1994 RCA CD/cassette bookshelf stereo system repair

[@hattree]

It's funny how something that was intended to be so incredibly cheap is so much nicer that what you can get today. Thompson really killed the RCA brand. You really do find the most hilarious stuff to avoid copyright, it so adds to the charm of your channel.

[@AaronOfMpls]

😆 Indeed, I never knew there _were_ reggae Hanukkah songs! Excellent repair and review!

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Poor RCA. I miss it's pre-1990's peak. 😢

[@MrAdamGC]

Even a cheap stereo like that was repairable to some degree back then. Good job!

[@m80116]

And it sounds great for what it is! No perceptible wow and flutter... cheap but good!

[@westelaudio943]

@@m80116 No AC erase or Dolby though. Also no inputs and level meter. So it's not very useful as a cassette deck.

[@janosnagyj.9540]

@@westelaudio943 Never intended to be one of them.

[@2muchrubik]

I’m convinced you only make these videos just to showcase your collection of the most obscure music on the planet. I love it!

[@blurglide]

I got a similar Magnavox system for christmas in 1993. It was a bit over $300 so pretty expensive at the time. Sound quality was actually EXCELLENT for a small room. Probably some of the best tweeters I've heard in a consumer-grade system

[@skyrocketautomotive]

I've had such a crap day at work, I've come home to do invoices and after people whinging at me all day this video was just the thing I needed! Super chilled out and really interesting. Thanks as always!

[@juliedunken1150]

And… no one cares about your privilege

[@rarbiart]

had to repair 100+ of this type during my first year in the shop in 1995. mostly cd pickup replacement, burnt out transformers, broken sliding switches etc. i have the specific smell in my nose just by looking at the video.

[@stevesstuff1450]

This one's a little champ then!! Lasted all this time, and only got hampered by a couple of worn belts...!

[@CheaddakerT.Snodgrass]

Funny. I've said the same thing about the smell of these things. I wasn't going to say anything about this one even though I wanted to.

[@Eliotime3000]

That bookshelf stereo system really reminds me to my former Memorex stereo. That seriously rocks in terms of Hi-Fi playback on cassettes.

[@ashleycox432]

I'd be interested in seeing a video showing your entire audio equipment collection. Would be interesting to see which pieces you kept and which you didn't, and the stuff you might not have shown.

[@juliedunken1150]

No

[@juliedunken1150]

@Alex Mit i am interested in taking a lady poop , want to watch? Lol lol. i am so silly, I love Kevins videos!

[@sam_64]

yes!

[@juliedunken1150]

@@sam_64 No!

[@ChillToMusic87]

@@juliedunken1150 😂

[@stevesstuff1450]

Excellent! How good that little system actually sounds (I know it was a $5 thrift-shop find), but it can't have cost much when first released! For a real cheap-n-cheerful '90s stereo, it has proven to be very reliable (you really can't hold worn belts against it!!), and is capable of decent playback quality, and the recording to tape made on this was very decent indeed - not much hiss at all, and clean, clear playback! 🙂 Great video, and a nice repair. 🙂

[@mikecruz3902]

Even without Dolby nr system this dounds good.

[@stereophonicstuff]

For being as simple and cheap as it was, I'm surprised how well taken care of it was. Usually those budget models are so worn out after being used in garages, basements, and of course, by painters and the obligatory paint splatter. You got a great deal for $10

[@josephdunkle1152]

What a sweet stereo. Funny how these units were made to look like separate components but they were actually all in one plastic box. I remember seeing these in the store as a kid and my parents finally bought me one for Christmas. It was a cheap GE branded machine but it had a CD player and dual cassettes, which I thought was awesome and made mix tapes using borrowed CDs and the radio.

[@DanOConnorTech]

They show it's a "Digital" Compact Disc. I'm glad they clarified that. I would hated to have gotten stuck with an analog compact disc player. And...The Walker's tape too!

