Console stereos: 1958-84

[phillymatt53]

I wonder what furniture company-(ies) made consoles for RCA? I think that it was Mainly Drexel for Zenith. Magnavox?, etc. Other companies who made mid century and Danish modern were Basset, Broyhill, American Martinson, etc.

I know that Drexel made cabinets for Motorola consoles, I've had a few in the shop.
However RCA made their own cabinets.
I have an article saved on the design and manufacturing of their consoles from around 1965.

Here's a top-of-the-line 1968 model pictured in my shop after restoration.
I restored 2 or 3 of those monsters.
Notice the curved front edge of that long beast, it sold for $550.

 

[phillymatt53]

Older tube powered stereo consoles and table radios

I always liked this stuff and still have a number of table radios around that work fine. I know an older repair guy that will fix them for me.

When I was in my teens, I used to work on this stuff as a hobby but then the Appliance bug really bit and I haven’t kept up with working on these neat, vintage radios, etc.

Hi Matt 53. It’s a really great collection of radios that you have and I love the Danish modern console stereo in reply number nine

Here’s a picture of a 1958 Fisher console that I picked up years ago always thought I would restore it or get it restored, I may put it up for grabs if somebody really wants it sometime in the next year I have another piece of vintage mid-century Equipment that I want to put in the living room

John L

No picture shows up, John.

It's very hard to find a reputable servicer-restore-tech to have these vintage things worked on these days.
In fact, when I started advertizing my shop decades ago to do these "vintage restorations" It started out small, an occasional job, and over time became extremely busy!
Word-Of-Mouth and the internet brought that to my shop's door!
I had overloads of year-long+ waiting lists!
People from as far away as Texas, Florida, Illinois, NY, NJ, Delaware, etc, were hitting me up for service!

It takes time to service these vintage pieces - "Properly".
I never cut corners, I refuse to do sloppy work, I treated each repair as if it was going into my own home.
Ordering replacement parts, tediously cleaning them, in some cases making replacement parts that are no longer available, all time-consuming.
And importantly, bringing them up to current safety codes in many cases.
I didn't want any Liabilty issues coming my way.
Some consoles took a month or more to finish.
You have to consider, I had other work to do first - such as TV sets, VCR's, DVD, modern stereo+HT, and tape decks of all types.
Those people wanted their TV's ASAP.
Yes, I was a busy guy back them, for decades, and thankfully I'm now retired and can enjoy life at an easy pace.

 

[vacerator]

Older tube powered stereo consoles and table radios

I always liked this stuff and still have a number of table radios around that work fine. I know an older repair guy that will fix them for me.

When I was in my teens, I used to work on this stuff as a hobby but then the Appliance bug really bit and I haven’t kept up with working on these neat, vintage radios, etc.

Hi Matt 53. It’s a really great collection of radios that you have and I love the Danish modern console stereo in reply number nine

Here’s a picture of a 1958 Fisher console that I picked up years ago always thought I would restore it or get it restored, I may put it up for grabs if somebody really wants it sometime in the next year I have another piece of vintage mid-century Equipment that I want to put in the living room

John L

Where's the photo John?

 

[rinso]

1 1/2 years ago, I found a 1962 tube-type "Magnificent Magnavox" console on Craig's List. Since it was available locally and was in working condition, I bought it for 200 bucks and brought it home. Since I have an electrical engineering background I knew there were things that needed immediate attention, like replacing all of the electrolytic capacitors. It sounds great, and produces delicate percussion sounds without harshness in the mid-range.

 

[cfz2882]

Presuming a Collaro (Made in England) Turntable? Those were usual for an early '60s Magnavox.

 

[phillymatt53]

Presuming a Collaro (Made in England) Turntable? Those were usual for an early '60s Magnavox.

Yes, the Collaro changers were always in Magnavox consoles, portables, and even stand-alone models.
In the 1970s, their final versions were made, the 700 and 800 Series, that had a streamlined Straight tonearm and more modern appearance.

 

[cfz2882]

A while back junked a crap-ola 1973 era console and kept the "made in England" Glenburn AT100 changer: plastic platter "consumer grade" and about equivilent to a BSR,except odd narrow cartridge. Not checked out-might put it to use if passes a test run.

 

[phillymatt53]

A while back junked a crap-ola 1973 era console and kept the "made in England" Glenburn AT100 changer: plastic platter "consumer grade" and about equivilent to a BSR,except odd narrow cartridge. Not checked out-might put it to use if passes a test run.

Hey, if it fits, ok.
However, I never liked those cheap Glenburns, the AT100 being the bottom-line model.
The cartridge it uses is a Tetrad type.

With those 50+ year old changers, the first thing to do is to a complete teardown, cleaning the old dried-up grease from everything, and relubing with a good synthetic grease like SuperLube.
The trip pawl assembly (delicate) on the cycle gear has to pivot freely, and the roller that travels inside the cam gear must be free as well.
Plus flushing the motor bearings and re-oiling them with light oil.
And if the idler wheel rubber has glazed, hardened, or has a dent from sitting engaged, it'll need replacing. ( https://www.thevoiceofmusic.com/ )
90% alcohol is good for wiping the inner surface of the platter and idler too.

I used to charge +/_ $150 for this work, and did literally hundreds of those jobs, all brands.

