RCA BCQ50 Turntable BA26 Preamp MI11865 Tonearm Broadcast Transcription Radio

Description

1969-1970 RCA broadcast BQ-50 Turntable, BA-26 Preamplifier and MI-11865 NOS stereo cartridge/stylus.  Competently restored throughout by an experienced technician (me).  Turntable: new idler wheel installed, repaired and strengthened idler offset spindle which had cracks in the pot aluminum. Replaced motor with a quieter, younger Bodine unit. Replaced motor mount isolators and start capacitor.  New tonearm board made of MFP with walnut veneer on both sides. Plinth is a custom made affair for this turntable. Made from repurposed exterior panels off an old church organ console (Conn Rhapsody, 1969). Therefore the plinth is the same age as the turntable, made with 50 year-old walnut veneered plywood, 2 layers of 3/4" planks on all 4 sides. Total weight of turntable, plinth and tonearm assembly is 34lbs. Rear connector panel has RCA tonearm connections, ground terminal, modern grounded removable power cord connector (IEC320), and ground lift switch for separating chassis ground from power line ground.  Preamplifier: Four germanium transistor stages per channel (the historic 2N404), a feedback amplifier design with RIAA equalizer and includes transformer isolated balanced 600 ohm line outputs. Preamp enclosure contains 2 discrete circuit boards, 1 per channel, and a 3rd power supply board. The RIAA capacitor network and several preamp electrolytics have been replaced (Sprague caps). The power supply electrolytics have been replaced with new, higher MFD units as well. Individual level controls per channel are accessible through case openings and are currently set to full gain.  Preamp terminal strip has been fitted with RCA phono cables for plug and play setup. Several grounding options between preamplifier, tonearm and your system will have to be determined by best combination, however the fully floating outputs through the +20dbm broadcast transformers will make this a very ground-fault tolerant setup. Tonearm-  completely overhauled, cleaned and rebuilt. Tonearm has a "stylus saver" feature that prevents stylus from falling onto turntable base. Newly built tonearm rest.  Stereo cartridge- A very rare RCA MI-11865 with NOS .7mil stylus. RCA's "universal pickup cartridge", as it is described in all their advertising literature of the time. The cartridge/stylus alone was purchased separately at 5 to have a matched system as described in 1970 RCA broadcast catalogs. The cartridge performs well at 2.5 to 3 grams, although the tonearm counterweight cannot balance to this tracking force- 6 grams was more the norm for the period. A small magnetic counterweight on the tonearm's rear brings the tracking force down to 2.35 grams. Original technical data sheets are included for cartridge, preamp and turntable. Full service manual included for the preamplifier. This data can also be found online with a little digging through google, but we will provide copies of the documentation items we have uncovered on the web.  Extreme care and at least 75 hours of restoration effort went into this package.  The system is a joy to hear and operate, the cartridge/preamp has a robust, mellow quality, not shrill high-end response but very detailed. The turntable drive has the classic characteristics of the period, designed primarily for quick startup to speed in 1/16th of a revolution. After much consideration and paint testing, the original paint of the turntable and tonearm has been retained, even though it does show some patina of use.  Described by RCA as "midnight blue", I could find no re-coating that offered an improvement, so left as-is.  The black turntable felt is also original. In all, the package retains some patina of use. I feel the character is thusly retained, as opposed to "fresh from the box" cosmetics. This is a one-of-a-kind combination of all-RCA broadcast studio components from the final glory days of "single-brand" radio/TV station design.
Questions are welcomed and further photos can be provided upon request. No shipping, will deliver within 100 miles of Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX