RCA Stereo Orthophonic Model SHC-4
 

Just got back from a trip to Phoenix to pick up an RCA Stereo Orthophonic Model SHC-4. All original and complete from what I can tell, including the dust inside. Has dual 12" and 3" speakers. Haven't tried to bring it up yet. The owner hadn't used it for many years, so it will definitely need a re-cap and some minor cleaning. I've always wanted one of these. :D

A nice find! i love the tuning indicator on those.

I have a similar model with the amp on the right side. Yours looks to be a console variation of the smallish radio-only that stood on tall legs. I am not near my small version and my console version is weighed down by my Sony 34" HDTV so I will pass on exact model numbers. Mine had the amp changed at some point to another model but does work. I got it for few $ to have a stand for my monster HDTV. These are great units. My small blonde version is nearing recap completion.

Noticing the stereo-monaural switch. Is this model equipped with a multiplex decoder chassis for stereo FM broadcasts?

With those angled tweets, there is likely enhanced stereo effect though being close to gether.

Is the output tubes 6BQ5 or 6V6? Can't wait to see how this turns out.

This predates fm multiplex by a few years... Usually in that era only the phono input was real stereo.. And sometimes you needed to plug in an amplified speaker to hear that.

Don't forget AM-FM simulcast stereo. That was in use well before FM-MPX.
I have plans to get an outboard simulcast tuner, and add an MPX decoder to it, since the AM sections of the simulcast tuners usually had REALLY GOOD sound quality to try and make the simulcast stereo sound better tonaly balanced.

That model used SE 6V6's.

At my mother´s it is still out old RCA Stereo-Ortophonic from 1957-58. I don´t remember the model No. There are two separate wooden enclosures, both the same size, big and with metallic angled legs that lifted the body about 1 feet from the floor.
One of the enclosures is just a speaker and only opens at the back, the other has a top lid, and inside there is the record changer (much like hi-volt´s), and space for the radio (but ours had not a tuner, so we used the space to store records). The amplifier is mounted on its side, so all the controls come up in one side of the turntable. For what I can see on the last photo of the SHC-4, where the amplifier´s back panel just pops out, it is the same chassis, or something much alike.
It used a 5Y3GT, one 6V6 on each channel, and three 12AX7 in cascade, one triode section of each tube was used for each channel.
Each channel had two tweeters, mounted like in the SHC-4, one angled to the left and the second to the right.
The difference in internal volume among the two enclosures (the main one had half its height used by the comprtment for the record player) must have outraged the stereo purist. However, it sounded very pleasantly.
Now that every home theater takes advantage of the non-directionality of the low frequencies and use only a woofer for the bass, it is weird to see TWO 12¨ speakers side by side on the SHC-4 (and the tweeters at the center). Well, at that moment nobody at the industry knew better, I would have made the same mistake.
The tone control used a 7-pin couplate (passive RC modules which were, I think, the first attempt at integration). About 1976 it was repaired, and the technician broke one of the couplates. I didn´t know how to calculate the values of the components and had to figure them out, but at the end had both tone controls working with discrete R-Cs.