I wonder if you can be sure if it's Westinghouse?

[twintubdexter]

For Westinghouse this is a very nice looking console stereo, even if it's not audiophile-quality sound. The contemporary cabinet is beautiful...the $1,250 asking price is not. Sorry if this is not of much interest, blame my console stereo fetish.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb/fuo/4439609756.html

 

[packardmanken]

TwinTub: That looks like it could be a Drexel cabinet. Drexel made many beautiful cabinets for stereos and Hi-Fis back when. I had a Motorola with a Drexel made cabinet that was very much, if not identical, to this one.
Amazing with the Mid Mod craze has done to used furniture. From North Carolina, so have a fondness for Drexel, Baker and such. Too bad its all gone.

 

[retropia]

Console stereo

It's a beautiful cabinet; it looks like walnut.

 

 

[tolivac]

That Westinghouse Hi-Fi set is one beautiful looking peice-But WILL NOT pay $1200 for it.Looks like it has been gently used and well cared for.

 

[ovrphil]

Same here

I saw this and was tempted to post it before you did, but thought, "$1200?"

Plus - I know nothing of Westinghouse's electronics and their quality of solid state. I don't see an atomic symbol either - just kidding lol.

Phil

 

[firedome]

If it's SS and not tube

value is around 150 with a mint cabinet. Tube more like double. But like most consoles most of the value is in the woodworking, not the electronics. This is a nice looking one. There were consoles with true components in them, but they are fairly uncommon. Have been guilty here of dismembering many a console over 30-35 years, from a Fisher President maybe 12 yrs ago, to a beat up cheapo Sears Silvertone with a single ended amp that was found on the curb just last week... nowadays I'd never gut a good one. The Sears will be repurposed into a compact record player.

 

[rp2813]

I think you can be sure . . . it won't produce the sound quality of a Magnavox, or that it will ever sell unless they drop the price by about 90% or more.

 

[danemodsandy]

Say It Ain't So!

....A Fisher President maybe 12 yrs ago...."

* Faints dead away *

 

[danemodsandy]

P.S., Roger:

I would do anything legal or moral for a Fisher President.

And I am flexible on both those concepts. ;-)

 

[ovrphil]

ugh! you killed a Fisher President. What did you do with its body? Those are nice carcasses...cabinetry work typically fine and grain choices are carefully chosen. We have modest units - just a Fisher Philharmonic P-294 -SS - (example of ours is pictured to left of Concert Grand dream unit) and a Magnavox 1957 tube model. I've never heard a Concert Grand or a Fisher President. And we thought it was cool to have a transistor radio back when. LOL!

 

[danemodsandy]

Here Is....

....The ne plus ultra of Fisher Presidents, the jawdropping 1964 President IX 9000 model at $2,695, or $19,685 in today's currency. It came with an ultrasonic remote (some punkins in '64), and a cabinet that was six feet of solid fruitwood-finished cherry.

There was a time when money bought solid satisfactions, instead of more "features" achieved by programming a chip differently.

 

[twintubdexter]

Hey Phil,

That's my Concert Grand in your photo. The seller said it sat in that same spot in her late parent's Eugene Oregon home since it was new. I purchased it about 18 months ago for $40 (reduced from $80) but paid $300 to have it shipped to me. Those Fisher Presidents sure are nice instruments and like the CG's are getting harder and harder to find. The asking prices for the few I've seen have been crazy high.

 

[ovrphil]

don't tell anyone

but I'm secretly jealous - a Concert Grand for $40. Dreams happen, but you're right - these are becoming more and more difficult to locate. How do you like the sound? (Do you have tours. LOL!) Are you by any chance a member of the Magnavox group on Yahoo and have more photos? Congrats! Many droolers out here.

 

[twintubdexter]

Phil,

Like lots of people I searched for a long time for a CG and then one day while using one of those site-wide Craigslist search engines there it was. Apparently the ad was several days old so when I contacted the very nice seller she said it was now only $40. I was honest and told her I thought it was worth more than the original $80 but she was anxious to clear out her parent's home and worked with me on the shipping. She even emailed me photos of it being blanket-wrapped and loaded on to a truck. After I received it I sent her a very nice thank-you gift.