[@CommodoreFan64]

My Stepdad use to have one of these in his shop all the way till the late 00's when it finally died from a power surge, but I always remember it sounding very good for what it was. Also on the FM transmitter, I use to drive an 03 single cab Ford Ranger Edge that only had an AM/FM Radio with 6 Disc CD changer(was left to me by real father after he passed away), and I used a cheapo eBay FM transmitter to listen to podcast on my phone, or Shoutcast radio stations on my way to, and from work, plus the little AAA battery lasted at least a good 40 hours before needing to be replaced, now I have an 02 Ford F-150 Super Crew Cab(left to me by my stepfather who passed in 2015), and use a tape adapter with my phone made by Sony made sometime in the 90's, and it still works great, and sounds great, with no need to upgrade the radio in my truck.

[@izwanshaari9854]

I am thoroughly impressed. Gotta admit I wasn't expecting this kind of performance from a cheap stereo. Cassette recording quality is very good despite the ALC and permanent magnet erase head. No sign of compression whatsoever. That bass boost sounds good too. Most bass boost system make the sound bloated. This one acted like a loudness control which is better.

[@casualretrocollector]

What a great sounding cassette deck! I’m blown away about how clear it sounds. Great video as always sir!

[@GaryKeepItSimple]

I miss this sort of equipment. Well done.

[@Recordology]

The clear piece is to keep the grease off the belt.

[@TonyBanks21]

What a lovely,little system ! Great that you managed to restore it back to full working order,with such little effort. Love the nifty little FM transmitter you used to create a wireless Aux link,via the FM band on the tuner-I didnt know these were available !!

[@therealbluedragon]

You have a real knack for finding the strangest music. It’s great!

[@peterjszerszen]

I thought this was a budget unit until you opened the cassette door. The cushion means quality. Everybody knows that. My uncle bought an ultra rare Nakamichi Dragon Platinum Plus in 1984 and he's _still_ waiting for the door to open all the way. That's quality. Still, this one doesn't hold a candle to the 1988 Yorx Newave, the best consumer stereo ever. It's so good, you can hear the hiss from the original mastered tape when it gets quiet.

[@Trance88]

I'm actually impressed! Good job RCA! RCA-Thompson was a decent manufacturer back in the day. This unit was probably one of the cheapest units in their lineup. Its only one small step above a boombox.

[@Gr8thxAlot]

I remember having money with my first high school job and studying Crutchfield catalogs on bookshelf systems. I could never make a decision on which one to buy and ended up with nothing. :-) This video takes me right back.

[@Wiikender]

Really excellent selection of weird thrift shop CDs/tapes in this one, very fun watch

[@lucasmertens1]

If you’re willing to sacrifice an input, for example, the radio input, you can lookup the datasheets for the IC that the radio uses, find the L & R audio channels for it and wire in a 3.5mm jack for a line-level input solution. That’s what I generally do for old stereo systems that don’t have an auxiliary input by default. Looks especially neat if you use a panel mount 3.5mm jack.

[@rannugblah4251]

Ahhh my VWestlife fix for the week is saved! Thanks for the content Kevin. Keep up the good work, I always enjoy your stuff!

[@rizzlerazzleuno4733]

During the eighties and nineties there were hundreds of variations of these all-in-one units. In the name brands (Japanese) the biggest difference was the quality of the speakers. The cheap models often had big speaker boxes, but inside was a cheap 3" speaker. The most expensive models had a record player, digital radio tuner, dual cassettes with Dolby, a mic input, multi-disc CD, and good quality speakers. Gee, I miss the top of the line Panasonic I had. Those better quality speakers you used with this unit made a big difference. The original would have been in plastic housing with lower quality speakers. Wouldn't have been great if CD and cassette drives could have been made without belts. Millions of these units have been discarded due to belt wear. Thanks for demonstrating that units like this can be repaired. 👍👍You are quite lucky in your thrift store finds.

[@James_Ryan]

I must confess that my 20-year-old self (in 1994) would have been repulsed by the lack of Minidisc, digital tuner, logic control for the tape, remote control etc but today, I would love to own one...

[@juliedunken1150]

How is someone your advanced age even on the internet? Boomer get off me internet

[@slofty]

@@juliedunken1150 Nice joke.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@juliedunken1150 people in their teens and twenties _built_ the internet in the 90s :D

[@REXXSEVEN]

@@slofty Yep. So original.

