Tube Stereo Radios
 

Hmm...the forum seems a little slow right now. So I thought I would add a new thread. Tube stereo radios are technically the first boom boxes. Most were made in the 1960's but they didn't have CD players or cassette players built in because the technology wasn't there yet. Going through all my Sams photofacts from the '60's I discovered that there were several manufacturers, both domestic and foreign that made these. I got my first tube stereo radio while back in high school. It was an Arvin 35R58 that my parents got as a wedding present in 1968. My parents were originally going to sell it in a garage sale until I asked if I could have it for my bedroom. A few years ago I picked up another one at an estate sale for $5. It was a JVC Delmonico FMS-413u. I love the wood cabinet (the Arvin is plastic, and somewhat cheaply built). Panasonic apparently made one called model 911, but I've never seen a picture of it. Anyone have any stereo radios? Any pictures?

Those are really neat looking, I'll keep my eyes peeled for one. I have a lot of radios but none like these. Good stuff!

That is a very nice looking radio! Reminds me of a Telefunken stereo table radio I repaired for an amateur radio person a while ago. had an open resistor in the B+ supply to the multiplex decoder. After the repair, the thing sounded so good I wanted to steal it! Got $20.00 for the work, which went for caps for a CTC-4 RCA color set.
Kevin

I have that JVC/Delmonico. I paid a bit more than $5 and it needs quite a bit of restoration...

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=251240

Looks can be deceiving. I still have yet to recap mine. There is a lot of caps to replace, plus I've had trouble trying to get the chassis out because of the dial string being connected to it. There seems to be a lot of high voltage (1000v) caps in this one. Bought the Sams Photofact for this model last year on e-pay because it was missing from my collection.

There was some marketing scamming going on as well, as witness this radio:
http://www.geocities.com/wa2ise/radios/fakestereo.jpg http://www.geocities.com/wa2ise/radios/silvamfm.jpg
These "balanced stereo speakers" in this Silvertone are just a pair of identical speakers wired in parallel, fed from a mono signal. This is rather misleading advertising...

Not surprised considering Silvertone being a cheap store brand from Sears. I wonder who actually made it? Also, stereo was the latest in audio technology back in the day, many companies just attached "stereo" or "stereophonic" to their product in order to sell it. I'd like to find a "stereophonic" lawn mower! :D

Then there's the Zenith MJ-1035...Never did get the outboard spkr for mine, & it REALLY needs to go see Dr. Dewick for a lube 'n' oil change one of these days...Not quite as sensitive as I thought it would be on FM, either...But all I have is a "T" antenna feeding it. They have as std equipment, a dorky "power cord is the antenna" arrangement...Which here in the hinterlands is about useless. ONE OF THESE DAYS, Unca Sandy is gonna get him a PROPER tower 'n' mount his Winegard complete w/rotator-ator & housewide distribution amp, & feed the MJ-1035, the Icom R-7000, the Yamaha RX-V1, the 2 Nems-Clarkes PROPER, STRONG signals so's they can fill this hovel w/Glorious Frequency Modulation sound...

Arvin probably made it.

When I was a kid I had an Arvin given to me by an older couple that I knew. I was totally inept and couldn't figure out why it didn't work. For one thing, a tube was missing! Mostly it needed filter caps, had a terrible hum that would wake the dead. That one is long gone; I later found the same set branded as a Penncrest and should have bought it. Those had a decent wooden case. I do have a plastic case Arvin that I got from a TV shop. It has a problem that causes it to blow the rectifier filament. (I think I'm remembering that right) That set is very similiar to the one you have.

I've had several transistor Arvin stereos...I like 'em.

That Arvin is one of the first tube type radios I ever bought, back in 1984 or so. I can remember going to Radio Shack with my dad and getting a 50HK6 tube for it. I actually took the chassis out of that plastic cabinet and built my own wood cabinet for it. For some reason it quit working, maybe bad capacitors in the IF cans. I now have it here with me but haven't tried getting it working again yet.

Here are some photos of my Arvin radio and chassis. I did save the original plastic cabinet but the knobs, speakers and some of the tubes are missing!

I guess this 1963 Philips fits in your category. Nice radio, and when was the last time you saw a cabinet made of solid wood rather than veneer?

http://antiqueradio.org/art/phil021.jpg

http://antiqueradio.org/phil02.htm

Phil Nelson

Mine has a bad hum, part of the circuit board near the output tubes looked fried. I haven't used it in several years. This must have been one of the last tube models Arvin made since it was bought new in '68. Won't be finding any 50HK6 tubes at Rat Shack. They stopped selling that kind of stuff loooong ago. :no: Arvin was known for wierd tube numbers, 50HK6, 20EZ7, etc. It's often a dead giveaway as to who actually made some store branded radios.

Very Nice! :thmbsp: