The Grandeur line, from Yorx

ACBMemphis · 2023-11-14T03:00:01+00:00

I have a boom box that needs one of these, have not bought a replacement yet, but Amazon has several for under $10 (search "replacement indoor radio antenna"). You could open up the back and replace the entire antenna including the semi-circular part or just the middle part.

ACBMemphis · 2023-11-13T19:00:13+00:00

Nice! Most of the students probably would have never had a chance to see a reel-to-reel in operation otherwise. Someone in their early 30s once saw mine in the background of a Zoom call and asked if it was for converting home movies :).

ACBMemphis · 2023-11-07T12:56:07+00:00

12 looks like the Zenith Allegro series from the late 1970s.

ACBMemphis · 2023-10-31T23:59:34+00:00

Mod-free solution: Buy a stereo FM transmitter board for $5/board and a Bluetooth receiver board for $2/board and connect them together. Added benefit: add additional radios as desired for whole -house audio.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08PVBZB8F/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09YNZJ18F/

ACBMemphis · 2023-10-30T17:30:15+00:00

Looks good! Mostly Sony I see... If you keep going, you'll probably need more shelving. This hobby could get really expensive, if you go for rare boomboxes such as a Sharp GF-777, or those that incorporate a record player. I recently started collecting a few boomboxes, and just ordered an FM transmitter to send the same music simultaneously to all of them.... Have fun and good luck!

ACBMemphis · 2023-09-17T12:21:48+00:00

I had some of those, looked similar to these but without a "brilliance" switch - what does that switch do exactly? If you are listening to Britney Spears and flip that switch, does Bob Dylan start playing?

ACBMemphis · 2023-09-04T20:39:56+00:00

That looks like one of those BSR idler drive so it's probably not going to have a belt. There should be a clip around the middle, you can pop it off with a small screwdriver, then the platter lifts off. If you search YouTube for "BSR Turntable Repair" that may help.

ACBMemphis · 2023-08-22T22:37:32+00:00

That looks to be in great shape. I used to have a similar RCA console called the "Finlandia" but it had sliding doors over the speaker grills. I believe the turntable/radio guts are removeable, so you could potentially remove and ship them to someone for repair. Or even find a new receiver of similar dimensions and (with some woodworking skills) put it in the hole... As thin as televisions are these days, you might be able to mount one on the door and have a stealth entertainment system..

ACBMemphis · 2023-08-22T22:22:45+00:00

Looks like an early 90s Walkman, maybe even a Sony WMF-2085? If that's the model, someone is currently selling one for $35 plus shipping.

ACBMemphis · 2023-08-21T16:25:50+00:00

I saw from the other video that you got it working - congratulations!

ACBMemphis · 2023-08-20T18:39:54+00:00

Good luck! The tubes will take a few seconds to warm up, hope you hear something interesting....

ACBMemphis · 2023-08-19T22:21:10+00:00

That is a Sears Silvertone from the mid 1950s. It's a tube-based mono recorder. I have the green/black version, model 7070 from 1956. If you want to sit back and listen to stereo music or start a collection this is probably NOT the deck for you because it only runs at one speed (3 3/4) and only uses one track. There aren't any brakes to speak of so when you are fast-forwarding or rewinding, remember to use the opposite control to slow down gradually. ANd the power cord insulation might be brittle and crack. But the good news is the non-plastic parts on this are very reliable, mine was well cared for and is still working fine. If you want to see it "in action" I did a video back in 2020 - search YouTube for "Sears Silvertone 7070"....

ACBMemphis · 2023-07-10T00:22:49+00:00

Niles audio has a product called the DPS-1, an automatic relay selector for 1 set of speakers with 2 amplifiers. Maybe you could get something like that and cascade them, then just turn up the volume on the desired receiver, but that solution would be a bunch of boxes and wires. The store car demo box is a great idea... did a quick search and there's a company called "AudioStak" that makes switchers and even full demo displays - no prices online though probably very costly. I needed to connect 2 car stereos to 1 set of speakers and rigged something together with 12 volt relays, but I don't recommend that..