[@juliedunken1150]

@@kaitlyn__L the internet was built before the 90s, the world wide web is from the 90s. Stupid Boomer

[@Sharks4Cup408]

I had the dual cassette version of this system when I was a kid. So awesome.

[@lathesangiriharan2295]

Despite the cheap feeling, the sound quality sounds pretty darn good. Love the audio soundtrack from the 8 Bit Guy's Pestcii Robots game

[@upliftingsiren]

alot better than i expected from a unit like this cassette sounds great only downside is that there is no tone controls only "bass boost "

[@AndersEngerJensen]

Neat little deck! Reminds me of one I had back in the early 90s. Great job! :D

[@branhicks]

My aunt had the same model. I remember they also made one with a turntable in leu of the cd player. Those speakers are a significant upgrade from the original

[@simonbeasley989]

I really like the cut down features on that. It's cheap and they've kept it basic so you're only paying for what you really need. The speaker terminals are a nice touch.

[@Safetytrousers]

The 3d cassette auto-filled my surround system really well. Quite possibly the best auto-fill from a stereo source ever.

[@57thStIncident]

Not bad at all! A bit cheap-looking and low on frills but seems pretty solid nonetheless. You're probably right that the likely step up in speaker quality there isn't going to waste. The bass boost which as you said also boosts treble seems like the 'loudness' feature on many devices which can help a bit when playing at very low volume levels.

[@ruley73]

@2:08 Iowa Hawkeye fans know this song very well - it's the Victory Polka! IIRC this model was sold at Kmart stores. It actually sounded decent with the speakers it came with with the bass boost was enabled. I believe the original speakers had 4" full range drivers. Those RCA branded speakers from Radio Shack are a substantial upgrade.

[@mervintoot]

"You better wash your hands"... That's the best Beatles cover I've ever heard 😆 If it wasn't for YT copyright policy I never would've enjoyed that awesome track!!!

[@slofty]

The _3 Dimensional Living "Nature" Sounds_ is shockingly impressive coming from the tiny transducers on a Fire HD, and this is coming from someone who really digs his JBL 705's.

[@confusedkemono]

the part with 10 classics in 10 mins was great LOL

[@kirkmooneyham]

I think it's rather excellent that you were able to save that thing. Some would ask, why bother? Well, I think there is just too much tendency to throw things away, things that can be repaired, and enjoyed by someone. Nice work, and it really did sound quite decent.

[@douglasallen9428]

I used to have an RCA boombox that looked a lot like this bookshelf stereo many years ago… thanks for another great video, Kevin!

[@vernonbishop]

I used to have a stereo like this when I was a kid. It had a dual cassette player/recorder, and my friend and I did the car adapter method, by drilling a hole in the cassette player door... Worked well indeed! 🙂

[@coolelectronics1759]

@The Relaxation Station They have some adaptors now that are literally housing a whole mp3 player inside the cassette now too! I had one in 2018 and about to go and look for another one haha. I miss that thing, I never used it as an adapter as it was also an mp3 player I caried it around in college as a standalone mp3 player walkman. I even made a custum case for it carefully drilling a headphone hole into a normal cassette case. I now have the idea of doing it different this time and adding a belt clip like from one of those chinese baofeng walkie talkies I have around and puting in some powerful magnet in the plastic to keep it shut for the gym running.

[@Kwstr42]

omg i had this stereo as a kid, i can still remmember the feel of the buttons with their super shallow push distance lol. the speakers i had were very similar to that but then again probablu everything was cookie cutter another thing, there is no aux, but outside of phono there wasnt anything to plug i to it back then that wasnt already built in. i remember this being a fairly affordable CD player for the time period. the cd i received with it was the Batman Forever sound track

[@coolelectronics1759]

haha talk about cheap cookiecutter design I have the speaker drivers from one of these things inside my bartop arcade machine. My god the drivers cabinets were terrible tiny drivers with poopy magnets and giant cheap moulded plastic cabinets but they did the job it seems and they sure do the trick for my use wired in series to the pandora's box module that I run in my machine. I payed nothing for the stereo it was donated by a neighbour but I am happy I was able to recycle it!

