Gorgeous Magnavox hi-fi

[eluxca]

Here is the other treasure from the auction house. An absolutely beautiful modern cabinet with great sound. The side firing speakers work great in our long living room. I do not know the model number or date of manufacture, but I assume it is around 1960. On the consoles I've seen in the past, the power switch is part of the loudness dial, but on this console it is prof the treble dial. Interesting...
We listened to the Brothers Four this evening and put down the cell phones... nice.

 

[super-sweeper]

Beautiful! If only it had a built-in TV!!!! 

 

[arh1953]

That IS gorgeous!

That came out in 1961, '62, or '63. Even though Magnavox introduced Astro-Sonic (transistorized) sets in late '62 for 1963, their Gold Seal models still used tubes. Magnavoxfriends, a Yahoo Group, has the whole brochure for 1963 posted there. I tried really hard to just post the pic, but it comes up tiny. I hope you both enjoy that for years and years to come!

 

[jfalberti]

That is an awesome stereo!

I love Magnavox stereo consoles. I have one that I bought off Craisgslist last year that works great. Congratulations on your find..

 

[eluxca]

The turntable speed seems to fluctuate slightly. Is that something that will improve with use? Perhaps there is a belt or rubber wheel that needs attention. I don't know much about turntable maintenance.

 

[tolivac]

Very nice Magnavox Hi-fi system.Like the tubed ones best-the early Solid State systems didn't sound so good.You can try running the TT more and see if the wow-flutter goes away-if not the idler tire under the platter needs cleaning.Same with the inside rim of the platter the tire rides on-turns it.If the rubber idler tire is glased-will slip.If the inner rim of the TT platter is dirty or oily-causes slipping.Does the TT cycle records OK?If it cycles-just try running it for awhile-might just have a flat spot on the tire.Another thing to try-Set the TT to 78 RPM and just let it run for several minutes.That irons out flat spots.Brothers Four is a good listening choice!!!Oh yes-hows your stylus-if the Brothers Four sound clear and undistorted-most likely its still OK-And if you should see black residue piling up around the stylus as the record plays--STOP RIGHT AWAY-you have a nicked stylus-now a cutting tool ruining records.

 

[eluxca]

Rex, it did play better the longer it ran. I played a 78 record toward the end of the evening which seemed to even out the wnow/flutter problem. There is no black powder, but I don't know when or if the stylus has been changed. What is a good source for stylus these days? Radio Shack doesn't carry them any more.

 

[marks_here]

Try ebay, that's where I got my Califone stylus

 

[paulg]

Call Gary

For any phono stylus, or any phono part for that matter, start with Gary at www.thevoiceofmusic.com.
I just got back from visiting him. He and I cleared out the VM factory years ago and remain friends.
Since then, Gary has created an enormous selection of parts, cartridges and needles for virtually every make.
Your Magnavox uses a Collaro changer, not a VM, but I would bet Gary can get you needles, cartridges etc.

 

[super-sweeper]

I was shocked the last time I was in the mall, the store FYE (some hipster store or something) carries not only needles, but NEW record players and NEW hipster-music 78s! I'll only be buying the needles, but for 2014 the record players don't look half-bad! I'll stick to my Crosley for now!! 


 


I think I saw a Brothers 4 record today, I bought a Tommy Edwards 45 for $1.06 in goodwill today, although I have 2 more of the same record at home! Never hurts to have backups!! 

 


 

 

[tolivac]

There is another company-used to use them at one time-"Needle In a Haystack" they carried all types of phono styli and other parts, and even turntables.You will have to try "Googling" them as they say.If your TT is running and playing OK-bets its alright.Probably should get a spare stylus just in case.You can always keep it in the TT compartment as a spare-better yet tape its package to the TT compartment wall so it doesn't fall under the TT and possibly into the amps.If the console has another storage well-you could keep it there.I have some Brothers 4 records I got from my Mom and others I got from yard sales.Just have to look thru the many milk crates of records I have.Some of those came from radio stations.You never know what you find when you clean out old transmitter sites and their attics!For getting styli--you will need to know the type of the cartridge you have in the TT.Glad the set works well-often when something works well for me----LEAVE IT ALONE!Don't like to fix if it ain't broke.

 

[eluxca]

Albums continued to play slowly after a week of use, so I removed the turntable plate to have a look. The motor is whisper quiet and welll-balanced and the arm action was smooth. The rubber friction wheel was hard and glazed. I removed it and went over it with steel wool, then alcohol. I cleaned everything else with alcohol and lubed the the friction wheel and turntable with turbine oil. Voila! It plays perfectly now. I beleive I will try to source a new wheel soon since the hard rubber is noisy. Thanks for the link to Voice Of Music, great website!

 

[Anachronism]

I once had a beautiful Magnavox radio/record player built around 1950, the audio stage was magnificent for it's day, so I duplicated the audio section and replaced the 78 turntable with a Garrard stereo. Unfortunately, my wife at the time didn't value anything that didn't have a Sears or Art Van payment book, so out it went

 

[eluxca]

Pictures of the innards

A Google search of the model number puts it in 1962. I snapped some photos of the inside while I repaired the album well, which collapsed under the weight of the albums.

I sourced a new idler wheel and stylus/cartridge (NOS!). It plays beautifully. The only issue left that when set on FM Stereo, the output is very low compared to all other settings. 150 watts rating in 1962 - I didn't know that existed!

 

[super-sweeper]

I saw that same console at goodwill last week, how did it get to Florida? It had an 8-Track player, too, but they said the record player had issues.maybe because they were playing a 78rpm record at 33rpms? 

 

[eluxca]

Ha ha, it's back in my living room again! Those consoles do get around

 

[tolivac]

150W as shown in the nameplate-that is what the unit draws from the powerline-NOT what the amp will generate.
the power amp appears to use 7591 tubes-these can provide up to 35W per channel from each PP pair.Try replacing coupler caps in your tuner and cleaning the pots in the set-like the vol,bass,treble,balance, and so on.Also function switches.Thats a nice set.To sum up after controls cleaned,electrolytic and coupling caps replaced-the unit should play again like new.

 

[eluxca]

It is a powerful 35 Watts... can only turn volume up 1/4 of the way and stay in the room. What are the coupler caps?

 

[tolivac]

Coupling caps do just as the name says-"couple" one amp stage to another or serve as isolation devices on the inputs to the amps-such as tuner,TT,tape,etc-they prevent stray DC from another component getting into the next stage.With age these caps get "leaky" and change value.So stray DC can get to the next stage-and value changes can alter frequency response.In a power amp-coupler caps from the driver stage to the output stage-if these get leaky they can cause the output tubes to overheat.IE glowing plates-the large metal structures just inside the tube.Only the filament should glow.35W figure that most be both channels.Looks like the 7591 tubes are running very conservative here.You can check their type #s to verify thats what they are.They just look like 7591 tubes to me.Seen them in other Hi-Fi amps,Lowrey organs,and guitar amps(Fender).