The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I was thinking about trying to get an RE-20, but information on them seems to he rather scarce. Anyone have an info on performance, rarity, etc?

You might want to ask the folks at the antique radio forum. https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/rca_re20.html
https://antiqueradios.com/forums/index.php

RE for Radiola Electrola. It is an upright console, phonograph under the top lid. It "...is a ten tube De Luxe Super-Heterodyne combination radio receiver and electric phonograph.
The switch which changes from radio to phonograph is known to be a difficult item to work on, but they don't often go bad to the point where they need to be rebuilt.
It is similar to the RAE-59, shown below. They both use the same SPU and amplifier system.
When tuned and electronically optimized, the sensitivity is pretty good and the sound is excellent. It utilizes a pair of #47 output tubes for superb volume output.
Cheers, Russie

It should sound more or less like this one does. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoqC0784FM0&t=1s It should have a great deal of volume. This one is a 9 tube set and the RE-20 is a 10 tube set I think. I'm not sure what the extra tube adds, but it might have something to do with tone control. Good luck with your quest. All of those machines are fairly heavy. Earl.

Thanks for the info!! Hopefully I’ll be able to move it if I ever found one.

I have owned an RE-20 for quite some time. I just sold it as I bought a Brunswick PR 148-C and had to make room. The RE-20 is a nice sounding machine, it's small and doesn't take up a lot of room, which is a bonus. However, it is quite heavy, about 151 pounds. It's fun to play the program transcriptions on, but I would advise not playing the transcription discs made of Victrolac. Aside from requiring special needles, the tone arm is just too heavy and will damage them with only one or two plays. It puts out a tremendous amount of sound and can really blow the roof off my house, it's always impressed people who've never heard a period machine like that.

I don't know any figures, but I imagine they are fairly rare machines. I've only ever seen the one I owned. Although rare, I would not advise paying over a couple hundred unless it is in working condition.