Classic Hifi Care

Hello all,

I'm dipping my toe in the restoration waters and am trying to find information about my project.

It's a Solid State RCA Victor Model VGT90W console from 1965 ("G" designation?) with a S/N of 60 4130. I have been unable to find any photos or info to verify if it is considered a "New Vista" and what style cabinet. I have stumbled on pics of consoles that share the Tuner/TT layout but nothing that has the same speaker layout.

Welcome to the forum! We hope you will feel right at home and will join us often!

Your avatar is interesting. We have several members from Michigan and several also who have classic cars. We actually have a board on the forum dedicated to our "other toys" so be sure to check that out also.

We have members here who can tell you more about your stereo than I can. One of them is sure to chime in with information that can help you. Thanks for sharing pictures. We like pictures....

Welcome, and yes please share your projects and photos. If it is 1965, it is definitely solid state and should have a "New Vista" somewhere usually found on the lid. If it is not easily seen, then it may not be. I am not sure when that name came out, but my 1966 RCA Home Theater does say "New Vista" on the LH lid. With your speaker arrangement you have a deluxe unit. The less expensive ones did not have 8 speakers. Does it play at all, maybe the radio but not the record player? There are a couple of guys that are more familiar with RCA and may have access to manuals and a schematic. Stay tuned and see if one of them jumps in. In the meantime, please feel free to look over the forum checking out all of the different categories.

Bill

Bill, thanks for the “secret” that I was completely missing . Never thought to take a closer look at the lid; I do have a New Vista.

I’m going to re-post my query in one of the more appropriate forums to see if I can generate more answers.

Craig

You are welcome, Craig. Please do post, and I would start your thread under RCA and be sure to include photos that may pertain to your questions if applicable.

Is the Oldsmobile wagon yours in your Avatar, it looks like a 1973 or 74. That is a good-looking Olds.

Bill

William,

The wagon is a '73 and we have owned it since 2012; mostly original with less than 60k on the odometer.

Nice ride, I have always liked the big Olds and Buicks of that era.

Bill

There are several members of the forum who have old cars. Please check out our "Other Toys" board, further down toward the bottom of the index page.

Greetings to another Michigan Member .... Nice RCA ...the cabinet looks like what I am trying to reproduce for the MW guts I have...

Welcome to the forum. Thats an extra nice RCA walnut beauty and rare, compared to the more common cabinet I have seen using the same chassis in later models- Anholt VLT-51.

The control panel with "800" looks like what the upper-case models, later introduced in less expensive step-up giants. The RC- and RS- chassis numbers are best to use for service data. I will look in my limited files.

The later SS RCAs sound surprisingly good using those oval LF speakers, some have plastic horns instead of extra cone tweeter.

Beware of the bad rivets holding those speaker terminals onto the metal basket I pulled flex leads out of the voice coil the first time when trying to pull the spade connector. Then ones in your picture look better than typically found.

I had two 68 RCA consoles with the same working chassis and extra parts, minus the 800 designation. I sold one and had to demolish the weather-beaten cabinet one.

Was able to identify the cabinet through on of the FB console groups I joined. Sorry for the poor quality pic but it's all I have. Was also able to obtain the correct Service Manuals from YouTube's Steve Scarlet.

Appreciate all the information and tips received.

Glad you got the info you needed, and now the fun starts. Good luck and be sure to keep us posted.

Bill

The discussion on this topic should be continued on the RCA board.

I see it on the RCA console section.

I fixed it. Somebody had a senior moment.........

Southeast Michigan might be the best market for consoles in the world. Keep your eyes open. You can very likely find something older, better sounding and easier to work on than a midline solid state RCA in my opinion.