RCA Victor Radiola Automatic Electrola RAE-26 Changer Demo

[gemering]

Bob,
A tremendous post!
That machine is the bees knees!
Great sides as well.
I am smitten too!
I was also curious about rarity and approximate price for this model in good working condition.
Your video may cause a run on these machines!!!!!!
Thanks for posting.
Like George's wife Barbie, my wife Maria enjoyed this one too.
Gene

[gemering]

Bob,

I know it can be subjective, but I was also curious about rarity and approximate price for an RAE-26 model in good mechanical condition.

Best of luck with your awesome find!
Gene

[dilhermandodidi]

Thanks for sharing! Very well done! I want it! Beautiful model, but agreeing to the time of the crash, was very expensive machine... Loved the version of "I wanna beloved by you."

Good week!

[barnettrp21122]

Bob,
That machine is the bees knees!
Way more than cool!!!
I can immediately see why you had to have it.
Great video with great musical sides.
I know it can be subjective, but I was also curious about rarity and approximate price for an RAE-26 model in good mechanical condition.

Best of luck with your awesome find!
Gene

Thanks, Gene. I'd never even known about this type of changer before seeing this one, much less one that was in operating order with restored electronics. The price was reasonable, I thought, considering the work that had been done. I've not seen anything comparable for sale, so I can't figure a current average market price. In every case these old electronics require a thorough going-over, adding several hundred dollars to any as-found machine.
Bob

[phonogal]

What an amazing machine. Loved the video. Jan

[Roaring20s]

Another great presentation! Bravo! Encore!

That was even better than...
http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =3&t=13672
and that was fun!

More masterful than this gem...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxkSRvkKF9k

James.

[atopolosky]

Another one - a little rougher - for sale on CL in Baltimore. http://smd.craigslist.org/atq/3991823030.html Al

[OrthoSean]

Bob is from that area, too! Bob, you could have twins!

It even comes with a broken record. Nice bonus!

Seriously, though, if it were closer to me, I'd be all over it. Hopefully someone here will grab it, certainly looks like it could easily be saved.

Sean

[FloridaClay]

Another kudo here. Great music, fascinating machine, and just superb video production.

Clay

[barnettrp21122]

Thanks again, guys, for the nice comments!

The craigslist phono is actually a higher-end model than mine. It's the RAE-59, with a better radio and recording capability. I notice it has the tonearm recording weight, which is often missing. It's hard to tell overall condition with the poor pictures. I figure the electronics would need a thorough restoration, which could more than double the purchase cost.
I honestly wouldn't have considered buying mine if it hadn't been pretty much restored already.
I've tried to stay within the acoustic era, simply because I have no knowledge of vacuum tube repair.
That said, I've plans to pick up an RCA 341 radio/phono, which has the fourth and final non-drop-down changer designed by Victor and RCA. Obviously I have trouble following my own advice!

By the way, I broke a record the same way on my machine. I found you can't just plop one record down onto the hard metal surface of the record magazine. Two perfect halves!

Bob