[@onefatstratcat]

I still own a RCA VHS unit from this era... still works like a champ! Got it from a Radio Shack from their discount table for around $30.. and yes it came with the remote taped to it :)

[@coolelectronics1759]

is it the one with the chunky smily shape plastic front resembling some hotwheels/matel barbie car electronic for kids only its black? I think they also made it in red at some point for a disney rebranded version I recall seeing at sears and I believe they later even had a Cars the movie version.

[@deletesoon70]

I had one of those auxiliary cassette things for my car back in the day, a bit awkward and fiddly but got the job done as long as you had someone riding shotgun to work the thing. GF had a Discman and between our two basic rides only my car had a tape player, hers notta! 🙃

[@lukasgayer5393]

I absolutely love the selection of weird test recordings :)

[@LapisandHamtarolover]

18:58 It was why my younger self fifteen years ago preferred boomboxes with dual well cassette decks before I came across boombox cassette decks with microphone in or line in.

[@apl175]

Glad you were able to "Bring home the magic of R-C-A!"

[@Haffmatthew]

I would have totally bought this had I seen it at my local thrifting venue too- I have a penchant for these ubiquitous 90’s all in one units. Good video as usual Kevin!

[@juliedunken1150]

Kevin?

[@REXXSEVEN]

@@juliedunken1150 You were expecting someone else?

[@RetroPC]

Excellent video! Thank you for introducing me to Anders Enger Jensen! Been listening to it ever since! ♥️

[@jasonwilliams6005]

For something "cheap", it has good quality. Nice.

[@tiporari]

These little predecessors to the bookshelf systems that replaced them have a particular charm. They were cheap, didn't always sound great, but they capture the era well. Aiwa, Sony, and others made some pretty extreme permutations with 4 speakers, transformers esque plastic molding, and beautiful VFD displays. I never listen to music anymore. Probably because of cell phones, alexa, and crappy Bluetooth speakers. Just doesn't excite.

[@rich_edwards79]

We didn't have RCA in the UK, but the Hi-Fi pages of the Argos and Index catalogues were full of similar budget systems by brands such as Bush, Alba, Saisho, Akura, Goodmans, Pye etc. For the most part I think they were intended for garages, kitchens and kids' bedrooms; I had one briefly as a teen but it was nowhere near as well made as this and got returned after six months when the CD player quit reading discs. Although cheap by the standards of proper, branded Hi-Fi separates, they were still relatively pricey for the time - around the £90-100 mark in 1992 or 1993, which works out at maybe £300+ in today's money.

[@PaulTheFox1988]

A slight correction but useful for those in countries less familiar with the £, according to the BoE, £100 in 1992 is ~£197 (approx US$220) in today's money, so still expensive for what you got, but not as bad as you might expect.

[@hunterdavis3003]

The music you play is always a trip

[@TRONMAGNUM2099]

Nice little bookshelf stereo. I remember having something similar in college. I'd like to get one similar just with Aux input so I can solder a bluetooth board on the inside of it. So it looks original.

[@xaenon]

If I need to add an AUX-IN to a piece of equipment, I usually piggy back the volume control pots, or the 'common' section of the input selector. It's kind of a kludge approach to the problem, but it does work, and it's not hard to do. I may or may not add a switch at the rear to bypass the built-in selector, depending.

[@alexflores7652]

You know it's a pretty good little system for a dorm room or bedroom. I had something like it back in 1995 or 1996. The one I had had a 5 CD changer and dual tape deck. Then our family cat chewed through one of the speaker wires I had to splice it back together.

[@Ebessan]

This helps as a knowledgeable reference for when I might need to repair my Aiwa Sound System. :)

[@dang75790]

I bought my bookshelf stereo from goodwill 6 months ago. It was in like new shape. Had instructions and remote. Has 5 disc cd two cassette decks and woofer etc for 23 dollars!

[@Narayan_1996]

Neat little radio, would be nice to have it at the side of my bed to listen to some cassettes before sleeping ♥

[@tomsimpson3322]

Top work replacing that cd belt. I’d definitely would’ve broke the damn thing. Great video as always👍🏻😉🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@luvdady]

Lol can I pop it off I'm like yeah my money is on will it go back together? Lol why he's got the channel not me

[@Phatty057]

Now! that's a candidate for mods. Nice little system. Much better than the Yorx one I wanted back in the day.

[@ryansease7066]

Hard to imagine that you could actually get something relatively cheap back in the 1980s and/or 1990s and there was actually some decent quality to some things like this RCA. Pity we can't really say the same about things nowadays for the most part.

[@coolelectronics1759]

good point although sometimes you can still find things somewhat servicable for cheap. Some cheap modern appliances I taken apart like fans microwaves, heaters, toasters, blutooth speakers, TVs and games consoles still have somewhat repairable/replacable parts inside. Only wish fans had an oil port in them from the factory to make oiling them easy. But when it comes to anything with logic like heaters/ACs/fans with soft logic controles forget about any chance of fixing it should a dsp or IC blow up.

[@und4287]

This reminds me of early 2000s boomboxes in terms of features. Basically a bookshelf version of those.

[@phononut]

I've still got mine, bought it at Wal-Mart. It still works, Great video and repair.👍🇺🇸

[@jakubukasiak2425]

The fm transmiter sounds suprisingly good.

[@TheJacksonRoykirk]

Yes! Love little systems like this.

[@milfordcivic6755]

I remember seeing these types of systems in Kmart, Bradlees and Ames back in the day.

[@gsnfan]

Hey, good find! Good sounding stereo for a 90's model. And the speakers are a perfect match. Bass boost on those is cool.

[@gammaboost]

11:06 That CD loading animation... I could stare at that for hours

[@ReviewsforNerds]

I had one of those in highschool and it ended up sitting on the back porch of a house for years in all kinds of weather working day in and out. I miss it.

[@alextirrellRI]

Great little system. So unfortunate you can't get this kind of quality in an affordable system these days.

[@JRock424]

I love bookshelf stereo systems. With a little ingenuity and a little cash you can turn one into a soundbar alternative for your TV.

[@GraniteValleyDave]

Thoroughly enjoyed the video. I find your cadence and style of video among the best on the site. I also really liked the cassette at the end ha. Looked for it second hand online but no dice.

[@Musicradio77Network]

I remember this stereo system. We used to have one in Enterkill back in the day which was part of Anderson School.

[@goodnightmoon]

beautiful small system

[@M.C.D.Technologies]

I had a Sony Bookshelf speaker system when I was a kid I loved that thing. Mine had dual cassets and a CD Player with AM & FM.

[@LightTheUnicorn]

For a lower end unit that sounds very good and is pretty serviceable, a nice little system!

[@IkanGelamaKuning]

For a sentimental value, this system is worthy as collection.

[@dennisp.2147]

It's a little sad that something that was maybe a step and half off of the bottom of the barrel 30 years ago is probably better than a lot of the stuff you can buy today. Even though the mechanism is a Tanishin it's a "real" one and the motors are higher end than what you'd get in many name brand products today.

[@CARLiCON]

nice work, it looked like there was some lithium grease on the CD belt, btw the AM sounds really good

[@erikcarson1373]

This is not a "cheap" stereo. It's a solid system that spent its money on what matters most. I think this is what happens when you start out with a better top of the range model and value engineer it to the lower end of the range. It's clearly missing some desirable options like an Aux input and manual stereo record level nobs but they didn't cheap out where it counts like the motors. I wouldn't be surprised if it was made buy another manufacturer and branded RCA and that manufacturer made a book shelf system that looked more upscale and had more options. Of course it cost twice as much and wasn't sold at sears. There was this sweet spot back in the day after compact discs became affordable and cassette tapes where still being used (in cars especially) when you could get systems like this that sounded good enough that being an audiophile was just within reach of the everyday consumer. Then personal computers got affordable and that time was gone.

