Stromberg Carlton or Stromberg-Carlson? Stromberg Carlton APH 1200 Tube Amplifier and Mixer - $450

[ovrphil]

Isn't this an old Stromberg-Carlson - I've never heard of a Stromberg-Carlton, but educate me, anyone, if I'm missing the facts.

http://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/ele/5106399388.html

 

[ovrphil]

Never mind folks

I found some reference that supports it's a Stromberg-Carlson APH 1200. Another seller misunderstanding.

 

[kb0nes]

200 watt... more seller misunderstanding. or optimism

 

[tolivac]

Stromberg Carlson--Stromberg Carlton sounds like the name of a hotel.Nice 6550 Amp-but doubt it would be good for 200W-maybe 100-150W at best.Scrap the germanium mixer-use tubes instead.-or silicon SS.Like the "roadie" case the thing is in.

 

[norgeway]

Stromberg Carlson

Was a very high end company years ago, my parents bought a Stromberg Carlson Hi Fi in 1952 ,it was 200.00 a fortune then!and it was only a record player, no radio, they also built tvs that were very expensive.

 

[firedome]

S-C

was a Rochester NY based mfr of primarily telephone and communications equipment and commercial and consumer electronics going back to before 1900, many mid-west homes especially had S-C telephones in them. Later S-C became a division of General Dynamics, and in the 30s to 60s S-C made quality radios then HiFi/stereo for the home. We had several S-C mono and stereo amps/tuners over the years of collecting.
Their Custom 400 sereis was particularly nice. I was going to do an article on the history of S-C around the time that VTV vintage audio magazine folded and had actually started to do the research, still have the notes.

The amp in question was primarily for PA and communications use. The Tung Sol 6550s are good for about 70-75 watts in push-pull pairs, so 150 watts would be about right. Over driven you might be able to get 200 watts out of the right transformer, but this kind of commercial stuff was generally very conservatively built and rated. The output transformers are not necessarily wide-band for Hi-Fi use but it'd make one heck of a low-frequency driver amp in a bi-amp set up!

 

[ovrphil]

Roger - did Vintage Audio continue online or any of the mags you wrote for, continue online?

I had a friend who worked for General Dynamics in the 70's. They matched 100% for every dollar you invested back into their stock and/or other retirement plans. That didn't last into the 90's, though. Their involvement with S-C now makes sense to me, as a division of GD.

 

[firedome]

What's left of S-C is now folded into Siemens...

after being bought and sold several times.

As to vintage Audio magazines, none really exist anymore, at least in the US. MJ magazine still hangs on in Japan, in Japanese, and there's some esoteric European ones. Vacuum Tube Valley folded upon the death of the Publisher in 2009. Some issues can still be had on eBay, it was the best of the lot imo, and had/has something of a cult following, especially in Asia. The Tech Editor started a blog, ClariSonus, but it's kind of petered out since he moved overseas. Glass Audio got absorbed by it's parent Co. and disappeared. Absolute Sound went off the deep end. Stereophile started running occasional pieces about vintage, Fisher 500-C and such, but they're a bunch of Johnny-come-lately dilettantes AFAIC, working off of third hand knowledge. We at VTV actually interviewed the audio pioneers that were still alive, such as Paul Klipsch, David Hafler, Avery Fisher, Sol Marantz, Will Rayment, and others. Never did get around to Sid Harman, one of the greats, to great regret, as he only died a couple of years ago. Sadly, vintage tube stuff appeals mainly to the older generations, while kids with their mp3s and iPhones seem like they couldn't care less. That dog has had it's day, it appears.

 

[ovrphil]

Reply #17

Roger - while we waive bye bye to that era, vinyls are enjoying some kind of rediscovery. You were fortunate to have some contacts with the pioneers.

These might be familiar, too:

http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Audio-Magazine.htm

 

[tolivac]

the SC power amp might also make a good bass guitar amp for a guitarist.I knew a couple of freinds that had Marshall Major guitar amp heads and twin 4x4 cabs.The Marshall head used 4 6550-KT88 if it was made for the US market.The British ones used a quad of EL34-6CA7.the US one put out more power-like 120-150W RMS-the English version was about 100W and had a softer tone according to guitarists that played the English version.The US Marshall was more powerful and bold sounding.And the amps could be converted back and forth between the tube types by wiring the sockets and changing bias resistors.
I always remembered SC equipment as PA and telephone type stuff-some of the schools I went to had SC PA equipment-the master console and amps in the admin area of the school building.The speakers in the classrooms or other school areas-the principal and other staff made announcements thru the system-at Christmas time-Christmas music played thru it.The master unit had a TT and tape machine that could be used for that purpose.

 

[circlew]

Stromberg-Carlson's telephone division became Comdial, which is now a trademark of Cortelco. They still sell the 2500 & 2554 models.

 

[blackstone]

Stromberg Carlson

also made TVs.

 

[tolivac]

Comdial---remember those-they were used as studio phones in the VOA DC plant studios!Loved and hated them.they worked well-but sometimes not so freindly to use and voice quality not good-early digital system.There were up to 6 phone sets in each studio-ones in the actual studio had their ringers and speakers disconnected so they won't be picked up on mic.Control room ones had their speakers and ringers.And each studio had the "brain" that controlled the sets-in the side of the producer console.Now these have been replaced-don't know what they are using now.They have a factory just outside of Charlettesville, VA.Not too far from Richmond.

 

[ovrphil]

Reply #10 - CircleW comment...

Comdial, Cortelco, ITT, Kellogg - not familiar as much to me as you guys.

link diversion ahead:

http://www.therotarydialtelephone.com/SpecialGuestStars.html

 

[circlew]

I have a Comdial model 2830 phone, in the Ash color. It is a 10 button keyset for use on a 1a2 system. I got it new in box about 5 years ago, but it was made in the late 80's. It's one of the few items I've ever bought on Ebay.