Lower end mid-'60's Magnavox console

[radiotvnut]

I picked this up for $10 at a thrift store. It looks a little rough; but, I
think it has potential. I really haven't figured out the exact model or year
that this was made; but, it looks like the cheapest radio/phonograph console
that Magnavox offered. Still, it's of better quality than Electrophonic and
Lloyd's models from the '70's.

Here's a video I made:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mvD0kDoHWE

[Sandy G]

Tooob or Soiled State ?

[magnasonic66]

Solid State from 1965, as described on Magnavoxfriends. I believe it's the cheapest full sized radio phono that year. Nice deal, good looking piece of furniture for the budget line.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by magnasonic66

Solid State from 1965, as described on Magnavoxfriends. I believe it's the cheapest full sized radio phono that year. Nice deal, good looking piece of furniture for the budget line.

The changer used in that model was a little better than many of the other makers. I worked on a few of them. Good value for the price.

[radiotvnut]

I pulled the chassis, cleaned the controls, and replaced all the old black Nichicon electrolytic caps. Three of the caps were open. The rest read at least twice their rated value. Tomorrow, I'll power it back up to see how it works. It uses an R211 solid state chassis from 9/65. Now, what to do about the bad photofinish? All I know to do is strip the whole cabinet and paint it.

[Kamakiri]

Get a can of Goop hand cleaner and a scrub brush (the white can Goop with no pumice). It will lift all the dirt from that finish like you wouldn't believe. For the scratches and chips, get a flake of the finish off the set and match it up with some hobby paint, and carefully touch up the affected areas.

In something like this, chips draw the eye because of the difference in color. If you can come close in touching up, they virtually disappear. This is how I repaired deep scratches in my linoleum floor in my kitchen, and they're invisible unless you really look for em

[consoleguy67]

Some the home improvement stores sell stain sticks to blend in the scratches and chips in the finish. There used to be a product by Old English that acted like a stain, and blended into the finish, but I don't know if it's still available.

[Electronic M]

The right color of Howard's applied carefuly might help too....

[truetone36]

Originally Posted by consoleguy67

Some the home improvement stores sell stain sticks to blend in the scratches and chips in the finish. There used to be a product by Old English that acted like a stain, and blended into the finish, but I don't know if it's still available.

That's Old English Scratch Cover, and I think it's still available.

[Ronald1973]

Originally Posted by truetone36

That's Old English Scratch Cover, and I think it's still available.

'Tis, it 'tis!!! I bought a bottle just last year!

[noah300g]

anyone have any info on this unit? Looks pretty spacy like early 60's. I think it's radio TV combo but not sure. I'd like to have a bit more info on it before driving to go see it and potentially pay $40-$50 for it.
Let me know what you think.
Thanks,

[davet753]

Hey radiotvnut, how did this turn out for you?

I was wondering because I just picked up a similar piece this afternoon. It is a 1965 model, with a similar chassis. Mine has another printed circuit board on the top, but other than that it looks like the chassis you showed on your youtube video. I am certain mine is a step-up model, but they are a lot alike.

Mine has very low volume. The amp outputs are working fine (plenty of loud static in the controls before I cleaned them up), but the radio and phono volume is really low. I think the first thing I need to do is to replace all the electrolytics. Mine is full of the black nichicon caps, and if they are anything like yours, they're bad.

I also have to re-string the dial cord. What a pain in the ass!

[radiotvnut]

I ended up junking mine due to lack of space, it's cosmetic issues, and because I would have had to sunk a good bit of money in the record changer to get it going. I ended up using parts out of it to fix other sets.

I've got another '65 Magnavox console record player (no radio) that I fixed and am trying to sell; but, no interest. Yet, these same people will go out and spend hunderds on a modern Crosley.

[davet753]

Well, I replaced 13 electrolytic caps. Now it has full volume on the right channel, and low volume on the left. It can be evened out some by adjusting the balance control near it's limit, but then there is a little noise in the left channel (with the volume turned low).

There also seems to be some distortion present (radio and phono). Oh well, back to the drawing board

[radiotvnut]

Start checking transistors in the preamp and amp circuits. I'm pretty sure this unit uses germanium transistors and these can cause all sorts of problems, including causing noise and distortion. They can still check good with a DMM but still cause problems.