 

[rinso]

According to what I have read, Magnavox had their own manufacturing divisions for their console and television cabinets. It went away after the company was acquired by Phillips.

 

[rinso]

Yes, the Collaro changers were always in Magnavox consoles, portables, and even stand-alone models.
In the 1970s, their final versions were made, the 700 and 800 Series, that had a streamlined Straight tonearm and more modern appearance.

View attachment 317731

I always loved the way they measured the record size with the tonearm. (Watching it doing that, was sometimes more entertaining that some records.) A feature that wouldn't be necessary these days, as the speed selections needed are now down to two, and the record size could be determined just by which speed was selected.

 

[supersuds]

According to what I have read, Magnavox had their own manufacturing divisions for their console and television cabinets. It went away after the company was acquired by Phillips.

No, as I recall they kept making cabinets for years after the Philips acquisition. The TVs and cabinets were made in Greeneville, Tennessee, starting in the early to mid Fifties (not sure about the console hi-fi line) and I remember reading an article in the Knoxville paper when the cabinet factory was shut down. Whenever that was, it was a point where people had basically stopped buying console TV sets. TV set production continued until the early Nineties, when everything went to Mexico.

 

[phillymatt53]

I always loved the way they measured the record size with the tonearm. (Watching it doing that, was sometimes more entertaining that some records.) A feature that wouldn't be necessary these days, as the speed selections needed are now down to two, and the record size could be determined just by which speed was selected.

They are every nice machines.
I'm well-versed on them, and did countless Collaro's of all era's in the shop.
They're very complex underneath though.

 

[cfz2882]

I need to do Mechanical service on the Califone school phono doing record playing duty in the moon shack-starts right up,but runs a whiff slow for a couple min. then it is good. This will be a fast fix. This one,1983,has traditional GI shaded pole motor-Last of these Califones had little DC cassette deck type motor.

 

[wayupnorth]

My console Magnavox does have the Micromatic turntable but with a slimmer tonearm than that earlier picture. I always thought it was cool that as a new record was ready to come down the spindle, the tone arm raised and checked the diameter, quickly moved back, the record dropped and played. I do still have about a dozen 78's, 2 boxes of 45's, about a dozen 8-tracks and 4 boxes of albums that I really never listen to anymore now that I have Spotify.

 

[combo52]

Good morning all I don’t know what happened to the pictures but here they are.

 

[phillymatt53]

I need to do Mechanical service on the Califone school phono doing record playing duty in the moon shack-starts right up,but runs a whiff slow for a couple min. then it is good. This will be a fast fix. This one,1983,has traditional GI shaded pole motor-Last of these Califones had little DC cassette deck type motor.

Slow running motors at a cold start mean the bearings are clogged with old oil.
I take them apart, soak the bearings in solvent for a day, then flush them out with CRC spray cleaner.
Let them fully dry a day..... then heat the bearings some, and immediately add some light motor oil. - clean the motor shafts too.
Put back together, power the motor up and if any noise, tap the motor with a small mallet or screwdriver to align the bearings while running.

 

[phillymatt53]

My console Magnavox does have the Micromatic turntable but with a slimmer tonearm than that earlier picture. I always thought it was cool that as a new record was ready to come down the spindle, the tone arm raised and checked the diameter, quickly moved back, the record dropped and played. I do still have about a dozen 78's, 2 boxes of 45's, about a dozen 8-tracks and 4 boxes of albums that I really never listen to anymore now that I have Spotify.

Probably the 800 series changer.

 

[rinso]

No, as I recall they kept making cabinets for years after the Philips acquisition. The TVs and cabinets were made in Greeneville, Tennessee, starting in the early to mid Fifties (not sure about the console hi-fi line) and I remember reading an article in the Knoxville paper when the cabinet factory was shut down. Whenever that was, it was a point where people had basically stopped buying console TV sets. TV set production continued until the early Nineties, when everything went to Mexico.

Thanks

No, as I recall they kept making cabinets for years after the Philips acquisition. The TVs and cabinets were made in Greeneville, Tennessee, starting in the early to mid Fifties (not sure about the console hi-fi line) and I remember reading an article in the Knoxville paper when the cabinet factory was shut down. Whenever that was, it was a point where people had basically stopped buying console TV sets. TV set production continued until the early Nineties, when everything went to Mexico.

Thanks supersuds! I stand corrected!

Probably the 800 series changer.

I have three MicroMatic changers that I purchased on ebay. All sellers said they were functional, but none of them could possibly have been operating condition. One is an R600, one is the newer version with the slimmed-down tonearm, and the third is the new style with only two speeds and has a cuing lever. I was very naive when I took up this hobby after my partner passed away. I had no idea that sellers on ebay sometime lie. I know a repair business to which I could send one of them, but they are incredibly backed-up and I've been in their cue since last October. I will admit, however, that one of my MicroMatics may need an exorcism.

 

[vacerator]

My new Technics SL 1500-C has three speeds. You select 78 rpm by holding 33 and 45 buttons together. Some record changers and single play automatics had small buttons in the platter each at 7", 10", and 12". Whichever record size was on it, that's where the tonearm drops. I think new Dual's have electronic sizing depending on the speed chosen.
A British made ADC model had programmable tracks with buttons along the front top and a silver globe module which has the processor. Worth a lot when working but can be a nightmare to service.

 

[vacerator]

The ADC accurate 400 is also remote control.