A friend of mine inherited a bunch of furniture and such from his mother. I happened to notice an old console stereo among all the piled up stuff and commented that I hadn’t seen one like it in years.
He asked if I liked it and as it was a really nice piece of furniture I answered in the affirmative.
He said its yours.
We loaded it up and when I got it home and plugged it in it works just fine.
What I would like to know is where I can find some information about the thing? Such as when it was made, it’s worth if any? It is solid state so I figure it dates from the early sixties or later.
It is an RCA Victor “new vista” console. Model number is VHT-44S.
I have googled all the RCA sites and even searched on E-bay hoping to find some information.
Worth? You did your friend a favor hauling it away for him. Solid state console stereos systems are virtually worthless. Given their size, few people want them. You have to go back at least 10 years further with tubes before you get something antique enough for someone to want to pay money for.
For nailing down age, there should be copyright and other dates on various labels. In addition to the back, there should be info on stickers inside the back cover. Just be sure to unplug it before taking off anything.
What ftg said. Maybe there will be a retro market for old solid state consoles in 20-30 years (or maybe not) , but today the landfill is the main destination and especially for RCA unit’s which were mainly regarded as mediocre units even in their heyday.
