1963 RCA MX-7 Tube Type Stereo Receiver

[TundraWalk3r]

Wow, that's a really nice stereo. I'm glad that you were able to save it from the unforgiving clutches of the landfill.

Matt

[1LonePuma]

What a marvelous thing you've done--restoring that wonderful stereo amp.

I have a Sansui G7700 that both left and right channels have once again gone out. They tell me the parts are no longer available, but I hate to get rid of it anyway.

Hopefully one day I'll come across someone as knowledgeable as you to fix it.

[Turkeydoodlers]

People are so numb when it comes to this stuff, why would you just throw it out? Glad you staved it Chad

[imfree707]

Magnificently constructed receiver! Big output transformers and nice Nuvistor FM front end!

[paulj0557]

What were the advantages of the Nuvistor? Was it a space saving thing or a performance thing? Speaking of dumpster scoring. I found 48 Ck722's and 8 Nuvistor 6CW4's a couple of years ago at a retired Defense plant engineer's trash pile. I continued to go back every week. Turns out the surviving son lived next door to his mom ( the wife of the former worker). In his spare time he was sorting through the stuff & organizing ( baby food jars etc.). Was pitching out boxes w/ mice droppings.2Bcont.?

[rockangel1967]

cool. that is a EM84 magic eye, right?

[gli7utubeo]

Wow!! Never saw anything like this. Bless those guys at the Sarnoff center back then.

[CassetteMaster]

EXTREMELY NICE!!!!!!!

[Nivicoman]

I have the chassis and turntable of a JVC Delmonico/Nivico Model 224 tube mini-console. The FM section is mono but there is an 8 pin jack in the back that you plug a multiplex adapter into for FM stereo. The tuner and amplifier (single ended) work but the turntable needs a switch, idler wheel and motor grommets. Then I need to find or make a cabinet since the seller on ebay had thrown it away. Knowing these early JVC products the cabinet was pressboard (reclaimed sawdust) that crumbled away.

[BadEditPro]

Question: Is the phono input for magnetic or ceramic level cartridges? Nice unit! :) JC

[wb5oxq]

I found and restored a 1957 Blaupunkt console found behind a goodwill store out in the rain. It now plays well considering that all lables and controls are in German and the frequency bands to not fully match Northamerican broadcasting. I had to replace the turntable since it would only run on 230volts 50 cycle current.

[emyandmatty]

do you think you could do a vid on recapping an amp and replacing transistors?

[ShitFromShinolla]

Wow, I didn't know RCA made high end equipment back then. I have a 1959 PILOT 602 with dual AM & FM tuning dials too. The FM section is not stereo. I was told the reason they made separate AM & FM dials was to receive stereo broadcasts. An FM station would broadcast channel A & an AM station channel B. The selector knob has a setting that plays AM & FM together, 1 from each speaker to make stereo. I bought a PILOT FM Multiplex unit 4 it from ebay but didn't hook it up yet.

[RetroCaptain]

@ShitFromShinolla Good day, There never was such a thing as "Stereo broadcast reception, via use of both AM & FM bands at the same time.... he is perhaps like the singer in this vid who claims "Ocean front property in Arizona". It was a fancy fad back then..a neat looking style, like dual exhaust on an automobile.. If you could put a vid of your receiver playing AM/FM at the same time, let me know.. The multiplex unit enables your set to play stereo FM signals. There used to be AM stereo.

[ShitFromShinolla]

@RetroCaptain Yes, the Pilot 602 has an option on the selector knob that allows the AM & FM Tuners to play at the same time simultaneously. Do some more research on the Pilot 602 you will see what I mean. I can eventually make a video of it playing both bands at the same time for you but that won't be for a while as I have to dig it out of storage.

[bratina501]

@RetroCaptain Actually there was, in the 1950s before FM multiplex was invented a method of transmitting stereo was one channel on AM and the other on FM.

[215alessio]

what does he mean with "bumblebees" and "black beauty's" and mylar Copl capacitor"  ? can someone explain. whats the difference between those 3 and whats theyr function.

By the way Clear sound for tube tecnology, my tubed Philips sound alot worse.

