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I tried posting pictures. The software says my pictures are too large. So...
The model number is 1MR418M. It was the top line 400 series of Stereo Theater Magnavox built in 1962 using a 27" 27ZP4 picture tube. It uses the 93-series stereo audio amp, 70-series Multiplex adapter, 79-series AM-FM tuner and a solid state remote control chassis. Magnavox built two other versions of the Stereo Theater, the 300 series with a 24" CRT and the 200 series with a 23" CRT. Magnavox also built a color Stereo Theater, but these are exceedingly rare and I've never seen one in person.
My Stereo Theater was found by a member of our console stereo forum in an abandoned house that was being torn down in Detroit. The house had a hole in the roof. This old stereo was found under a staircase with debris all around it that had protected it somewhat from the elements. He rescued it and put it for sale on the forum. Since it was one of the models on my bucket list, I made arrangements to make it mine.
The cabinet is 60" long, compact for a three-in-one unit of that day. IT had been exposed to so much cigarette smoke, the top of the cabinet was black with nicotine and dirt. Everything inside the cabinet, all the electronics was coated in sticky cigarette residue. There was a mouse nest under the amplifier. The picture tube was ready to fall thru the front of the cabinet. It couldn't fall backwards so the shadow mask and safety glass kept it from falling to the front. But, typical for even neglected old Magnavox stereos, the radio worked, the changer did not, the TV did not. The TV chassis would not even let the tubes light.
I removed all the electronics and wiring from the cabinet, including the CRT. It took me two years to get the electronics cleaned and repaired. A proper schematic or service literature for the entire unit did not exist. I never found anything for the tuner. I got a "close" schematic for the TV chassis, which served me well. The amp I was familiar with and I finally found a schematic for the remote control, although I have never done anything with it and don't plan to. We took the cabinet as far apart as we felt was safe. We cleaned each piece with mineral spirits to get rid of the smoke scum, then sprayed the inside of the cabinet and all its parts with three coats of shellac, followed by three coats of satin polyurethane to seal the cigarette smoke and to keep it from smelling like cigarettes. The outside of the cabinet received 15 coats of gloss polyurethane, sanded from 400 grit to 2000-grit to knock down the gloss a tad. We used gloss material to heighten the grain effect in the cabinet. It turned out nice. Magnavox advertised that they used "10 coats of hand-rubbed oil finish" probably tung or teak oil. We used black grille cloth to give it a "mid century modern" look. It originally had two different kinds of grille cloth, for some odd reason. I got this Stereo Theater in 2017 and just got the TV working. My next task is the changer, but that should be a piece of cake compared to the TV.
I realize this is just a Magnavox, not a Zenith or anything important and worth messing with. I couldn't be happier that I finally got it going and I'm as proud of this thing as I would be of a CT-100 or whatever. I put a lot of myself into this project and it fills a slot in my Magnavox collection between the big Imperial and the Symphony.
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