1961 Zenith console stereo
 

Here's the one with the cabinet that matches my new Zenith SC400 TV. It has the separate amplifier/power supply and tuner chassis, push-pull 6BQ5's, 12" woofers, horn tweeters, belt-drive 4-speed record changer, and some kind of crazy built-in reverberation amplifier (the small chassis behind the tuner, and the reverb springs located on the inner left side of the cabinet). Here's the pics...

That's a sweet console, hope you get it going!

It looks like the one the Baxters had on the Hazel show.
The show was first aired in 61 I think.

Nice stereo.
We had reverbs in our cars. Real cool but if you hit a big
bump BOING !

73 Zeno:smoke:

If anyone is watching the Twilight Zone on metv right now, there's this same model console in it. Maybe it's the same one they used in the Hazel show? The episode is "A World of his Own" in case anyone wants to go look for it.

I saw that last night and thought about you. I bet the cat fell off the TV when you screamed "there it is!" :D

This Twilight Zone was first broadcast in July, 1960 and was the last episode of the first season. Hazel didn't start until 1961. Also imdb says this TZ episode was filmed at MGM studios and Wikipedia says Hazel was filmed at Columbia. So it could just be coincidence or some good product placement by Zenith.

I've been watching TZ off and on since I was a kid in college in the late 1970s and I had never seen this episode, so it was nice to see it and the Zenith stereo. I attached a pic I found online showing the Zenith.

That is probably the TOTL Zenith HiFi that year.
Most Zeniths covered in my 59-66 service manuals (books Im very happy to have :) ) , including two consoles I have, are single-ended 6BQ5. I can only imagine how great that will sound when restored.

The horns and the reverb amp alone make that special model. drh4683 might have a video on such a console

That's a sweet sounding chassis. I just restored one like it (different cabinet style) last year. I re-capped it, replaced an open resistor, and it came to life.

It has terminals to adjust the bias on the outputs (use a VTVM and adjust for zero voltage). Mine wouldn't quite get to zero, and the B+ was running high.....I replaced all 4 output tubes and brought everything back into line.

Those Zenith's are an oddity, with a stereo amp but a mono FM tuner. I think the '62 models came out with a stereo tuner. I have a tablet hooked to the aux input on mine and use it to stream music, so that's in stereo. The tuners in that model may not be stereo, but they do work very well, and have excellent sensitivity.

Davet: it probably has an MPX adapter jack, so it should be a simple matter to snag an outboard tube MPX chassis and hook it up. Even if it don't have a jack you should be able to hook it in right after the detector....

The same console could gave been rented from the same Hollywood prop house, and used in all three shows mentioned here. Wondering if the producers of "Hazel" switched to an RCA stereo prop when they started shilling for RCA color TVs in magazine ads, etc.. :scratch2:

No jack, I'm sorry to say. I never thought about it, but you're right...I could use an MPX adapter chassis. I have repaired Magnavox stereos with the adapters, but never a Zenith.

I went and recapped this completely (There's nearly as many of those wax&paper caps and electrolytics in this as in most TVs from the same era - if not more because of that separate reverb amp chassis with its own power supply). Additional problems turned out to be the limiter tube with an open filament, and the RCA plug on the wire going to the output of the reverb spring unit was cracked and giving an intermittent connection. And I kept hearing static that turned out to be coming from intermittent connections at those plugs for hooking in external speakers. I have no plans to hook up extra speakers, so I left the plugs in place but just soldered the connections together permanently on the back of the jacks the plugs went in.

This console just blows away any other console I've had, even my other Zenith. And I still haven't changed the crossover capacitors yet or checked the bias on the outputs, so I'm sure it will sound even better. It'd be interesting to compare this, the absolute top-of-the-line tube Zenith, to it's transistor counterpart. My '66 Zenith transistor console does have the push-pull output, but it's not the super heavy duty amp with it's own chassis. And it doesn't have all the cool extras like the reverberator or the 'presence' control.

