Three 70's Sonys: which should I sell off?

[Electronic M]

So I'm not a Solid State TV collector, but among my collections is dead recording formats. I own a rare Sony AV-5000A non-EIAJ standard color VTR and a Sony EIAJ color VTR and I have wanted a period Sony monitor to go with them.

So to that end today I bought a KV-1220U (and had to take a KV-1710 in the deal)...The add made it sound like the 1220 was a monitor/TV, but I didn't check till after I dragged it home...I've seen identical looking sets with AV inputs but this one wasn't equipped with that option (though part of me wonders how hard it would be to add).

So I now have 3 of these TV sets (counting a KV-1510 I already had) when I only want one monitor and I'm wondering which one (maybe 2 but I don't really want that many) I should keep and what I should sell at the ETF.

The KV1220 is a little 12" set with real wood veneer with a bit missing at the top back...the name badge and knob caps are gone. It's sound is dead (including headphones) tuner is dirty and it has this weird issue where the top of the screen becomes blue (sometimes it's a sliver at top sometimes it's almost the whole screen) and the division between blue and normal is so clean it almost looks like an OSD despite the set predating that.


The 15" KV1510 works fine the grayscale is a bit towards green, but not awful. It's cabinet is faux veneer and nice aside from a chip on the front. Screen shots have less static because the 1510 is a bit closer to my agile modulator.

The 17" KV1710 works but the grayscale goes either heavy green or heavy red (I watched it shift from one to the other on its second power up) and both sides of the screen are abnormally bright at the edges. The cabinet is plastic with plastic with faux wood grain and in better shape than the other two.



So are any of these sets dogs to repair if they break or are broken ( KV1220 cough)?
Am I crazy thinking the 1220 might be worth fixing the audio and modifying to add AV input?
And most importantly which would you keep if you were me?

If somebody has a 1970s Trinitron monitor I'd gladly trade all 3 for it as one of the TVs sold as companion monitors for my video tape decks is what I really want.

[maxhifi]

Test the tubes before making up your mind. If all were equally viable I'd keep the 1710 because the 17" picture is a lot more watchable than the smaller ones. Otherwise keep the one with the strongest CRT.

[jr_tech]

“ it has this weird issue where the top of the screen becomes blue (sometimes it's a sliver at top sometimes it's almost the whole screen) and the division between blue and normal is so clean it almost looks like an OSD despite the set predating that.”

The partial blue screen is a fine tuning indicator, which turns on when you touch the tuning knob. I think that you minimize the height for best tuning, but I could be backwards.

jr

[pgnl]

I love old Sony TVs but I am in the UK, if I was in the US and had space…..

The monitor versions were prefixed CVM and not KV. If thats what you are really after keep an eye on the ‘bay, what you want might turn up with a few weeks patience. You can set up a search that lists nearest first and they will email you when one turns up.

[zeno]

The KV1510 IIRC is an SG set & a dog when it blows. The other two IIRC again uses separate HZ & HV outputs with normal transistors. They are easy to fix, the PCB's fold out. You will be changing 'lytics on them !
The monitors are fairly common. The trick it finding one with a good CRT.
You may want to save the other 2 for a CRT swap. So for me the 1510
would go as revenge !!

Originally Posted by Electronic M

So are any of these sets dogs to repair if they break or are broken ( KV1220 cough)?
Am I crazy thinking the 1220 might be worth fixing the audio and modifying to add AV input?
And most importantly which would you keep if you were me?

If somebody has a 1970s Trinitron monitor I'd gladly trade all 3 for it as one of the TVs sold as companion monitors for my video tape decks is what I really want.

[Popester]

The feature was called blue sky tuning. KV-1220 had it as it was the more feature rich set with the wood trim and the KV-1210U was the other lower end model without the blue sky tuning feature. When the fine tuning knob was pressed in that’s when the circuit operated and its width would vary with the tuning. I never had that model but was a short lived novelty as it was gone after that model.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by zeno

The KV1510 IIRC is an SG set & a dog when it blows. The other two IIRC again uses separate HZ & HV outputs with normal transistors. They are easy to fix, the PCB's fold out. You will be changing 'lytics on them !
The monitors are fairly common. The trick it finding one with a good CRT.
You may want to save the other 2 for a CRT swap. So for me the 1510
would go as revenge !!

What I believe are he horizontal transistors (they are on the flyback side near the crippled) say C1034.
There's a couple of 2SC867s on the back under the neck, one more on the tuner side, and a 2SD326 near it.
There's nothing heat sink mounted that I can find that has SG in the part number.
If it truly isn't a SG set I'll probably keep it since it's the best runner and second best looker.

Originally Posted by Popester

The feature was called blue sky tuning. KV-1220 had it as it was the more feature rich set with the wood trim and the KV-1210U was the other lower end model without the blue sky tuning feature. When the fine tuning knob was pressed in that’s when the circuit operated and its width would vary with the tuning. I never had that model but was a short lived novelty as it was gone after that model.

Interesting it sometimes comes on at random, but is easy to force on with the fine tuning knob. It makes sense that it is a tuning aid. If they were all janky enough to randomly come on when no tuning is happening I can see why it only lasted a year.

I'm leaning towards keeping the 15 and 12 inch sets. CRT tests will help me make up my mind, but the strong green to strong red tint of the 17 is either a bad CRT or electrical problems.... neither of which do I want to deal with when I have 2 other Sonys...The big screen is a detriment in my book because I'm probably only ever going to use it on rare occasions (I rather watch a tube set) and I'm trying to debulk my collection some (especially things I don't normally collect like solid state sets).

[Yamamaya42]

i have a kv-36fs17 come take it!!!
it's only 250 lbs!

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by Yamamaya42

i have a kv-36fs17 come take it!!!
it's only 250 lbs!

I have read that my KD-34XS955 16x9 HDCRT is supposed to be 213lbs...That's all the Hercules moment inducing TV I'll ever need.

The 15" CRT tested best of the 3 with no problems, the 12" tested bad on all guns but evenly bad, but surprisingly produces a really good picture, the 17" fails color tracking and doesn't produce as good a picture as the other 2 sets.
I've made up my mind to let the 17" go, keep the 15, and play with the 12 to try and fix it.