Denver CL maggie roundi
 

http://denver.craigslist.org/atq/1722565186.html

another nice roundie with a short remaining life...

Must be Magnavox's heaviest combo ! 250 -> 300# ?

Could be, unless their fabulous 3-way "Stereo Theatre" consoles of the late 1960s were heavier--which I think they probably were. The CRT alone in the combo we're discussing here must weigh 50-60 pounds; the cabinet, about 150, with the chassis weighing another 70 pounds. Just a guess.

It is freakin heavy, I have that exact cabinet but mine is a rectangular from 1965. Heavy. But I think someone should get it the hell out of there before someone does SOMETHING to it, it's never good when regular folks do something to an old tv.

Yes please somebody get it. It's an incredible piece. Even if it weighs more than a Hammond B3

I love those old Maggie roundies. This one looks incredible. I sure wish I was closer. I'd get it but fast!!!

I have two maggie home theaters I had to move one up a flight of stairs, it was a job i estimate close to 275 lbs on my bigger one my back gave out around 225 lbs LOL

Indeed. I agree with you 100 percent--someone should get this set before it winds up a busted-up mess of glass and wood. There's way too much of this sort of thing going on these days. People going around breaking necks off CRTs, stealing parts (notably yokes) for the copper wire, name it--it's downright outrageous. My heart sinks every time I read here in the forum of someone having pulled a stunt like that--and it seems there is more of this going on every day. It's made it a lot harder for us VK members to find vintage TVs worth saving; many of the sets a lot of us have seen are now just worthless piles of junk, no thanks to copper thieves and the smash-and-grab idiots who bust up, tear up for parts, or otherwise destroy a TV that could have easily been restored to past glory. I grew up in a Cleveland suburb where this kind of thing started some time in the late '80s-'90s; kids throwing rocks at the screens of TVs (ruining the CRT, of course) that could have been restored with little or no effort, breaking necks off of CRTs, name it, so this has been going on for at least 25 years if not longer. I haven't seen any such nonsense going on (yet) in the small town where I live now; maybe folks in small towns have more respect for these things, or the village has an ordinance banning such destruction. I've been here over ten years and am not yet aware of such an ordinance, but there must be something like it in place here as I have yet to see any smashed, ruined televisions on treelawns anywhere in the village.

That Maggie roundie in the Denver area deserves better than to be smashed and gutted for copper or anything else; after all, Magnavox as we used to know it is gone, so sets like this (the few of them that are left, including this one) absolutely must be saved and restored. I also hope that someone with some respect for these things gets this TV and gets a few years of use out of it. Hitch it to an ATSC->NTSC converter box and it may run for many more years; the stereo is probably in good shape (or restorable) as well, so a little bit of work cleaning and lubricating the record changer and replacing the stylus should result in a sound system to be proud of and enjoyed for many years to come. Those old Maggie stereos looked and sounded great. I've heard a couple of the smaller consoles in operation and am convinced that The Magnavox Company of Fort Wayne, Indiana had winners in these and all their other consoles, including of course the fabulous 3-way stereo theatres with Magnavox's exclusive Total Remote Control system. These, like older Zenith radios and televisions, must be saved and restored because, as I always say about these older systems, they don't make them like that anymore. A crying shame, but true.

I agree with Jeff, but I think sometimes to kids its just a piece of glass in an old wooden case to bust and shatter. to others its money for copper, for others it's that old piece of furniture. One thing I liked is my teenage son brings his friends over and the wow factor takes over and they prefer to watch Avatar or play xbox 360 elite games on that old cool looking tv rather than the flatscreen everyone else has, so there is hope for the future, if people take the time for appreciation. The only complaint from the kids is some of the gamming text gets cut off on a roundie but they still choose it over the modern set every time.

