Zenith Mod 7500WU-6 "Chancellor"
 

I'm picking up a roundie combo unit tomorrow morning. :banana:

This is a high end unit from 1965 with two remotes, solid state amp and 8 speakers. It has the Italian Provincial cabinet.

Pix to follow once it's home.........

Cool! Once you get it please share with us what functions the two remotes can control....Inquisitive minds wish to know.

From what I've read Zenith combos tend to switch the speakers over to the TV chassis internal audio amp instead of using the stereo amp of the audio system. I've also heard that some folks rewire the speakers to stay connected to the audio amp in TV mode and feed the audio out of the DVD player(or whatever signal source you use) in to the audio section of the console for a clearer genuine stereo sound when using the TV. Thought you might find that interesting...

Good luck with your new acquisition!

PS: If it has one of those white finishes you should nick name it 'Chancellor Plapatine'. LOL.

Can't wait to see pictures of that, no wonder you're excited! Have a safe trip.

Didn't know they had models with two remotes... that must have been a really expensive model in its day!

Got it home a couple of hours ago. The seller was kind enough to transport it from Phoenix to Tucson for gas money :thmbsp: (Thanks Rob!!). The thing must weigh 400 pounds. It took four of us to load it onto and off of the bed of the pickup truck. The cabinet is oiled oak. The top of the cabinet needs some work, but is quite repairable. The sides and front are pretty good except for a small chunk of wood missing just under the CRT. Checked the CRT, and the date code is 6340, so it's the original Zenith tube. Lots of RCA type cataracts. I originally thought it might be a replacement tube, as the Zeniths typically cataract with a yellow halo. Good emissions on all three guns and good life test. Must have been a "low-hours" set to have good emissions after 49 years.

More Pix

Dah-Yum....Tony Soprano & co. could hide a BUNCH of "Whack Jobs" in that one... That must have been the TOTL, or very close to it, set back then...

Looks nice! I heard(on VK) that Zenith bought CRT's from RCA(relabeled Zenith) early on until they produced their own. That would explain the RCA type cataract. Someone else will confirm or deny this info but I did get that info here. That makes my maggie combo look tiny! Too bad about the other set though, that would of been interesting also and somewhat more rare. Make sure and recap that amplifier before power up. those germanium transistors are getting hard to find in matched pairs.

Probably a good thing I didn't get the other set, too......I'm starting to run out of room.......:yes::yes:

The remote on the right is very rare, it's the first version of SC 400 for color tv. If you look, the buttons swing in the opposite direction of the later version. The pawl or hinge is what breaks on these, if I were you I'd clean it up for display and use the other one that's for a B/W set but it's the same thing, just not labeled color tv nor does it have the pawls that break easily. Those remotes almost never show up. Most SC 400 sets I've seen use a replacement remote for a SC 600. You got really lucky on this set, looks like it was well cared for. The set looks more like a '64 to me judging by the bezel shape and lack of UHF. The later bezels were more square in the corners. I can't wait to see it up and running. :)

I think We all are!

wow, TOTL for sure, never seen a zenith with horns, the good stereo/TT as well, that thing will rock the house.

Now I really feel bad that the Z roundie I have is still just sitting in the living room - this made me go look - it has horns too!

I am getting replacement windows (hopefully next week), so everything is pushed to the other side of the room, not enough space to remove the chassis and do the CRT swap. Man, now I'm itching to get started again.

If HiVolt's set does not have UHF (I deduced this from the lack of UHF antenna terminals on the back of the TV), I am surprised the model number ends with the letter U. That suffix is usually a dead giveaway that a vintage TV has UHF, or in the case of Zenith, a VHF tuner with provisions for optional UHF strips. The latter are installed in unused VHF channel positions, so, depending on how many VHF stations are in your area, you could have as many as nine UHF strips in the tuner (based on three VHF stations; some cities had more, some fewer, when this set was new; if you lived in the New York or Los Angeles areas, for example, your tuner would have five unused channels).

BTW, I too am looking forward to seeing pictures of HV's set in operation. For years (until I moved to a small apartment 12 years ago) I was a collector of old TVs, many of them Zenith, and still have to this day a very strong liking for that brand, although of course Zenith no longer exists today :no: except as a marketing symbol on flat screens made by LG.

