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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2019 12:24:57 GMT -5
Who grew up listening to console stereo tube units?
Our Magnavox was about 42" wide, had 5 speakers one 12" woofer & 2 mids, tweeters, a 2.1 config. It could pump out volume & rattle the walls. Friends use to bring their LPs after school for a listening session. We enjoyed that old unit. It quit one day & we thought we blew it up- just a bad tube. I loved listen to Beatles White Album on it.
When my sister & bro in-law got their house, Don bought a Curtis Mathes stereo console (no tv) had to be 7" long, with 8 speakers- 4-way, The woofers were huge ovals. The power out of it was ear bleeding loud. The sound was amazingly clean & clear. I had no problem 'baby sitting' for them- music all night.
Don use to drag race and he had a LP of the 65? Nationals. Daddy Don Garlits was king and one track was his championship run. I walked about 2 house away & had my nephew play it, omg was it loud, neighbors were giving me the hairy eyeball. lol
It's amazing how nice some of those console units were. Basically semi-open baffle design and have no idea of the power ratings of either units, 30-40w/ch was a lot back then. I'm guessing frequency range topped out at about 15khz.
I've seen some very nice console upgrades, gutted & repurposed with server, touch screen, solid state pre & power amp using modified sealed speakers. Meet an older guy in Georgia who rebuilt a tube console, upgraded the turntable and added a CD player; sounded really nice.
Has anyone taken on a console project?
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Post by knucklehead on Oct 12, 2019 21:32:25 GMT -5
A lot of guys that come across these nice old stereo or mono consoles with tube amps in them remove the electronics and peddle them. I guess the thinking is they can ship the much smaller parts cheap, thereby having a wider possible market to sell them. Too bad IMO. There aren't very many of these old consoles left. My son bought a mono tube console a few years ago. He uses it as a radio, and it sounds great, picks up FM very well, but AM has a buzz in it. It probably has all of 10-15 watts I'd guess, if that. It has a couple of power tubes that look like EL84's but I'm not sure. I have a very old mono console, an upright, it's a Philco 47-1227, has a TT, picks up AM & FM (mono, of course), and has a single 15" speaker. It's the same model year as I am, 1947. It has been sitting idle for about 40 years, ever since I discovered the insulation coming off the power cord where it enters the chassis. And it had a buzz that got louder as time went on. I'd like to have it gone through and made whole again. My plan is to give it to my son some day, and I'd like to have it working perfectly when that happens. During his first few years of life this was played quite a lot, and I see him eying it when he comes to visit. While it isn't audiophile quality sound it is pretty cool. Its in great shape and doesn't need much cosmetic work to make it even better. When I was in my early teens I used to drag these old upright consoles home and try to fix them. Quite often all that was needed was a few tubes to make them work. Many of the 20's and 30's models were shortwave capable. I had an antenna outside my bedroom window that was strung up under the eaves. Most of what I heard was Morse Code stuff, rarely did I hear shortwave talk. But at least I always had a radio in my bedroom to listen to. Kids these days have no idea of how rough life was 'way back when.' Yeah, it was 4 miles to school, and no school bus to pick me up and take me home. That was Jr. and Sr. high. The worst part? It was uphill, both ways!  |
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Post by 405x5 on Oct 12, 2019 22:53:34 GMT -5
My own first “separates” component system when I was a kid sprang from scavenging from one of those old consoles, and speakers pulled from old tv 📺 sets.
Some of those old sets had some damm big speakers in the bottoms.
A Garrard record changer, Stromberg Carlson tube electronics and a Fisher preamp....I was in fat city.
Bill
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2019 15:07:33 GMT -5
I too have a multi-band console radio- wood is nice, fine craftsmanship.
Refurbish as is: Issues are internet has replaced shortwave broadcast, I own a Sony shortwave, AM & FM radio & Dallas has terrible radio stations, never listen to.
Turn it into a modern music player- touch screen, mini-pc & stereo receiver makes more sense for me.
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Post by vcautokid on Oct 13, 2019 15:54:46 GMT -5
As a kid lets just say console stereos died an unmerciful death. All for rock and roll. Of course it just got bigger from there.
