The Magnificent Magnavox

[whirlcool]

Here is a rather rare item. A drum end table Magnavox stereo. I have never seen one of these before. At the price that the seller is asking, it sure is "Magnificicent"!

At least they didn't say "Eames Era".

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MAGNAVOX-DR...pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item3cb9d0d404

 

[112561]

They sound much better than you would think too, even in an all plastic cabinet. The owner of this piece is way out of line with his asking price. He or someone else has an identical set for $200 less, that has also been on eBay forever. I paid $35 for mine, only thing wrong with it is that it has dents in the grill cloth I haven't taken the time to rectify. It is available with a matching companion speaker/record storage unit. If you bought singly, you set the switch for stereo to come out of the main unit. They came in Early American, French Provincial, Mediterranean, Italian Provincial, and Contemporary as shown in the sellers ad.

 

[whirlcool]

The cabinet on these are plastic?
I imagine that the external speaker you could get for this looked like an end table too?
This looks like it would be from 1965-69 or so? Am I right?

 

[retropia]

Where have I seen this before?

After the last thread on console stereos, I did some Craigslist browsing, and saved a copy of this listing. It is a nice size for a console stereo. This one appears to be a duplicate of the one being sold on eBay. Maybe it is the same one?

 

[whirlcool]

Should I send the Craigslist listing to the Ebay seller?

 

[112561]

This model was offered beginning the 1971 model year, and lasted through about 1976, the cabinets were plastic, and the optional companion speaker was identical but only contained the speakers, and a generously proportioned record storage. The first model had a miserable plastic pushbutton changer with an early and high failure rate. They could be retrofitted with the more reliable Automatic, and the newer models started packing the more upscale Micromatic. Mine has an Automatic two speed changer. Here's a later model Early American pair from an eBay auction:

 

[112561]

And open

The tops are "slate" which of course in reality are plastic.

 

[whirlcool]

On a whole how does your system sound? Is it as good as the regular consoles of the time?

 

[112561]

I would say on a scale of one to ten, it would be about an eight. It is well worth the money to find a good one. Clear sound, even bass and pleasant highs. There was also an end table, from around 1964 through 1970, with or without companion speaker.
(about 1968, Early American in Maple)

 

[whirlcool]

You don't see as much Early American around as much as you used to. A lot of my cousins had it right after they got married. I tend to think of it as "newlywed" furniture.

Thanks for that photo, it appears Magnavox had a few different models of these end tables.

 

[112561]

Another lifted Ebay pic

You're welcome, I disliked early American for years, we sort of grew up with it. Now I actually like a lot of it. My back bedroom is my parent's early American bedroom set, dining table and chairs, and I have two Magnavox consoles in early Am, except for a couple of clocks that's it here for now.