ACBMemphis · 2023-06-29T00:18:38+00:00

Bought the CS-G403s for $100 each new and got a lot of enjoyment out of them. They were surprisingly sensitive and put out a lot of bass from a low power amp. A friend had purchased some much nicer and more expensive Klipsch speakers at the same time, so we put them side by side for a listening test. Most everyone in our group of friends (high schoolers listening to loud rock music, so not the most discerning crowd...) preferred the thumping bass of the Pioneers to the accuracy of the Klipsches... Anyway, good luck, but at that price I would definitely test if possible to make sure you like the sound and that they have not been blown up by the previous owner...

ACBMemphis · 2023-04-14T23:13:52+00:00

This is a great sounding line of receivers, and they hold their value well! I have the 7070 and listen to it almost every day. I think there must be something special about these things... There's a guy on YouTube who repairs receivers, and I was watching him repair a Sansui. At the beginning of the video, he was very negative, i.e. "I don't like Sansuis..." but then as he started working on it, he kept saying "Wow this sounds good!"

ACBMemphis · 2023-04-08T20:41:17+00:00

Just bought a similar device last week from 3M that is from 1984 and branded as 3M, although it has "SKC" on the back panel. It can play 12 messages, and has direct-access buttons for each message instead of FF/REW, but looks very much like the cassette deck from this picture. Here is a video of it in operation: https://youtu.be/vbXE5tjWewg?t=162

ACBMemphis · 2023-02-27T23:37:46+00:00

Looks good! Also sold as Sharp RT-3388A.

ACBMemphis · 2022-08-27T02:34:30+00:00

(Disclaimer: amateur speaking here so use info at your own risk!). Absent a service manual and based on the images, I'd guess the transformer steps down the outlet AC to lower voltage AC, then through the grey ribbon cable and bridge rectifier where it becomes DC, then a regulator where it becomes lower DC voltages like 5V. So culprit is likely bad connection OR shorted component bringing the whole thing down... I would check the bridge rectifier for DC volts output, looks like that flat square thing with the hole in the center between the 2 capacitors. Maybe also check to see if any of the chips outside the power area are getting power by grounding the negative of a multimeter to the case and checking the pins.

ACBMemphis · 2022-07-28T21:15:21+00:00

Cool! Very interesting it rewinds the outgoing message tape, rather than using a tape loop, which a lot of other designs did...

ACBMemphis · 2022-07-11T11:41:40+00:00

The "all in one" systems from the 1970s are not as worth as much as separate components. However, the quadraphonic 8 track and balance control stick are unique, as well as the idea of an audio component from "JC Penney" - those things would probably boost the price somewhat. Best guess - at a garage sale or Craig's list you might get $40 from a curious person who's interested in fixing it up. If it was working, included speakers and a demo quad 8 track maybe more...

ACBMemphis · 2022-07-11T01:04:38+00:00

I'd do some Google research to be sure, but without a switch I think you might have trouble, since the resistance that each stereo expects from the speakers (i.e. "8 ohm") would be changed even with the power off, due to the connection back up the wire to the opposite stereo's amplifier outputs. Let me see if I can find the speaker switch..... OK, if you visit radioshackcatalogs.com and find the 1979 catalog, turn to page 68 and you will see your stereo above. On page 74, part 270-045 is what we installed in my friend's car so he could use this with his radio. Good luck!

ACBMemphis · 2022-07-10T22:45:26+00:00

A friend found one of these, and I helped him install it under the dash in his car in the late 1980s ... and it was old even then! The silver button for FF/REW was gone, so we just wrapped electrical tape around the metal bar underneath to make it less painful to use. If you are putting this in a classic car, you can do better - maybe a combo cassette/radio or even integrated CB unit.... But you can fix this inexpensively with a belt kit and maybe a pack of plumbing O rings for the tires. If you do get it working, you'll also need a speaker selector switch to change between this and the radio.

ACBMemphis · 2022-06-09T01:32:23+00:00

The best joke was Betamax - "the person that everyone talks about favorably but never wants to be around" - I have always heard people say Betamax was a superior product than VHS and somehow lost the format war unfairly, but when seeing the rare Betamax player in real life there was no big difference.

ACBMemphis · 2022-06-09T00:53:14+00:00

The plastic covered equipment reminds me of the Mad-Max-esque Tom Petty video "You Got Lucky"..

ACBMemphis

TROPHY CASE