I will probably be a while before I can do an electrical restoration on this one. I'm still trying to finish up my 1948 RCA projection set and am getting a little backed-up with other restoration projects. Recently my eyes have been bigger than my free-time allows :yes:. For now, I'll concentrate on getting it cleaned up and maybe do a little cabinet repair so that I can bring it in the house and put it in my radio/TV room.

Beautiful piece of equipment. I worked for a Zenith dealer from 63-70 and may have the original sales literature. Will scan and post if i find it.
Exponential mid-range horns. Found only on the top end combos.
Micro Touch 2-gram tone arm and the flip up adapter for 45 rpm records.
That veneer on top is thick enough to lightly sand if needed.
A furniture refinsher like Formbys and #0000 steel might be all it would take.
And it certainly takes 4 men to easily carry it. Just try to imagine trying to get one of those monsters up a flight of stairs.
There should be a label on the picture tube with an EIA code on it. 274 would be RCA and 1101 would be Rauland if my fading memory is correct.

I need a napkin for the drool pouring from me! That thing is SWEEEEET! I think that every collector that would like a roundy combo would prefer that one.

You mean, some of you still HAVE some room? :)

Two remote controls for the same TV can cause fights!

From the picture, it looks like one is the original and one was a replacement bought perhaps when the first one had problems. I have an RC Magnavox set with the original remote control and a second one new in the package.

Zenith TOTL Roundie Combo
 

MSTATON said:

"Looks nice! I heard(on VK) that Zenith bought CRT's from RCA(relabeled Zenith) early on until they produced their own. That would explain the RCA type cataract. Someone else will confirm or deny this info but I did get that info here. "

WKAND Replies:
Ah-ha! This explains the Hi-Lite labels on the CRT's in some of the Zenith sets I've seen.


MSTATON said:
"Make sure and recap that amplifier before power up. those germanium transistors are getting hard to find in matched pairs."

WKAND Replies:
Where would germanium transistors be used in a 1965 Zenith amp? I have one that looks identical and it is all tube (tuner and amp) including rectifier tubes. Was not aware of the transistor use in those sets.

The amp is definitely solid state. A bunch of TO-3 parts mounted on two big heat sinks......no tubes to be seen. I haven't taken the amp out to look, but I'm sure it has solid state rectifiers for the power supply. The radio/tuner that's mounted above it is a tube unit.

WOW! That Zenith looks very impressive, must have been top of the line in its day, a thing of beauty! :yes:
I would love something like this myself but here in New Zealand they only made a limited number of combos like this so the chances are finding one around here are pretty rare. Plus only made black and white combos, not colour ones. :sigh:
Cheers Glen :)

I own pretty much the same set.
 

So, I can shed a bit of light here.

Mine is a 7500W4, it is a 1964 model. It has a 25LC20QS chassis for the TV. It has the 8LT25 SS amp for the stereo. It has an 11L8T25 tuner. The TUNER is tubes...BUT the PREAMP--on the tuner is SS--under that shield. Plug-in transistors.

I drove a good way to get my set in 2003. The tube in mine, like yours--is quite good--but with BAD cataracts. The tv worked the last time I tried it. The stereo did NOT work right, when I got it. One of those caps on the amp at the rear--the coupling caps from the P-P outs to the speakers...was open. I change it out, with a 2200/35 and mounted it UNDER the chassis--to preserve the "look". I also changed one pair of the Germanium outs--from a similar amp I had.

Mine does work, but it has an intermittent power switch. I sometimes fire it up. It is in the basement here at the house, NOT in my storage garage.; Me and ONE other guy carried it out of the store I got it at. I DID have help loading it i my van--and down to the basement, but only ONE guy--and my hand truck too. Maybe my back was better then...

\My remote does not work right--it is that big chassis over the HV cage. Likely it needs a couple of caps--I will get to it "sometime".

I have a '64 Zenith SC remote monochrome 'lugable' and it needed to have one of the slug tuned coils for filtering the signals for only one of it's functions retuned in order for that function to work. That may be all that your remote receiver chassis needs done....

MSTATON said:
"Make sure and recap that amplifier before power up. those germanium transistors are getting hard to find in matched pairs."

