michaelman2
Well-known member
Anyone fine these old beautifully made cabinets interesting? I fine them sometimes and if they are reasonable I pick them up and use them as a console or strage cabinet. The woods and craftsmanship are superior....
Vintage TV Cabinets / Console Televisions
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bugsyjones
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- Apr 7, 2009
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I like console televisions and stereos.
I have a '55 Zenith Flash-Matic tv in mahogany and it's beautiful! It doesn't work presently, but it's nice to look at. The picture tube comes on and it has sound, but no video feed comes through. Just a grey screen.
I also have a 1960's Admiral solid-state console stereo. It has radio and a turntable. It plays wonderfully and it's in the modern style I love so much.
Usually if I wanted one, I could get a 70's or 80's era console TV for basically nothing. It works great, but it's 'outdated' and they just bought a flat screen. That's ok with me. Saves me $1,000 for a TV. (I'd never get a flat screen TV by the way.) I like the old-fashioned idea of televisions and radios as furniture pieces. Something nice to look at. Modern-built tv's are so industrial-looking with their black and silver colors.
Here's my Zenith flash-matic.
~Tim
I have a '55 Zenith Flash-Matic tv in mahogany and it's beautiful! It doesn't work presently, but it's nice to look at. The picture tube comes on and it has sound, but no video feed comes through. Just a grey screen.
I also have a 1960's Admiral solid-state console stereo. It has radio and a turntable. It plays wonderfully and it's in the modern style I love so much.
Usually if I wanted one, I could get a 70's or 80's era console TV for basically nothing. It works great, but it's 'outdated' and they just bought a flat screen. That's ok with me. Saves me $1,000 for a TV. (I'd never get a flat screen TV by the way.) I like the old-fashioned idea of televisions and radios as furniture pieces. Something nice to look at. Modern-built tv's are so industrial-looking with their black and silver colors.
Here's my Zenith flash-matic.
~Tim
bugsyjones
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And the Admiral. This thing is HEAVY. Made from REAL wood. Not particulate. Best part is I got it for FREE!
~Tim
~Tim
michaelman2
Well-known member
Hey Bugsy...those are beautiful sets! I especially am always happy to find the one like in my picture, with the doors covering the components. I have several that I have reconfigured as consoles for storage and I cut one from a 3' depth to a 1.5'depth and used it as a bar. The finishes, woods and craftsmanship are hard to duplicate these days. I am always on the look out for these
What do you do with all the electronic componets?
58limited
Well-known member
Here is my 1954 Stromberg-Carlson TV cabinet. Electronics were missing when I bought it, I use it for a liquor cabinet now.
Tim, it would not take much to make that Zenith provide a nice crisp picture again, provided you own an external digital converter to use as a tuner.
Many vintage TV's had one thing go wrong with them after they'd been in use for a while and lots of people decided to buy new and improved, or even a color set, instead of making a fairly simple repair.
Your set likely needs nothing more than new capacitors. Tubes are rarely the problem, including the CRT. I found a local guy through the Antique Radios Forum to "re-cap" my '50 Admiral and it cost me less than $100. I hooked it up to a digital tuner connected to the rooftop antenna and it gets tons of channels.
Ralph
Many vintage TV's had one thing go wrong with them after they'd been in use for a while and lots of people decided to buy new and improved, or even a color set, instead of making a fairly simple repair.
Your set likely needs nothing more than new capacitors. Tubes are rarely the problem, including the CRT. I found a local guy through the Antique Radios Forum to "re-cap" my '50 Admiral and it cost me less than $100. I hooked it up to a digital tuner connected to the rooftop antenna and it gets tons of channels.
Ralph
Shelbyville, indiana
Is where Admiral had their cabinet factory.
Is where Admiral had their cabinet factory.
Shelbyville, indiana
Is where Admiral had their cabinet factory.
Is where Admiral had their cabinet factory.
bugsyjones
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- Joined
- Apr 7, 2009
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- 581
I do have a digital box, but for this TV, I mostly want to use a VCR so I can show vintage shows and movies when company comes. I get wonderful sound but no video feed.
I bought a vintage TV repair manual and attempted to troubleshoot the problems myself to find I know squat about old tube type equipment.
I determined it needed new capacitors, and I put out an ad for a repair tech, but I ran out of money at the time. I know the longer I wait, the more is going to go bad, so I probably should get on the ball.
~Tim
I bought a vintage TV repair manual and attempted to troubleshoot the problems myself to find I know squat about old tube type equipment.
I determined it needed new capacitors, and I put out an ad for a repair tech, but I ran out of money at the time. I know the longer I wait, the more is going to go bad, so I probably should get on the ball.
~Tim
michaelman2
Well-known member
58Limited...that is BEAUTIFUL...I love that cabinet....countryford, typically the components are gone. When I do happen on one with the components I remove them and have a friend that likes to have them.
Tim, check the Antique Radios site's vintage TV forum and see if there's a member in your area who can do repairs. That will be the cheapest way to go.
Also, I recall reading on that forum that there are sometimes problems with vintage TV sets displaying VCR feeds correctly. They tend to do better with DVD's if memory serves me.
Here's the link to ARF:
www.antiqueradios.com
Also, I recall reading on that forum that there are sometimes problems with vintage TV sets displaying VCR feeds correctly. They tend to do better with DVD's if memory serves me.
Here's the link to ARF:
Antique Television Discussions
Share collecting tips/ideas, discuss antique televisions and related items. Ads are not permitted.
www.antiqueradios.com
Instead of a VCR to use with the older TV how about an older Laserdisc player?sometimes these crop up at swap shops and yard sales-most Laserdisc players have built in modulators so they can feed into an older set that doesn't have a video input.