[@jammck1399]

Totally 90s whenever I saw these at Kmarts Walmarts and Circut Cities had one like that in 1994 for Xmas and it was alright until I started moving into ones with more sound.

[@gmespia]

Great video, thank you. Could it be that transparent plastic is there to protect the belt from grease falling on it accidentaly, and therefore making it slippery?

[@alkestos]

very likely

[@jamespoole76]

I really enjoy watching these videos you upload. I like the retro hifi systems “You Better Wash Your Hands” & 10 classics in 10 minutes 😂

[@PrankZabba]

0:37 - OMG! I love that album. Theres some really great full versions of the opera online. The time lapsed one of that cabin in the mountains is the best. Took years to film it, and goes so well with the entire thing.

[@JacGoudsmit]

This was right at the end of "Let's try our best to provide the best quality for the price that people want to pay" and the beginning of "Just throw something together, we can't make it cheap enough anymore if we want to put quality in it but if the price is right and we can make it look good, we might still make some money". That happened right around 1993-1994 if I remember correctly. The sound quality is pretty amazing for a system that's obviously built on the cheap, and the features are juuuust enough to make it useful in an office or another room where you don't always need the best of the best. I would probably hacked an AUX input into it by connecting two RCA jacks to the CD audio but surprisingly the cassette adapter and FM transmitter work very well too. By the way I'm sure I don't have to mention it to you but don't put that cassette adapter in a DCC recorder. I know it has something that looks a little like a DCC logo and it will work but you could really mess up a DCC head (made out of silicon) with the metal head in that cassette.

[@REXXSEVEN]

9:40 VW, That clear plastic thing may be there to stop the grease that is on the gear which controls the tray from making contact with the rubber belt and causing it to slip (or possibly even damage the belt).

[@bukeksiansu2112]

The build quality is very cheap but I didn't expect the sound to be so great.

[@lirrprodigy2810]

I had one of these made around 1996. I inherited from mom when she didn’t need it anymore. Very similar, Single cassette deck, a cheap CD slot on the top and the same FM/AM dual with a viewing window. Was pretty damn good until the cassette deck slipped and one of the knobs broke off… CD player was the same deal, hard time reading discs. Unfortunately tossed it. Not worth the reinvestment. Enjoyed it for the short time I had it though.

[@jlexon]

I like the inclusion of the polka tape! Raz, dwa!🎵

[@intuitive.scorpio]

Great find📻. And an awesome video!📹

[@TonyMontana-x1y]

This System was my first CD Player as a Kid 1993

[@wakcedout]

This looks like something I had back in the 90s, but I think mine had 2 cassete players so I could copy one if I wanted. And I remember taping music off the radio.

[@mojavedesertsonorandesert9531]

Still have my Yamaha stereo system from 1989, My Sony system from 1990, recently restored, changed out old parts, gave them a good clean up. I refuse to pay for online music when I still have a good selection! Heck, I still have my 1981 JVC cassette boom box! And all the cassettes...😉

[@TRLTheRandomLab]

If i had to pick between a cheap stereo that had a bunch of features and poor audio quality, and a cheap stereo that lacks many creature comforts but sounds great... i think the choice is obvious 🙂

[@cdl0]

So good, I am nearly asleep by the end of this video, thanks to the 3-dimensional "living" nature sounds. :-)

[@卡拉永遠OK唱不完]

I'm surprised it uss a Sony KSS-210 series pickup lens on these low end system!

[@Raptor50aus]

My most recent restore is a Sony CFS-9900 from 1986 and it sound amazing plus it was free. It has CD/AUX and phono input too. APM speakers are amazing

[@TapeHeads42]

I got something VERY similar to this at the thrift store for $12.99 and the cd player didnt work and the tape player played very slow. Fixed it by myself and it the best player i have right now. Only cassette player i have the plays at the perfect speed. I was very proud of myself lmao 😊

[@timothyapplegate2881]

I am a big fan of using car cassette adapters to add aux inputs to bookshelf systems. I use one with a Panasonic thrift store find I would never trust an actual cassette in.