WKAND Replies:
Where would germanium transistors be used in a 1965 Zenith amp? I have one that looks identical and it is all tube (tuner and amp) including rectifier tubes. Was not aware of the transistor use in those sets.[/QUOTE]

You could get them with different amplifier options. I saw the big heatsinks, that's how I knew what amp it was. Magnavox had several amps in the same year including push pull tube, single ended tube and SS. I've worked on several Fisher SS amps with tube drivers(on the amp).

According to the previous owner, he was listening to the radio up until just recently, when he said one channel went out. Hope it's not the output transistors. Any idea which SAMS I need for this set?

I wonder who made that micro-touch.It looks to have a sizing apparatus similar to a collaro.

I believe the Sams that covers the tuner pre and amp is 682-13. Verify your chassis numbers on the amp chassis #8LT25 and the tuner pre #11L8T25. The record changer is covered on H.S. 660-14.

I don't see a sticker on the TV chassis but maybe on the back it will list it. If it's a 25LC20, H.S. 705-4. 25LC30, H.S. 722-4. For appearence both chassis's look the same but I'm leaning towards the '20.

Voice of Music. Belt driven too. Nice turntable with that 2 gram "micro-touch" tonearm!

Thanks Marty. I'll go take a look this evening.

It was their top of the line combo from 1964, only top of line models used that belt drive changer thru 1969. The changer was not made by VM, it was developed jointly
by Zenith and CBS in 1961.

TV chassis is 25LC20 QS.

Tuner chassis is 11L8T25

Amp chassis is 8LT25

Sandy, didn't you have a Zenith roundie something like this one (yours being in a vinyl-clad metal cabinet, IIRC) several years ago? I remember you writing in a post about five years or so ago (I'm guessing) that you had a Zenith roundie that was missing the channel selector knob, and maybe having other problems. Did you ever find a replacement for the missing knob, and did you ever get that set working? Just curious. If you did get that set going, being a Zenith, it would work very well on a DTV converter box or on cable.

Anyone know where I can get a replacement idler wheel and belt for the micro touch 2G turntable?

Top of the line, and the year I was born. The high end belt drive Zenith made Micro-Touch changer is a major sign of a TOTL Zenith console. This set is beautiful. And a TOTL combo to boot.

Have done a little bit of work over the past couple of weeks. I've blown out the dust from inside the cabinet and have carefully sponged everything down to get the thing clean. After about 4 coats of Howard's Golden Oak, the cabinet is looking pretty decent, but I need some to do kind of a finish coat,as the cabinet is now a little dull. Should I do lacquer, tung oil, Howard's neutral, or paste wax. I know that older radios have a lacquer finish, but I'm not sure it would be appropriate for a mid 60's console. Suggestions?

I slowly brought the radio and amp up on a variac. Haven't tried the TV out yet. Both the radio/preamp and the SS amp work well and the set sounds great. No appreciable heat on any of the electrolytic cans after running the set for a couple of hours. The "bad channel" that the previous owner mentioned turned out to be a dirty switch on the radio. After cycling the pushbuttons a couple of times, the intermittent seems to have disappeared. Probably should clean those switches when I get around to recapping the set.

Took the turntable out and cleaned and lubricated it. Got it to run in manual mode, but it still gets hung up in auto......sounds like I need to do a bit more cleaning and lubing under there. Bought a new needle and played a few records in manual mode. Sounds great.

Bought a complete set of 8 duplicate speakers on the bay that were taken from a similar console.....just in case I needed them. Looks like I won't need them, so I'm thinking of having some custom cabinets built and using them as a pair of remote speakers for the set.

This thread prompted me to grab a nearly identical set. Except in mine there is no TV and thus a different cabinet(which I think has a cooler look :P ). I'll try to get to posting a thread about it in the next 24hrs.

I like that 'remote speakers made from a duplicate set of the same speakers as in the set' idea...Wish I had the speakers to do it like you can!

Hey Tom, looking forward to seeing your set. What style of cabinet?

Modern, but not danish.......

No TV? Did someone gut that part of the set before you got it, or is yours just stereo and phono? If the TV part of the cabinet is empty, I'd look for a junker set with the same type of TV chassis yours had, and slip that into the opening. From what you said, however, I think your set is just the stereo and phonograph.