Can anyone give me any information about the TV pictured? I was given the model number 14 Y 8115, but I cannot find any information.

This is my first time to see one!

Thanks,
Cody P.

If by information you mean service literature Sam's isn't giving me any hits on the model.
Try to find the chassis number on the TV it should begin with KCS and end in 2-3 digits such as KCS97. You may also need to do the same on the amp chassis. The changer mech Should be an RP-190 which is a favorite of mine... there's some great videos about restoring those changers on YouTube.

Odds are that set is product planning telling production to take a 17" portable TV chassis and a small phonograph and stick them together in the same box...

That's a really cool set. If you are looking to sell it I might be interested...

This is not mine. It actually came across in a Vintage Television Collectors group on Facebook. I did manage to find one more worth point website, but no real information. I actually want one. That is why I am looking for information.

If the model number starts with 14, then it's only a 14" set. It's one you won't find very many of.

I believe it's actually supposed to be 14VT8155 and covered here in Sams Photofacts 396-3, although the set on the cover is just a TV in a metal cabinet. You'll note that at the bottom of the list of models they show an amplifer chassis which would be for the phono, as well as inside the box there's reference to the RP 190 changer service data.

https://www.earlytelevision.org/pdf/rca ... _396-3.pdf

There weren't many small screen table model TV's built with only a 45 changer, the 7" Airline is another that comes to mind.

They are fairly rare sets. I think I have only seen one or two hit the market before in my 15 years of TV collecting...they may be rarer than this: http://earlytelevision.org/airline_94gse.html

The RCA was probably sold with legs to make it a consolette.

If you see one for sale jump on it because you probably will have to wait a LONG time for the next one.

If you just want a TV/record player in a modern cabinet look for a vertical cabinet console with a large speaker grill below the screen... some sets had a pull out phono drawer there with a 3speed changer.... some of those also slipped a radio in with the changer.

The RCA RP-168 and RP-190 45RPM only mini changers were made for roughly 2 decades and found their way into a wide variety of phono, radio phono incarnations of several brands. In addition to the sets shown around 1950-53 RCA offered a ~20" TV radio phono console with 2 changers...one changer was the 45RPM only and the other was a 78/33RPM changer... eventually RCA saw how crazy that was and designed a 3 speed changer like everyone else already had.

I'm mostly into 1946-50 sets, but I must say that's an appealing mid-century TV. Cleaned and detailed, with short canted spindle legs, will really make a nice looking set out of it.

I would definitely say they seem to be fairly rare. I haven't been able to find many images of them or any sales on eBay.

I guess I will have to set my saved searches on eBay and see if one comes up for sale!

Thank you everyone for the comments and general information!

Hi,
I am in the process of documenting this particular model from RCA. This model came out in 1957, called Bellevue, with model numbers 14VT8155 (dark mahogany) and 14VT8157 (blonde mahogany). The television chassis is KCS111F.
The Sams Photofact is Set 396 Folder 3. The record player motorboard is RP-190-C3. The cartridge is a Sonotone 1P-1S or 1P-1D (diamond stylus). The motor used was rated 93 volts because it was part of the filament string from 2 amplifier tubes 12AU7 and 12AQ5. The case does have a pair of steel rod legs, which are generally missing when found.
This model is briefly described in Phil Vourtsis book "Fabulous Victrola 45".

--Dennis

That’s a cool looking tv. I haven’t seen that one before either. The blonde would be the coolest one in my opinion. I wonder how many were sold

I have one of the dark mahogany models

If you ever want to sell it please let me know.

I'm surprised to see a standalone 45 RPM changer in a product in 1957. By that time, it was clear that LPs would dominate, with 45s relegated to the pop single market. In the late 1940s when the 45 was introduced, it was positioned by RCA as a serious candidate for all market segments, even long classical pieces. That's why the early 45 changers are so quick to drop a record and start playing the next one.

I would think there are few or no cases of standalone 45 players by 1957. Or am I wrong about that?

I believe the last generation of 45 players were the RCA Slide-O-Matic units.

There was also at least one console 45 only phono sold by RCA, I used to own one but got it into the hands of a 45 player collector years ago as it took up too much space for what it was.

The main market for any 45 player at the time they were on the market had to be with teens, since the hit singles of the day were all on 45's. The accessory 45 changers/players which didn't include electronics were intended to plug into the phono jack of a table top radio. They don't sound very good when plugged into an actual high fidelity system.

No doubt that the 14" TV/45 combination was intended for a teenager's room. Likely not many were sold, which is why so few are seen today. By the time that set was on the market, I'd expect that any savvy teenager would have wanted a stand alone 4-speed record player, and a 17" "portable" TV which was pretty much the industry standard in 1957.

Those 45 RPM players can sound good. They originally had high output crystal cartridges which don't play well with systems designed for a lower output magnetic cartridge with a different impedance. If you use a magnetic cartridge that's designed to track around 5g with a newer stereo or a crystal cartridge with a tube amp designed with a crystal cartridge input (such as my Zenith MW1035J) these 45RPM changers can be quite good....Not audiophile good, but as good as any average consumer phono mid 50s to mid 60s.
Most pop 45s I find have a fair amount of play wear so audiophile equipment is wasted on them, and a little changer like this is perfect since you can make a stack with any order of songs you want and it will run longer than an LP.