" inputs. This was in 1990. It doesn't get used as often now, but visiting family and friends still enjoy it, especially at Christmas.

These things are what they are, most of them don't lend themselves to massive upgrading.

Rob/NYC

Ah well, it sounded good on paper. I have a pretty sophisticated home theater but I don't fire it up for everyday TV watching. I have one of those low modern cabinets just underneath the plasma where I have a couple of small Polk bookshelf speakers, a Onkyo stereo receiver and a Sony bluray (for streaming only). I run an analog feed from the TV directly to the Onkyo. The home theater feeds the plasma via HDMI so I just switch inputs. 90% of the time we are using the Polks for everyday TV. My wife wants to put the console in place of the black modern cabinet and I have to agree that the wood and styling of it are very nice. My aunt took care of this and it is in pristine condition.

Sounds like the speakers would not sound good compared to the Polks even if I could get them working somehow. That is pretty low wattage and using the built-in amp isn't really an option because I need a remote volume feature and input feature.

I guess I can remove the drivers and try to fit the Polks in there somehow and then put the Onkyo and Sony player in the back on the bottom shelf (there is tons of room) and run a remote extender to them. That way, all I have to remove would be the speaker drivers which can easily be remounted at a later date to return it to its original configuration.

Not sure why I am getting hung up on keeping it fairly original...........Heck, I am having to remove the legs off the bottom in order to fit it under my plasma. I am being careful how I cut so that I can put them back on......well, sort of.

Thanks for the feedback.

I looked at the inside of this thing today and I think I can put my Polk bookshelf speakers at an angle right into the existing hole cutout for the large bass driver. I think I can just take some foam and some steel straps and snug it up against the existing driver panel. The Polks are front ported so no issue with any rear port and there is plenty of room in the back for the entire speaker box to fit. I'll just take some steel strapping at the top and bottom outside the existing Polk speakers.

Then I will just put my Onkyo and Sony components in the space leftover in the bottom-back of the unit and feed a remote extender eye to the top. I'll leave the back cover off for access and ventilation.

Hopefully those front slats won't affect the sound too badly - if anything they may help with the "stereo" effect. Just using it for everyday TV so I think it will be OK.

Man, there is 45+ years of dust inside the back of this thing............

Will post pictures when I is done - hopefully by the weekend. (I'm so excited! )

Thanks guys.

Found the owners manual (if you can call it that).............Power rating is 75 watts peak. Frequency response of 45-20,000. Each side of the cabinet has a dual cone 15" driver, a 7" midrange and a 3-1/2" tweeter. List price in 1967 was $429.95 and my aunt got it for the bargain basement price of $370.00.

Will, 1967 was the "wild west" and businessmen claimed all sorts of bizarre power for consumer electronics.

One of the popular tricks was called "IPP" instantaneous Peak Power. At it's most 'honest" this was a derived from an oscillographic reading of a tiny millisecond spike of power delivered into a purely resistive load (not a speaker). These spikes way too short to mean anything and were just for advertising blurb.

The more extreme version involved literally feeding a huge audio level into an amp while powering it will some bizarre voltage, say 477 volts. The amp would be instantly destroyed but still produce that tiny millisecond spike that could only be seen on a storage oscilloscope. That spike was counted as "IPP".

That's was how one saw "150 watts" output on those Electrophonic compacts and such.

A mid-seventies rule by the FTC required real, sustained RMS readings into specified loads. Finally people saw the real quality of what they were purchasing and frankly, even cheap goods became better for it.


Recently however things have slipped back somewhat.

The rise of multi-channel home theater sets has the misfortune of rising to prominence during the previous, anti-regulation administration. This once again led to those HTiB system claiming "1000 watts" and having nothing more than 20-50 -real- watts per channel with -maybe- more than one channel driven.

Then of course, there is Bose........

Rob in Honest RMS Watts NYC