rca victor ctc16 available

[Jeffhs]

I took another look at the picture of the RCA antique white French Provincial console, and noticed something that doesn't seem quite right. There is a hole directly beneath the UHF channel selector, which I think may have been for a control (volume and power switch, perhaps?). I wonder, though. If that control is broken or missing, how on earth was the set powered up? The only thing I can figure is that, if the switch is bad or missing altogether, it was jumpered.

I agree with the poster who "worried" that the set's value would drop like a stone if it fell off the cart on which it was perched. Yes, it would drop--to some value well below $550, as the CRT would likely be smashed and other damage would certainly occur to the circuitry; the TV would then be worth next to nothing, except maybe as a parts set. I would be afraid to plug a set like that in, even if the CRT survived the fall; I certainly wouldn't pay more than a few dollars for it, either.

Originally posted by wa2ise
It seems that many things from 20 to 30 years ago look ugly to modern eyes. Back in 1970, bakelite radios from just after the war looked ugly. Nowadays it's stuff from the late 60's and the 70's that look awful. Give it another 15 years, and it will look great......

Well I happen to like the disco era Zeniths (slanted cabinets) and these will certainly be collected by others, but that ornate overdone femmy looking baroque look seems to be gone forever.

If you like it, fine, not criticizing anyone's taste....but I think it's safe to say that it wasn't very popular when it was new and most likely will never get any more popular.

You know what they say about a old car that didn't sell well when new? No one wanted it then, and fewer want it today! Can you say "Pacer"? LOL

Anthony

[wa2ise]

That console doesn't match my tastes either. But someone in marketing must have thought it worth producing a few thousand of them. Maybe the same cabinet was also done in more normal brown wood tones, and only a few painted white? Did people go to a TV shop and select their consoles from a catalog for delivery later?

Wasn't that one of Liberace's old sets?

I saw part of a PBS show about Liberace my mom had on and he had a normal looking TV set at his home. Similar style to my RCA 21t8395:

[Eric H]

The hole below the channel knob is the remote sensor, i think.

[captainmoody]

Yes, That hole is for the mic for the remote sensor.
Isn't that funny, Even Liberace wouldn't own that feminine style of set!

Originally posted by captainmoody
Yes, That hole is for the mic for the remote sensor.
Isn't that funny, Even Liberace wouldn't own that feminine style of set!

LOL! Seems to me that would be the sort of set that Mrs. Drysdale from the Beverly Hillbillys would own.

I can just see some rich bitch dripping with jewels, wrapped in a mink coat wearing far too much perfume and clutching a fruity looking poodle, sitting on a couch eating her Bon Bons and barking orders at the hired help while berating her husband over some trivial matter and all at the same time watching this TV.

Do I win the Dennis Miller run on sentence award?

Anthony

[Chad Hauris]

I think Zenith and Magnavox did a better job with these kind of TV-Phono consoles by using power tuning controls at the set and concealing the knobs or by putting them up in a top compartment so that all you see on the front is the screen. This french provinicial console just looks like someone stuck a table model RCA CTC 16 in the cut out area. (Now don't get me wrong I really do like the RCA's, but Zenith and Mag. made better looking large consoles).

[captainmoody]

I agree with you on that one Chad. RCA had a rather plain design as far as the controls on that one. They saved money by using the same bezel for many models.
I like the high end mag and zenith combos also as well. Motorola had some nice ones too.
You know, It is funny about what heathkit tv said, I used to repair a Magnavox in the same style cabinet for a lady that fit his description to a tee!
All the furniture in their front room was that style! What I remember most was the thick shag carpeting they had and the petrified dog turds I found when pulling the set away from the wall!

Originally posted by captainmoody
I agree with you on that one Chad. RCA had a rather plain design as far as the controls on that one. They saved money by using the same bezel for many models.
I like the high end mag and zenith combos also as well. Motorola had some nice ones too.
You know, It is funny about what heathkit tv said, I used to repair a Magnavox in the same style cabinet for a lady that fit his description to a tee!
All the furniture in their front room was that style! What I remember most was the thick shag carpeting they had and the petrified dog turds I found when pulling the set away from the wall!

I know all and see all, for I am the great Kaballah.

Pray unto the Holy Sacred Camel Egg!

Anthony

[Jeffhs]

Originally posted by Chad Hauris
I think Zenith and Magnavox did a better job with these kind of TV-Phono consoles by using power tuning controls at the set and concealing the knobs or by putting them up in a top compartment so that all you see on the front is the screen. This french provinicial console just looks like someone stuck a table model RCA CTC 16 in the cut out area. (Now don't get me wrong I really do like the RCA's, but Zenith and Mag. made better looking large consoles).

