[78-L] the 'deadest' consumer audio formats?

[J. E. Knox]

Greetings from FixitLand!

Bud Black wrote:

> Does anybody remember the RCA super cassette machines from the early
> sixties?  It was a failed format, but for years I had a player that  
> worked
> fairly well.  The cassettes were much like what would become the  
> standard
> Philips" cassette, only about ten times larger.

Yep -- that's the RCA Cartridge. Came out in 1958 or '59. The 1/4- 
inch tape ran at 3-3/4 IPS in a cassette (only twice the size of a  
Philips Compact Cassette). I have an operable RCA Cartridge player  
(noisy bugger, but it does play), along with a couple cartridges --  
the RCA Victor "Sounds In Space" demo, and "Ralph Flanagan in Hi-Fi,"  
along with a blank recording cartridge. The player is rather chintzy  
mechanically.

Here's some RCA Cartridges on our favorite (?) online auction site:

<http://cgi.ebay.com/3-Vintage-RCA-High-Fidelity-Sound-Tape- 
Cartridge-/310316754291? 
pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item484051e573#ht_500wt_779>

And an ad for one of the machines:

<http://cgi.ebay.com/1959-Ad-Stereo-Tape-Cartridge-Player-Recorder- 
RCA-Radio-/300548814043? 
pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45fa1af4db#ht_2878wt_997>

This looks like the machine I have: (the one for sale here is a parts  
horse)

<http://cgi.ebay.com/RCA-Cartridge-Tape-Player-Model-1YB-11-for- 
parts-/380292683626? 
pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item588b35d76a#ht_500wt_779>

(Gosh, how long has it been since the phrase "Compact Cassette" was  
used? Remember the stylized logo that went with it?)

Take care,


Joe
--
"Whether they be the musician cats in my band or the real cats of the  
world, they all got style."--Ray Charles