Extremely sensitive FM tuner, I'm picking up stations I didn't even know were there with just the built-in antenna. But it is kind of odd to have a stereo amp with a mono FM tuner.

I still haven't even tested the record changer yet. I'm looking forward to playing some records with the reverb cranked up.

Phono plays slow. I'll work on it tomorrow, if I start with it now I'll easily wind up staying up all night.

So I took it apart and cleaned and lubricated stuff and it turns now - but no sound is coming from it. I'm fairly certain the cartridge is bad. It's missing the 78 needle, and a piece fell out through the hole where the 78 needle goes when I unscrewed it. I have a sams for the tuner and amp, but it doesn't cover the phono, anyone have a part # for the cartridge?

Seems strange to have a hard-cone tweeter and a horn tweeter in the same console, it's usually one or the other.
The horn tweeters are probably Magnavox sourced. :scratch2:

Awesome console! I wish I owned one....Especially if it had a color roundy built in.

That is an Astatic 710 cartridge, The voiceofmusic.com will sell you a new one for $28. And you're in Michigan too.

I got one a few years ago for a 1962 Motorola Console I sold and it was just right output for that funny little pre-amp Moto's have under their controls

I just ordered another 710 to replace a failing E-V 186 on my 1959 Zenith's V-M changer.

I just went and ordered a one of those cartridges. If the postman doesn't deliver it to the wrong place and lose it (like happened with some capacitors I ordered last week:thumbsdn:), I could be listening to records on this next week.

I still have to do more cleaning and lubricating, I just did enough before to get it so it would play manually. Not that I ever put a stack of records on and actually use the changers, but it's nice to have it all working like it should. And I just got in my crossover caps. I suppose after I swap those caps and finish with the changer I can put it all back together screw the chassis down and put the back on even if I don't have the cartridge yet.

The horns don't say Zenith while the other speakers do, and I did have a Magnavox with horns. It was a 1965 color roundie combo with a solid state stereo. The stereo sounded great, and it had a nice cabinet, but the fly was bad and the 21FJP had a green gun with an open filament. I wound up junking it, I think I sold the horns...

I replaced the crossover caps. I never used to bother with those, but as I recently discovered with my other Zenith console, they really make a noticeable difference. I guess they get leaky and let too much low frequency sound in the tweeters.

And I zeroed out the bias on the outputs, even before adjustment there was at most only a few tenths of a volt. Tomorrow I'll get back to the record changer.

It all works now except for the cartridge. I put everything back together. I think it is so unusual to see an old radio or TV console where those cardboard loops that are stapled to the cabinet and hold the wires together were all intact, that I preserved them and put them back.

Nice work!

That Zenith model is very worthy of such professional restoration.
I have two 1964 Zeniths to work on in the next month or two.
Since these both use single-ended 6BQ5 amps and all four of the Zenith Amperex-sourced tubes tested good, biasing on the outputs should be easy.

Does anyone know what the part number is for the turntable belt for this unit? It started playing slow, and I'm thinking it's probably the belt slipping as I lubricated it before, and I never changed the belt. All my sams are stashed in boxes in the garage I still haven't sorted through since I moved here last year. I don't know where I stashed the manual for this and it'd probably take me days to find it!

Unfortunately there were a couple of sized belts depending on the model of the changer. Look underneath and you should see the changer number 169-xxx. You can use that to look up the replacement belt. There might even be a 32-xx number for the belt needed (Zenith part number). You can cross reference that to the correct one. If memory serves me they used a 20.6 inch or a 21.6 inch belt. You can tell if it's the Zenith "Professional" belt drive changer by the 45 RPM adapter built into the platter. Good luck!
Steve

If you know the Sam's number and it is below 580 I can look it up. I've got Sam's 101-580 near complete and some random stuff before and after...All neatly sorted in file cabinets.

Adam - I think I have a manual for this record changer, please confirm the 169- number.

A pair of 3 speakers... nice.