your favorite/most durable set

[josephdaniel]

This has probably been done before but what is your favorite and most durable set? You dont have to own it BTW.

[Eric H]

I had a 1990 Sony XBR I used for 15 years, the CRT was getting a little soft but it still worked great when I gave it away a few years ago. Only repair was re-soldering some bad joints when it was about two years old.

Favorite set, the Panasonic Plasma I have now, durability? only time will tell.

[kramden66]

If you are refering to old sets it might be the 10" admiral bakelite floor model , i can't think of the model number at the moment , if it is newer RCA 25" console from 1980 , i just recently got rid of it but it ran and ran and was still running , probably toward the end of when they were still made in the USA

mike

[compucat]

My most durable is my little 8 inch RCA personal portable. It is the little metal cabinet set sometimes found with the tilt stand and built-in rabbit ears. Mine is in a grey metal cabinet and it is the version with just the four plastic feet on the bottom and no included aerials. After I restored it, the set worked for 9 years before needing another repair. Since then it has performed dependably. I like the set because it is compact, ruggedly built, has a transformer power supply and just has that old TV look that you can't get on anything new.

As far as favorite, it is a tie between the above mentiond set and my 8 inch Motorola 9VT1. I love the round screen and the set since restoration has been very reliable.

[decojoe67]

That's a tough one, but I'd have to say my 1946 RCA Victor 621TS. The set just scores 10's in every respect, not to mention the John Vassos design provenance. It performs very well, although the fine tuning must be very percise to get full volume. I grabbed this one over 20 years ago when they were a bit more reasonably priced than today. With a previous full chassis resto, it has performed excellent with the limited usuage I've given it over the years.

[Eric H]

If we're talking vintage sets then probably my 1953 Philco has seen the most use since i restored it. The vertical has developed some issues since some of the original cans are still in it.
None of my old sets sees daily use so it's hard to determine reliability.

[David Roper]

Any 1950s GE.

[josephdaniel]

Vintage or modern I guess would work. Probably should have posted thin in general discussion.

[wa2ise]

I think this one would be my favorite. Had one just like it when I was a kid, which used to be my grandma's, before she checked out around 1960.

[bgadow]

Among early models I'd have to go along with others and say Admirals, specifically a 10" bakelite console and a rect screen table model. If I absolutely had to go back, right now, and watch something on a BW set, those are as reliable as anything in the room. Of all the sets I have, I guess the CTC-5 is my favorite but certainly not the most durable.

[Boobtubeman]

Even though short lived, my Motorola 17p6 was a DX recieving fool.. Got far away channels on the built in rabbit ears.

Still lookin for one folks

SR

[Tubejunke]

I bought a 1956 Philco 21" table model in 1982 or so in a Goodwill for $10. I was a teenager, so I used it quite a lot then. I remember that it came with a crt booster back then, but always did fine for, well, decades. We took it to the local tv shop for repair ONCE when the sound became distorted and a trip to the drug store tube tester didn't cure the problem. I think they put a resistor in the set.

Just a few years ago I finally replaced the original crt and two paper capacitors to cure some small vertical shrinkage horizontal issues. So, nearly 60 years of service with hardly any repair or restoration. That's one good set!

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by Tubejunke

I bought a 1956 Philco 21" table model in 1982 or so in a Goodwill for $10. I was a teenager, so I used it quite a lot then. I remember that it came with a crt booster back then, but always did fine for, well, decades. We took it to the local tv shop for repair ONCE when the sound became distorted and a trip to the drug store tube tester didn't cure the problem. I think they put a resistor in the set.

Just a few years ago I finally replaced the original crt and two paper capacitors to cure some small vertical shrinkage horizontal issues. So, nearly 60 years of service with hardly any repair or restoration. That's one good set!

I have a very similiar story! I was a teen in the early '80's too and got a '53 Crosley 21" console from a moving sale. It was still being used in the living room!! $50 seemed like fortune, but it was like new. I used it for years without any chassis resto. It was all original! I had to sell in a few years later when I moved. Many of those '50's TV's were true work-horses!

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Tubejunke

I bought a 1956 Philco 21" table model in 1982 or so in a Goodwill for $10. I was a teenager, so I used it quite a lot then. I remember that it came with a crt booster back then, but always did fine for, well, decades. We took it to the local tv shop for repair ONCE when the sound became distorted and a trip to the drug store tube tester didn't cure the problem. I think they put a resistor in the set.

Just a few years ago I finally replaced the original crt and two paper capacitors to cure some small vertical shrinkage horizontal issues. So, nearly 60 years of service with hardly any repair or restoration. That's one good set!

Was that the Microgrid 390 model?
They originally came through with a 6BZ8/X155 as an RF amp. IIRC, that was Philco's own tube. Most techs replaced them with a 6BQ7 or 6BZ7.
It also had a 90 degree CRT. Great working set.

[DavGoodlin]

My 1967 Philco 19" color (chassis 17KT50) luggable was found in a trash pile in 1978. Just a 2 watt resistor in the yoke was burned. The transistorized tuner and IF strip in that set was so awesome that it has moved with me 10 times, used in top-floor rooms with rabbit ears. It was a DXing maniac!

It still works but the CRT guns are equally weak and it seems to not like a DTV box for some reason.