RCA Victor C12-1 at the thrift

[audiobiker]

hello everyone! i am a member of audiokarma who was told to come here because y'all are experts with this kind of thing i just found this at Value Village and they want 1.5 franklins for it from the research i have done, in this condition it would be worth a grand total of $20. so it is priced really high, but that also means it wont sell it will be half off next week so i figure i will go back later in the week next week and see if it is still there and see if i can talk em down on the price a bit. I would probably restore the whole thing as a summer project or take the amp out and build a new case for it. would this be worth the time? thanks in advance!

[Sandy G]

Seventy-Five WOULD be a TAD steep, but NOT the Deal-Killer 150 is...Fifty would be a LOT better.

[audiobiker]

ok i am gonna try and bargain them down. and if it is still there the week after that it will be 75% off and if it still doesnt go away maybe i could just pick it up for free instead of them recycling it *sigh* if only things worked like that

[radiotvnut]

You won't know until you try and I hope it all works out.

The ones around here price stuff like that really high and they get all in an uproar when you try to get them down. And, they'd rather throw something in the crusher before they let it go for less than what they think it's worth.

[Electronic M]

This console don't have a separate amp chassis to pirate, and though stealing amp chassis may fly amongst the drooling audio-fools on AK, folks here are sticklers for originality. BTW most pre-50's stuff is far from Hi Fi...Some sound quite good, if you don't notice the lack of base and or treble response.

That is a nice RCA if you can get it for under 70$ it should make a nice example of the era once recapped. It should have SW too which is fun to listen to. BTW a good way to talk them down if you have the nerve to plug it in(I know you can ruin stuff that way, but if it ain't yours....) and if it don't work right you can claim that it will cost alot to fix and at the price they want plus repairs you'd have more invested in it than it is worth.

[DavGoodlin]

Its a set with more than 5 tubes, so it was a more expensive model when new.

Tom's giving good, sound, radio advice to plug it in. BTW do NOT do this with an old TV.

Just do it fast, long enough to hear a loud hum or static, and pull the plug-fast! Mumble something about a bad transformer and act really bummed out.

If the cord looks really bad, as most original rubber cords do, then mumble something about it being unsafe.

I find that most collectors will price thier stuff within reason

[dieseljeep]

It looks like it has the old cloth covered power cord. It's also a Canadian model. I like the metal can around the 5Z3. RCA bragged about all metal tubes, so they couldn't expose the glass rectifier tube. IIRC, it's a 12 tube radio.

[leadlike]

I used to live in Bellingham-Is this at the Value Village by the Toys r us? Just curious, as that used to be my favorite thrift store there in town. Never saw too many old radios when I lived there, but LOTS of nice stereo equipment and cameras. If sales are anything like they used to be at Value Village, it will still be there a week from now, but you may have others waiting to spring on that 75% off figure. I would hope that the power cord has rotted away, otherwise, you can be certain that the VV staff and customers have been plugging it in and trying to get it to work since it arrived.

I restored one of these sets for someone, and it was an excellent performer, BTW.

[audiobiker]

and i am back after a long period of time gone...i never ended up buying this set because i didnt really have room. it sat there for over a month and only sold when it was marked to to 20.00 and went half off. it was pretty rough so it doesnt surprise me. the power cord was actually cut off so i couldnt have plugged it in...and yes this was at the VV next to where toys r us used to be except toys r us went away and VV is in its building now.