I agree 100 percent, Chad. Today's TVs are being designed with no knobs, dials, etc. on the front panel, so we have come full circle on this issue. My own RCA CTC185 is an example. The set is in a very dark-color cabinet; the six pushbuttons that control volume up/down, channel up/down, menu and power on/off are the only controls to be seen. In fact, these buttons are practically invisible with the set on and only one other light on in the room (or in the dark), so all one ordinarily sees is the screen. The same buttons are duplicated on the remote. This design, IMO, makes the set a lot nicer to look at, especially if you put the TV in an entertainment-center cabinet or on a wood stand finished to match the rest of your furniture.

I agree with all comments made here regarding the appearance of the white French Provincial cabinet of that CTC16 3-way console. I would never have furniture like that in my apartment, let alone a TV of the same color. (My furniture is all dark wood; everything matches everything else. Wouldn't have it any other way.)

I said I liked the looks of the light-through channel selectors on RCA's CTC16, but that was about all I liked about that console. I nearly laughed out loud, however, when I read Anthony's comment about the image of a rich woman decked out in jewelry, with a poodle in her lap, barking commands at her servants, etc., all the while watching soap operas or old movies, etc. on a TV in that style of cabinet (and with the remote close at hand, of course).

If that particular set were to have been offered by RCA dealers in, say, a mahogany or cherry wood (or even oak or maple) cabinet, the appearance of the entire TV, including the light-through channel selectors, would have been much more attractive in most living rooms with dark or medium wood furniture, not to mention the fact the company probably would have sold more of these sets than they did.

Come to think of it, RCA may have offered that model in several different cabinet styles, as most manufacturers (including Magnavox) did when large 3-way entertainment center consoles were in style. If they offered this console only in white French Provincial, I doubt if they would have sold very many of them; maybe that style didn't sell well after all, even when such furniture styling was in vogue in this country.

BTW, I didn't think about the possibility of that small hole under the UHF tuner being for a remote-control sensor. The size of the opening is what threw me; it looked to me to be just the right size for a thin control shaft, which is why I immediately leaped to the conclusion that a shaft for the volume control and/or power switch may have been broken off or missing.

Originally posted by Jeffhs
I said I liked the looks of the light-through channel selectors on RCA's CTC16, but that was about all I liked about that console. I nearly laughed out loud, however, when I read Bryan's comment about the image of a rich woman decked out in jewelry, with a poodle in her lap, barking commands at her servants, etc., all the while watching soap operas or old movies, etc. on a TV in that style of cabinet (and with the remote close at hand, of course).

Hey you hucklebuck, it was I, Kaballah who wrote that drivel!

Isn't it interesting to think how television came of age in the 50's....the era of modern pushbutton everything, except TV sets?

Pushbutton automatic transmissions (Packard, THEN Chrysler and Edsel), stoves, washing machines, etc etc. Not until the 70's did pushbutton on set tuning controls appear--granted remote controls had this much earlier, but not quite the same thing at least in terms of styling.

That's one of the key things that always struck me about my precious heath GR-2000's, their futuristic neutered look in terms of knobs.

Anthony (AKA Kaballah)

[Jeffhs]

Anthony,

If you look at my post directly above your quote, you should see my correction. I realized my mistake as soon as I posted my original reply, which is why I reposted a second one. No offense meant or intended.

BTW, I do like your avatar. Earl "Madman" Muntz on board a sailing ship, proclaiming "Avast ye Muntzers!" below the TV. I had forgotten Madman was a pirate.

[bgadow]

I briefly had an RCA roundie combo, I think it may have been a little older than this, but I don't know the chassis. I have a non-combo console with the same chassis, anyway. They used side by side tuning knobs-I have not seen a picture of one anywhere on the site. (can't get to mine right now) Anyway, on the combo, it had basically the same control panel as the other set but was located under the top lid so you did have a clean front. (I actually saved the panel when I scrapped that poor specimen)

Originally posted by Jeffhs
Anthony,

If you look at my post directly above your quote, you should see my correction. I realized my mistake as soon as I posted my original reply, which is why I reposted a second one. No offense meant or intended.

BTW, I do like your avatar. Earl "Madman" Muntz on board a sailing ship, proclaiming "Avast ye Muntzers!" below the TV. I had forgotten Madman was a pirate.

All is forgiven! And a good thing for you as an angry Kaballah is a vengeful one.

My avatar was the primarily the creation of both Rob and Vintage TX with a slight mod by yours truly. See here: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/sho...threadid=11605

Anthony

[Steve D.]

Anthony,
In response to your eariler reply. "No push button sets until the 70's." RCA actually produced in 1958 the "Worthington" CTC-7 model 21RC899. This was the very top of the line (make that expensive) remote control set. The best part is that all the remote buttons were duplicated on the set itself. No knobs to be found. This included channel, volume, fine tuning, color and hue. All electronic either from the remote or on the set. This was a limited late production CTC-7 model and sold for $1200. a tidy sum in 1958. Mrs. Drysdale after getting out of her pushbutton equipped 1958 Chrysler Imperial would find the "Worthington" right at home in her living room. The set can be seen on Ed Reitan's site on his CTC-7 page.