[Peteworth]

Bumblebees and blackbeauties are capacitors that have a bad reputation for leaking. They need to be replaced because they are bad or soon will be, much like paper capacitors, they tend to go bad. especially ones from 1963. BTW tube technology is the most coveted sound, if ur phillips sounded bad it might of had bad capacitors like the ones mentioned.

[retrochad]

Yes that's right...black beauty was a Sprague or Cornell Dubilier brand name and "bumblebees" are ones with the capacitance identified in color bands like a resistor and they therefore end up looking like a bee. These are both paper capacitors in a plastic shell and develop electrical leakage just like the wax type. They develop less resistance through the paper dielectric and can short out or cause an overload.

[215alessio]

Thank you! Now I know the nicknames for those paper based capacitors.

My philips had electrolytes but I think they tend also to go bad (they survived many decades) I buyed 2 Philips stereo boxes for aprox 15 dollars from a dumpyard or else they would been destroyed and for ever lost.

My knowlege of Tube tecnology is less than basic. The tubes used in these philips have to be tested and are (unfortunately) european fitted so they have very delicate limbs.

[215alessio]

I saved an Italian Amplifier Geloso from a dumpyard. Some old Belgian Clown from the Belgian armee trowed it in a metal collect container. He called it Italian garbage. That Clown was an ugreatful basterd becos that amplifier played 30 years in that hangar enduring bad temperatures in summer and winter +37°C and also at - 25°c . Now it is save and well in my garage! I only have to find the tubes that broke in the inpact when he trowed it into that metal container.

also have to test those.

[Mrtriumphchopper]

Good to you for saving a fine example of sixties tech. It's quite a piece of art, as well. I shudder when I think of the number of hi-fi's I've gotten rid of. Live and learn.

[Joseph03743]

Nice receiver. Sounds good. My 1st receiver was a Sherwood S7900A with 65 watts RMS. Got it in 1973 or 1974. I later had a Pioneer SX1010 [100 wrms] and later a Pioneer SX980 [80 WRMS].

[leedeforest]

I have three or four of these in my basement, some in the original boxes unopened (my grandfather was head of the electron tube division at RCA). I used one as my stereo back in college. The best things about it (besides the sound) were the magic eye tube and the remote control.

[nakamichiguy]

I didn't know RCA tried to compete in the high end market back then, except for their TVs. I love their old electronics but they were really more mainstream rather than high end. Really cool find, and great job bringing it back to life!

[gli7utubeo]

I think those Nuvistor tubes were used by Musical Fidelity in the late 90's in their amps based around them .

[K7AGE]

Armstrong would be proud! The FM is very much noise free compared to the AM! Too bad that so most of the programming on radio is crap!

[silvercityblue]

they had receivers in the 60s wow inever knew that!

[ChromeBumpers]

five *****'s very cool vid... my Seeburg juke has four 6973s in the output, SHFA5, I got some 'no name' Electroharmonix ones and they sound fantastic, I wouldn't have believed it myself! They are as good, if not better than the four NOS RCAs I had in there before. And they're like one quarter the price too.

[radlam64]

Those are some robust PP OPT's.

[guimbadriver]

hey in AM the variable capacitor uses 3 stages, good project first time i see a receiver thats uses independent AM FM blocks

[vinylman86]

my 1966 zenith tube portable record player had wax caps in it. i found that unusual for a later model tube set. i end changing those along with the filter because on of the paper cap short and i was getting slight zapped by touching metal parts of the record changer.

[hdyudu]

turn on pretty like a blender

[peugteobike]

I like tube stuff

[5inBoca]

That's beautiful. I guess it was used in an expensive home back then? I'm surprised Elvis' Graceland had the same unit that was offered in the top home entertaiment center for '68 beside his famous 3 RCA color TV's instead of something like this. Maybe his Los Angelos pad had one of these?

[SonOfSputnik]

sounds amazing im concidering gettin an outlaw reciever or a vintage tube amp like urs

[damusician]

nice score! my 1982 sansui z - 9000 turns on with the function switches too.

[ddl312]

nice save

[AllAmericanFiveRadio]

Wonderful save!!

[southjk]

wow...that's a real thing of beauty

[mylesgifford123]

nice