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Post by AudioHTIT on Oct 14, 2019 5:19:45 GMT -5
My second ‘stereo’ was a console my step dad bought, I can’t remember the brand, but do remember a Garrard turntable and tube amp. At the time I was new in the family and enjoyed having this music resource to play my LPs (and even a few 45’s), it sounded much better than the portable I’d been using. However I wasn’t much of a purist at the time and would crank the bass probably all the way, not long after I’d hear my dad yell from downstairs ... “turn down the boom booms!!! ... this was to be my first lesson in low frequency wave propagation. 🙂
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Post by 405x5 on Oct 14, 2019 10:03:47 GMT -5
My second ‘stereo’ was a console my step dad bought, I can’t remember the brand, but do remember a Garrard turntable and tube amp. At the time I was new in the family and enjoyed having this music resource to play my LPs (and even a few 45’s), it sounded much better than the portable I’d been using. However I wasn’t much of a purist at the time and would crank the bass probably all the way, not long after I’d hear my dad yell from downstairs ... “turn down the boom booms!!! ... this was to be my first lesson in low frequency wave propagation. 🙂 Ha ha! My music was in the basement, right under my Dad’s easy chair. When he pounded the floor with those size 13 feet of his, it was time to lower that bass. Bill |
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Post by strindl on Oct 14, 2019 10:28:30 GMT -5
My parents had a Sylvania console stereo when I was growing up. They bought that in the late 60's. It had a gorgeous maple cabinet..solid maple, no veneer. It was solid state though and had a Garrard turntable. I remember laying on the floor with my head between the two speakers listening to Donovan and Procol Harem records. That sounded great. I do recall that it had two way acoustic suspension speakers in it. There was a sub enclosure for the speakers inside the console, that made them acoustic suspension.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2019 10:46:52 GMT -5
 Modern console. Doesn't do anything for me |
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Post by tchaik on Oct 14, 2019 10:48:55 GMT -5
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Post by AudioHTIT on Oct 14, 2019 13:25:01 GMT -5
... I remember laying on the floor with my head between the two speakers listening to Donovan and Procol Harem records. That sounded great. ... Still listen to Procol Harem, especially fond of "A Salty Dog", and enjoy Donovan when he comes on. You reminded me of my own 'on the floor' listening with that console, it had AM/FM too. In the dark late at night, playing the only jazz station in L.A., probably my first exposure to FM. I knew nothing about Jazz, but thought it was so cool, and the sound quality was so much better than the AM rock stations. When KPPC became the first L.A. FM underground rock station in the late '60s, AM became relegated to the car radio (which admittedly was still fun). |
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Post by geeqner on Oct 25, 2019 22:27:10 GMT -5
When I was around 5 (1970-ish) I remember my parents had a record player that was built into a wooden chest that was supported by tapered gold aluminum legs. Typical late-1950’s style.
Stereo, but via 2 cheap full-range speakers / marginal built-in Tube Amp.
Mom had a bound book-type folio that contained a collection of 45RPM singles.
My brother and I played “Peggy Sue” by Buddy Holly to DEATH on that thing.
(And “Fever” by Peggy Lee - STILL one of my all-time faves...)
It was replaced, in about 1972 by a 3-Bay Zenith Console:
[Top-of-the-Line model - Dad worked at a TV & Appliance store, plus accounting for a Yacht builder]
-Left Bay = (lift door) fully automatic Record Changer with clip for 45RPM adapter & Left Stereo Speaker (3-Way) on Front
-Center Bay = 27 inch Color TV (replaced smaller, crappy black & white TV on cart)
-Right Bay = (lift door) Tuner / Receiver, cubbyhole for LPs, & Right Stereo Speaker on Front
The thing was probably about 6 feet wide.
I remember what an improvement the Stereo Sound was over our previous setup and TV was also much better
This unit was 1st-Gen Solid-State, which I figured out later when it was sitting in the basement in our new home in 1976
Dad had plans to convert it into a Bar that never materialized. I dismantled it and built separate cabinets for the Speakers and Receiver section of it (TV was dead) and had it in my Dorm room for first 2 years of College.
It still had a few tubes to drive the High-Voltage section of the TV, but everything else was discrete-Transistor
had some new favorite albums then:
-Deputy Dawg (old Radio show, several episodes)
-Sesame Street
-Dad’s LPs band stuff: Al Hirt, Gene Krupa, Pete Fountain and a broad collection that came with the Unit
also remember getting up EARLY to watch the last few Apollo launches on the TV
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