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In the past, if you were searching for literature, schematics or a circuit diagram for an RCA audio product, you probably were not successful. Until now, there has been no dedicated web resource for RCA information. I hope this begins to rectify that situation, and I invite you to contribute any information you have which seems suitable for inclusion on this site.
RCA may still be a household name, and sold great numbers of radios, TV's and the like, but the kind of professional sound equipment ensconced here is rare and little known. If you are looking for information on consumer electronics, incidentally, you will not find it here. This archive/museum is dedicated solely to information and images of RCA audio products used professionally or industrially. That covers all cinema products, i.e. speakers, horns, amplifiers, preamplifiers, and crossover networks (filters.) These items usually carry a prefix of MI which denotes Master Index model number. Prior to the MI designation, was the PG which overlaps the later MI designations, as entire Photophone systems were labelled as PG 139, 140, for example, but were comprised of items bearing MI numbers. I don't know the exact date at which the PG prefix ceased (if you do, please tell.)
Also you will find the corresponding items RCA produced for broadcast and studio applications, including microphones, which would carry BA designation, for Broadcast Audio, although some broadcast or sound reinforcement models would carry an MI number as well, or in the case of monitor loudspeakers, only an MI number. There were also other prefixes, such as SP for Sound Products, an attempt by the professional division of Camden, New Jersey, to annex territory that belonged to the consumer products division in Indianapolis. The SP series did not last long.
On an editorial note, I find it hard to resist commenting on the perceptions of value of vintage audio equipment, and of course, RCA's own products. A tiny, enlightened minority of American and Western audiophiles have long valued loudspeakers and other equipment made by Lansing, JBL and Altec, and there exists a wonderful website dedicated to this- Lansing Heritage. The Japanese have for decades revered and literally bought nearly every piece of Western Electric audio equipment, both speakers and tube electronics, that could be found. A small cadre of hunter dealers literally combed through nearly every old theater and installation in North America, acquiring and shipping to Asia all of this equipment, which was a very good thing, because at least there it is admired and enjoyed, instead of ending up in a dumpster. But the RCA equipment was left behind as worthless. One such dealer told me of taking an entire trash dumpster and filling it with field coil RCA MI-1428B drivers, which he considered garbage, presumably because they were unwanted in Asia at the time.
RCA somehow fell off virtually everyone's map. The Japanese certainly did not want anything RCA, except the records they made, and their tubes. Very little RCA gear made its way to Europe, and American's were too busy either buying 1000 watt solid state amplifiers, or following the Japanese in rediscovering triodes and SET topology amps, and also uncritically accepting their inherent prejudice towards WE and Altec speakers (tubes would be an exception. Everyone likes RCA tubes.)
The great irony is that the company that arguably produced some of the very best audio components ever made should remain, even to this day, obscure. Perhaps this website will open the possibility for a rediscovery of RCA vacuum tube audio electronics and loudspeakers. That was, after all, what was used to make all of the RCA Living Stereo and Shaded Dog vinyl recordings, in the first place. It was, also, the company that invented the phrase"High Fidelity."
Enjoy Responsibly.
The information contained in this section is for use and download for non-commercial purposes only.
