The first RCA "45" player

[Electronic M]

I've got a 45-EY-1 almost the same as that but a later revision. They are fun little players. I need to get mine to consistently drop a record...The stack likes to go crooked on the change cycle and not let the bottom one go.

DSCN2813 by Tom Carlson, on Flickr

It is impressive how good of audio RCA was able to squeeze out of what amounts to an AA5 with the converter and IF tubes (ie all the radio stuff) stripped off.

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

I've got a 45-EY-1 almost the same as that but a later revision. They are fun little players. I need to get mine to consistently drop a record...The stack likes to go crooked on the change cycle and not let the bottom one go.

DSCN2813 by Tom Carlson, on Flickr

It is impressive how good of audio RCA was able to squeeze out of what amounts to an AA5 with the converter and IF tubes (ie all the radio stuff) stripped off.

Yes, it seems these have a fierce following! Many collectors seem to end up with several of them. I'm a fan already. I was told that some 45's will need to have the hole trimmed/smoothed. If not it might get caught-up on the spindle and not drop. Mine does this too, but so far only with one record.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by decojoe67

Yes, it seems these have a fierce following! Many collectors seem to end up with several of them. I'm a fan already. I was told that some 45's will need to have the hole trimmed/smoothed. If not it might get caught-up on the spindle and not drop. Mine does this too, but so far only with one record.

The one pictured is the first one I acquired and my only unit with the RP-168 mech. I have a couple more that use the RP-190 mech and a couple stacks of 45's as tall as the players...The 190s handle the same records just fine (or drop 2 at a time once in a blue moon)...I have ~5 that neither the 190 or 168 like that I've been planning to trim.
One thing I dislike about the 168 mech is that instead of the spindle cycle shaft being a fine-toothed gear(as the 190 has) it is instead a 4 tooth star with no intuitive indexing on the shaft...When changing the idler wheel it is hard to get the star back on at the correct rotational index for it to work.

[init4fun]

I just recently restored a 6EY2 , just to be able to play the stack of 45s I've got . This is a 1955 manufactured unit that still used the Octal 12SQ7 35Z5 and 50L6 , I'd have figured by the mid 50s they would all have been the 12AV6 35W4 50C5 but maybe RCA had a few warehouses full of the Octals to use up . I bought the rubber wheel and the cartridge from Gary at Voice of music , recapped the amp , and yes indeed this little unit can really belt out a tune !

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by init4fun

I just recently restored a 6EY2 , just to be able to play the stack of 45s I've got . This is a 1955 manufactured unit that still used the Octal 12SQ7 35Z5 and 50L6 , I'd have figured by the mid 50s they would all have been the 12AV6 35W4 50C5 but maybe RCA had a few warehouses full of the Octals to use up . I bought the rubber wheel and the cartridge from Gary at Voice of music , recapped the amp , and yes indeed this little unit can really belt out a tune !

Nice phono. That model was originally my first choice if I ever got one, but then I realized I like them all! I was just listening to Be-Bop-A-Lula by Gee Vincent and it really sounded like a vintage jukebox playing. The sound from these fills the room.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by init4fun

I just recently restored a 6EY2 , just to be able to play the stack of 45s I've got . This is a 1955 manufactured unit that still used the Octal 12SQ7 35Z5 and 50L6 , I'd have figured by the mid 50s they would all have been the 12AV6 35W4 50C5 but maybe RCA had a few warehouses full of the Octals to use up . I bought the rubber wheel and the cartridge from Gary at Voice of music , recapped the amp , and yes indeed this little unit can really belt out a tune !

I had a little larger RCA 45 player that had an 8" speaker and a push-pull amplifier using 2 35L6s, a 35Z5 and a 12SC7. It also had a tone control.
Built around the same era!