Wood cabinets-wish on the newer plasma and LCD flatscreens they would have models with a WOOD frame instead of the metal-plastic ones-the set would go better with the wood AV cabinet often bought with these to put the TV on and to hold DVD players,game machines,cable boxes, sat boxes,and AV receiver-amplifiers.I do miss the older wood cabinets that older CRT TV's came in.The wood cabinet made a good place for VCRS,disc players and the cable-sat boxes!
Wood cabinets-wish on the newer plasma and LCD flatscreens they would have models with a WOOD frame instead of the metal-plastic ones-the set would go better with the wood AV cabinet often bought with these to put the TV on and to hold DVD players,game machines,cable boxes, sat boxes,and AV receiver-amplifiers.I do miss the older wood cabinets that older CRT TV's came in.The wood cabinet made a good place for VCRS,disc players and the cable-sat boxes!
DVD player
No reason you can't use a DVD player. Just purchase a $25.00 converter to convert to RF for the tv input.
I have a 1983 RCA Color TV at our cabin with no remote control. That doesn't seem that old to me, and it does have a square corner picture. But the only input is for antenna, not even coax. So I have a converter and a DVD player. I got a new HD Dish system a couple of years ago so I took my old dish system up there, since I own it. I pay $6.00 per month for that system to stay active, it is considered a second tv set!! Where this is located there is no possibility of antenna reception because of the surrounding mountains, so the Dish is really great.
No reason you can't use a DVD player. Just purchase a $25.00 converter to convert to RF for the tv input.
I have a 1983 RCA Color TV at our cabin with no remote control. That doesn't seem that old to me, and it does have a square corner picture. But the only input is for antenna, not even coax. So I have a converter and a DVD player. I got a new HD Dish system a couple of years ago so I took my old dish system up there, since I own it. I pay $6.00 per month for that system to stay active, it is considered a second tv set!! Where this is located there is no possibility of antenna reception because of the surrounding mountains, so the Dish is really great.
lordkenmore
Well-known member
I use a composite video to RF conversion box on my 1990s TV. In fact, I use this approach even for the VCR--years back, I experimented, and found that the conversion box worked better than my then VCR.
I don't have experience using DVD on a vintage TV, but I can see one huge plus: there is so much on DVD. It's particularly attractive for those who want to watch old TV shows on their old TV. They released some tapes of old shows on VHS, but those same shows might easily be available as complete sets on DVD.
I'll cast another vote for LaserDisc. It may not be the most practical choice, but I find it an interesting piece of video history.
I don't have experience using DVD on a vintage TV, but I can see one huge plus: there is so much on DVD. It's particularly attractive for those who want to watch old TV shows on their old TV. They released some tapes of old shows on VHS, but those same shows might easily be available as complete sets on DVD.
I'll cast another vote for LaserDisc. It may not be the most practical choice, but I find it an interesting piece of video history.
I spotted a stash of Laser Discs and a player or two at Urban Ore in Berkeley recently. I had forgotten all about them. Are they the disc technology counterpart to Betamax video casettes?
I still own a Betamax, but it's not hooked up. It was a far superior system to VHS. Doesn't make much difference which was better anymore, does it?
I still own a Betamax, but it's not hooked up. It was a far superior system to VHS. Doesn't make much difference which was better anymore, does it?
lordkenmore
Well-known member
In a way, I think LaserDisc is roughly in the same position as Beta. It was better than VHS. But it had one huge problem, or so they say: it couldn't record.
But it was common in some circles. People who were into best video performance bought LaserDisc back in the 80s and 90s. I remember one audio store that sold surround sound systems, and the only format they could support for demonstrations was LaserDisc.
But it was common in some circles. People who were into best video performance bought LaserDisc back in the 80s and 90s. I remember one audio store that sold surround sound systems, and the only format they could support for demonstrations was LaserDisc.
djmjlcst
Well-known member
Laser Rot
Yep, been there, done that! I do have some old LaserDiscs that have laser rot. You can tell by the snowy picture on the screen that something happened to the discs. I can't remember the cause but isn't it something like oxygen gets inside the disc then contaminates the aluminum or whatever it was made of inside? I still have about 50 LaserDiscs and an older Pioneer LD player. We used to have the Pioneer VP-1000 but the laser burned out, then we went to a front loading model (Pioneer LD- 1100 - I think) that played both sides of the disc without turning it over. Then that laser player would only play one disc, "2010: Odyssey Two" of all things! None of my other discs would spin, but "2010" would without fail. A friend of ours sold us a newer model (Pioneer CLD-2089 CD/CDV/LD player) and it works fine. This model also plays both sides of the disc without turning it over. Most of our older LaserDiscs have been replaced with DVD's, however there are some titles that never made it to the DVD format. - Mike L.
Yep, been there, done that! I do have some old LaserDiscs that have laser rot. You can tell by the snowy picture on the screen that something happened to the discs. I can't remember the cause but isn't it something like oxygen gets inside the disc then contaminates the aluminum or whatever it was made of inside? I still have about 50 LaserDiscs and an older Pioneer LD player. We used to have the Pioneer VP-1000 but the laser burned out, then we went to a front loading model (Pioneer LD- 1100 - I think) that played both sides of the disc without turning it over. Then that laser player would only play one disc, "2010: Odyssey Two" of all things! None of my other discs would spin, but "2010" would without fail. A friend of ours sold us a newer model (Pioneer CLD-2089 CD/CDV/LD player) and it works fine. This model also plays both sides of the disc without turning it over. Most of our older LaserDiscs have been replaced with DVD's, however there are some titles that never made it to the DVD format. - Mike L.
