General Electric TV-HiFi model M781WWD - Philco hybrid
 

Estate sale left-overs in my area run the range from budget junk to TOTL RCA, Zenith and Magnavox stuff from the 60s and 70s. These show up in the local paper and CL regularly, prices ranging from insane on the high end to unbelievable when free:D

What ELSE I found when I picked up a massive RCA console, I was not prepared for:scratch2: When I heard that a Music Teacher couple lived there and passed away a decade ago, it made sense. The once-fshionable was dated but you could tell it was THE place to be show up to with a record in hand.

The new owner of the 140 year old house with 10 foot ceilings and huge rooms showed me in to the RCA Victor VJT-76W he put on CL for a mere $25. The console SS HiFi is the most powerful one from 1967 catalog, being the featured unit along with the VJT-77 which also uses a supposed "500" watt stereo amplifier, 15" air-suspension woofers, 2x3" cone tweeters and pair of Jensen horns for each channel. It is 74 inches long. The brochure will be scanned and added to the downloads at vintagehifi.net

The photos below are from GE combination found alone in an upstairs bedroom/den. The MW-23 "compactron version" chassis and likely dead 23" CRT were removed in favor of a most-interesting retrofit. See photos below.

Photos
 

Attachment 197973

Attachment 197974

Attachment 197975

Attachment 197976

Your picture links prompt for a log on despite my already being logged on, and when I try to re-log on to see the pictures it won't let me....

It is server shenanigans like this which make me almost never host my pics on VK....

The pictures display fine on my iPad. :scratch2:

jr

I have a GE stereo that has that amp and tuner. The amp has PP 7189's in each channel.
Does yours have that crazy vacuum cleaner arm on the V-M built changer?

I have been finding that I cant see some of the pictures on other posts.

This is way beyond my understanding but this site is all about sharing pictures, so this needs attention to accommodate us older users who have much to contribute!

Everytime I add a pic, I need to resize or delete pics in other posts I made, because its so limited. I have been resizing all pictures to minimum size.

Dave, The amp is all on a PC board but the tuner is not. The 7189 version seems to be preferred but this amp has 7355's in PP. That tube is another one like the 6GW8/ECL86 which is rare and expensive.

The changer is a VM AND the tone arm is wider than it needs to be, but no vacuum in sight. This is horribly dirty inside, mice were stashing all kinds of crap but not much that they wheedled on.:sigh:

Well the pictures work on pc, but not android smartphone....Strange.

Cool looking console. Whats the chassis like?

They work ok on an Android pad device (Samsung galaxy tab a) ... very strange!

jr

Opening the "CRT doors" , it had obviously been fitted with a different TV. I lifted the lid to see what I recognized as a Philco escutcheon:thmbsp:, and was ecstatic - I was afraid it could have been any number of less-desirable sets. This combo had more surprises.I also like the fact I found a GE HIFI, that was not a wimpy performer like so much of their audio stuff of the 60s.

While I like GE's 1959-64 "designer" chassis very much, CRT's seemed short-lived. Looking at the CRT cup poking through the back cover, the label confirmed a 1974 model Philco, the year before GTE bought and closed the factory at Tioga and "C" streets. In true Magnavox style, the color-tint-brite-contrast were liberated from the Philco's original cabinet and installed through the back cover, near the top with thumbwheels and the labels where they should be. This 4CS40 chassis is a 6-tube hybrid, reminiscent of an earlier Sylvania D14. It was the cheapest 19" color that year.

The final 1975 models were all SS, known as the "BOSS" chassis. Similar to an XL-100 in design with SCR sweep, the BOSS sets suffered from cold solder joints and other annoyances. They were repairable always but had some quirks you never quite found the cause of.
The 19VATP22 has EIA-877 (who???) and tests fair, with weak cutoff on red and green. I will wait until I clean and do a TV power up before attempting a "restore" with my tester. I like visual confirmation of any taken risk!

The space between the TV chassis and left speaker compartment is loaded with stuff rodents stashed there. I may find something interesting :scratch2:, though mouse-nuggets are sure to be mixed in.

The amp chassis has all its tubes including the 5U4 on a PC board, crazy and stupid IMAO, but at least they mounted transformers on the frame. Some of the 7355 outputs are not original. Im thinking high hours on this.

The tuner chassis is hand-wired, very unusual for a GE anyway.:scratch2: I found what all console lovers want to see in their 1962-63 models, an FM multiplex chassis, on the left side with long wires from the tuner-preamp on the right side.