When I took over the television buying responsibilites for a San Francisco-based department store chain console stereos were a part of the my area but on their way out. I hated those things and thought "who would want something like that?" The sound was inferior to components and I would have perfered to buy that department. Now many years later I think they're great. The Concert Grand sounds wonderful. The speaker components are slightly different on each side. I am member of Friends of Magnavox on Yahoo but only visit occasionally.

I still look for console stereos (appliances too) on Craigslist almost every day even though the Magnavox Windsor and Westinghouse floor clock stereo radio/phono are still in my garage covered up until I get the energy to work on them. There still are deals to be had out there on "collectibles," more on Craigslist I think than ebay with it's thousands of viewers. Hunting for these bargains and deals can be great fun.

I'm looking for one of these Magnavox Imperials...I know there's one out there with my name on it...

 

[ovrphil]

Joe -

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed reading your above comments. It brought back some memories of perusing the TV & Stereo department stores(Hudsons, Sears, and others). After components emerged on the audio scene, I remember thinking the same about the consoles; these are passe' clunkers. Contrariwise, quality components are in a class of their own. But there's something unique about the old stereo consoles, even if I can't seem to describe why a few select units, as the ones you own and the one you're seeking (NICE!) are so attractive. I love wood and appreciate some of the cabinetry; some is too formal for my tastes now. As you mentioned, it's as much fun looking for the deals as is acquiring something you've wanted. I don't want to pancake and stack, so where are you going to put these beauties? That Imperial is a reminder that I need to add more searching to my list. I may have passed up some DEALS! I hope you get to your other consoles in the not too distant future.

Phil

 

[firedome]

Yes I know it was a sacriledge...

even then, to disembowl a 1962 President, but the cabinet was beat up, and the components all went to the best possible home: Al Pugliese, "The Fisher Doc" on Long Island, whom I knew through my writing for the audio magazine I worked for. Al became a personal friend of Avery Fisher before the latter passed on and actually bought the rights to the Fisher name and inventory of parts.

The components inside the President were the best Fisher made at the time: 400CX preamp, SA-300B amplifier, FM200, Ampex recorder, Miracord turntable. And Sandy you're correct, in todays money the price would be astronomical. You could buy a quite decent new car in 1962 for what one cost. Avery liked to list the names of the famous musicians and celelbrites who owned his equipment in the literature that came with them: JFK was on that list!

 

[firedome]

Oh, and further compounding my sins...

I recall gutting at least 2 Fisher Executives (model right under the President) and a couple of Electras... but one must realize that 10 or more years ago you coudn't give them away. So few had the space, most needed complete electronic refurbishment, and the majority were on the street and would have ended up as landfill. So at the time I considered that saving the functional bits for others to use was at least meritorious. Never came across a CG as I was only looking for Fisher, Scott, Pilot and others who mainly made components.

 

[twintubdexter]

Roger,

When you think about it, removing (as opposed to gutting) the components from most deluxe Fisher consoles left you with standard audio equipment that would be comfortable on a shelf or new digs like a Barzilay cabinet (weren't they beautiful?) You take the electronics out of a Zenith or Motorola and what are you going to do with them? I liked your comment about Fisher console owner's manuals. I remember back in grade school my friends parent's Fisher with the "Who's Who" list of famous owners, among them Doris Day who recently turned 90. Happy Birthday Doris!

PS...too many posts? just let me know

 

[firedome]

Joe, surprisingly

there has been quite a surge of interest in removed amps from, especially Maganvox, but also Motorola, Zenith, and all sorts of consoles in the last few years - search "Maganvox tube amplifier" on eBay for a sampling, or check the threads on them on Audio Karma. Quite a following now. About 3 years ago I even sold an amp out of one of Sears Silvertone's larger units to Bob Carver, of Carver Audio fame, heaven only knows why he, of all people, wanted it! Paired up with very efficient speakers, console electronics can sound quite decent.

We had a pair of speakers in Barzilay cabinets a couple of years ago, best built boxes I've ever seen, they weighed a ton. A Barzilay console in teakwood Danish Modern would be my absolute dream cabinet for housing components.