Today's Vinyl Spin: RCA Model #9-ED-31K 33/45 RPM 2-Speed Suitcase Record Player

Got a piece of retro tech that I found on YouTube. Watch this guy play a couple of old records with an RCA Victor 2-speed suitcase record player from the 1950s. This thing is big and play only 33 1/3 LPs and 45s. Most record players of this vintage used to include 16 and 78 rpm speeds. I would have to think RCA was a little forward thinking with this model in the fact that it only supported the two most popular speeds that are still used for vinyl records today.

The records the presenter plays are a 45, "Love Eyes" by The Duprees and an LP track "Bye Bye Love" by The Everly Brothers. Enjoy!

The YouTube Channel Link: (Seeburgsrock).

Here are his notes about the record player:

Uploaded on Jun 28, 2011

Here's a scarce RCA player (as are all 33/45 varieties of this player) from the mid 50's. This is a 2-speed, 33/45 RPM player that's been rebuilt & features a Sonotone 52T stereo ceramic cartridge bridged for mono playing through a single stage amplifier and feeding a 4" speaker. It has volume control only. The DeLuxe models featured a 2-stage amplifier w/volume AND tone controls feeding a 4"x6" speaker. The mechanism was made by Crescent and used exclusively by the RCA lineup in only 9 of their players. These 2-speed players were only made for a year and not many were sold simply because there was a TON of 4-speed players available at the time this was being merchandised. While 78 RPM records were quickly fading from the scene, there were still a lot of people that had 78's in their collection and, of course, they could not be played on these 2-speed players! As a consequence, very few of these 2-speed players were bought by the public. It's most definitely a strange player! 33 RPM records could only be played as singles - one at a time. NO provision was made for stacking 33 albums on these players. However, 45's could be stacked by a special 45 RPM spindle adapter. The adapters in their own right are collectible! It's not uncommon to spend $50 JUST for an unmolested adapter simply because after being dropped, they broke into pieces and became useless. When these players are found (and that goes for all 9 varieties), the adapter is often missing or broken beyond being usable. These models are eagerly sought after by collectors because they're a simple mechanism, durable, easy to repair & maintain, one of the few with a "neutral" position to avoid drive wheel damage AND...they're scarce! I have 6 of the 9 models made by RCA. I'd like to purchase the three I DON'T have in my collection which are the DeLuxe 3-tube suitcase models w/volume & tone controls and the plastic DeLuxe 3-tube model in Coral/White combination. If you have or know of anyone that has those models and would like sell them, PLEASE contact me! I really hope you can enjoy & appreciate these wonderful pieces of 1950's history!