I gotta ask... As a radio/tv collector, the idea of saving one of these combo units is very appealing. I would hate to see one end up in a landfill.:tears:

As a record collector, however, the thought of playing a vintage vinyl with one of the primitive changers that these units seem to use makes me want to loose my lunch. :puke:

So what does one do... substitute a decent turntable for the old "gouge-o-matic"... or perhaps, only play old scratched up G-sale records. Or perhaps, just not use the unit to play records at all, and/or hide a CD/DVD player in the cabinet somewhere? None of these options are very appealing... other options?

jr

I think it depends on what you mean by vintage vinyl. I play old records on mine, even 45 RPMs. With good needles and properly set up I don't think they're too damaging. I haven't had any problems with 78 rpm records.

The more modern vinyl records seem to be more easily damaged. I tried some modern 33-1/3 records and I don't plan to do that again. I don't think they were intended to suffer the higher tracking forces that were used.

You can find diamond needles to replace most of the cheaper types that were used.

Anyhow, this is what I've observed with my collection. It might not apply to others.

John

Gouge-0-matic? lol, it's not an old mono monster with an all-speed needle! I don't know the ideal tracking force of a Maggie turntable off the top of my head, but it's a stereo turntable, hence high-compliance and I wouldn't worry about playing records on it as long as the needle was good.

That Collaro turntable is really not a bad piece, and the tonearm can be lightened up a bit. There's some support and sites out there too. Now would I play my best records on it, no but I have some that qualify and sound great.

Actually, those Magnavox Micromatic record changers were among some of the better models as far as standard consumer grade console record changers go. I had an early '60's Magnavox B&W combo with a similar changer and I used to play records from the '50's-'70's on it all the time. The same records still play fine on a more advanced system with a magnetic cartridge. I wouldn't play any high dollar audiophile pressings on one of these (heck, don't even own any); but, I don't think you'll ruin your records on this changer, provided that it has a good needle and cartridge and the mechanics of the changer work properly. I think these tracked at around 3 grams, as opposed to some other changers of the day that tracked at 8 to 10 grams and maybe more.

Thanks all!... It sounds as if the Collaro Changer is actually a pretty decent unit. 3 grams or so does not worry me too much! Did any models use a magnetic cartridge ?
8-10 grams scares the heck outa me... Which models should be avoided for this reason? Did Zenith, RCA and other major brands use the Collaro changer?

jr

Yep, I hate the ones that go above three. I have the table in my '62 Motorola tracking at 2.5 g, which is the lowest possible that it will operate at. The Shure V15 type IV in my Sansui is tracking at .75 g:D The record don't even know it's being played:no:

I think the most common changers were Voice of Music. They were used in many sets. The one that I have is a model 951-3 and has a separate needle for 78, and 45&33-1/3. It's supposed to be set at 10-12 grams. I have mine at 10. You don't want to go too low in tracking force with a low compliance cartridge.

You can retrofit many changers to a high compliance magnetic cartridge.

John

Zenith mainly used V-M; RCA built their own for a long time.
G.E. bought Glaser-Steers and produced a variant of that changer for several years.
Webcor was another supplier for Philco and many others.
BSR really became widespread in the early 70's as other manufacturers ceased production.
Garrard changers were quite common across the board.
As far as I can remember, Magnavox was the main (if not only) one that used Collaro changers.

I didn't know Magnavox Micromatic record changers were actually manufactured by Collaro and rebadged. In any event, that probably explains why the Micromatic changers lasted so long, and are still in good shape today. Magnavox advertised its consoles' changers as having very low tracking force so that, as the advertisement stated, "your records could last a lifetime." I don't know if that was hype or if the Micromatic's tracking force was actually that low. Somehow I cannot imagine any 1950s-'60s record changer being that gentle on records. I do remember, however, warnings in the '80s against playing stereo records on changers or turntables using certain kinds of cartridges or styli. The warning was that certain types of styli, designed for monophonic records, could literally destroy stereo recordings. What, if anything, is the difference? I always thought any type of stylus could be used with either mono or stereo records, with no ill effects--unless, of course, one tried some kind of dumb stunt like using a sewing needle in place of a real stylus. That could and probably will ruin either type of phonograph record in no time flat. I actually did this in the early '70s with an old, beat-up one-tube record player I found in the trash. I bypassed the amplifier, put an old sewing machine needle in the cartridge (these things used cheap cartridges anyway, so I felt I wouldn't lose anything if it didn't work) and used it for the next year and a half with mostly 45-rpm records. It worked, but it wasn't high fidelity by a long shot; oh well. The record player itself was nowhere near (and I mean nowhere near) hi-fi caliber, so again, I didn't feel I was gambling or would lose anything if the dodge didn't work. This record player was used in a short-lived 0.1-watt AM radio station I had set up in my basement; AM radio being the low-fidelity medium it was at that time (again, early 1970s), sound quality didn't matter much, if at all, since I was playing very old 1950s rock-and-roll records.

As to the popularity of BSR record changers in the '70s, I had a Zenith integrated stereo system in the early '80s which was probably made near the end of that decade, and which had a BSR changer. Never had five minutes worth of trouble with it; in fact, I had more trouble with the cassette deck and the eight-track player than I ever had with the changer. I eventually wound up patching an external cassette deck into the stereo when the built-in unit quit (as I also did with my current Aiwa 3-in-one box when the dual decks gave out after seven years), but the record changer continued to work, very well I might add, the entire time (17 years) I had the Zenith stereo.

BTW, I wonder if BSR is still in business. If so, they are probably making CD or MP3 players and changers nowadays, but I'm actually wondering if they are still making record changers. :scratch2:

BSR made changers longer than you'd think - maybe c. 1990? I'm sure someone knows exactly when.

Honestly, I never had a BSR changer that played at the correct speed. Well, two out of seven (one was NOS.)

"After producing their last turntable in 1985, BSR McDonald closed all divisions except for Astec Power Supply. Astec is now 100% owned by Emerson Electric Company "
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birming...nd_Reproducers

jr

To elaberate to Jeffhs question about stylus's...a little easier to provide a link than to explain.

http://www.esotericsound.com/CartStyli.htm

A good source for vintage needles, etc. By the way, that cartridge on the Magnavox/Collaro is a ceramic type made by Electro-Voice. I have a 58' Maggie AM/FM and Turntable and originally it was tracking at 10 grams so I backed it off 2. You would really have to get extensive with anti-skating, etc if you want to track lighter. I did buy a gauge.

http://www.garage-a-records.com/

There is a good site that goes into detail about modifications etc. for the Collaro Conquest Turntable.

http://midimagic.sgc-hosting.com/collaro.htm

This site used to be hosted through Yahoo- Geocities (which no longer exists) so make sure the link above takes you there!

I must caution all of you..if you Google Collaro Conquest and hit that first link it may direct you to something that has nothing to do with turntables....

Hopefully the link I provided in my other post above is more direct than through Google. It's a good site with some good links/info to click at the bottom of it.

That cabinet is amost identical to the Airline I had last year. Maggie/airline same thing.. I sure hope someone snags that set. I regret selling mine.. At least it went to a museum in so cal area.

Talked to the guy with the maggi for sale on craigs list today. He has had no offers as of yet so I told him I would take it. Will pick up Friday, just hate to see this end up in the land fill. Like most of us tv collectors, a person can only have so many of these console combos. I already have a packard bell roundy combo so this will make two roundy combo units! I can honestly say this will probably be the last combo I can save! Hope to post picks next week.
Mike

GREAT! wow I am glad to hear someone save it.

I have an early 1960s BSR UA14 changer in one of my console stereos (tracking weight about 5 grams) i fitted a new stylus to its original TC8 cartridge and then played the first 10 seconds of a crappy brand new 12" dance mix on it for like 30 times then played it on my "proper" stereo system

It didn't suffer any noticeable wear at all

After this, i'm now playing anything on that old BSR changer, even my most treasured vinyls like my brand new Bruce Springsteen "seeger sessions" album.
I actually prefer the sound of that old tube console over my late 70s Pioneer/Sansui stereo system

Old changers with stereo cartridges are perfectly safe as long as you replace the sapphire stylus every 30 hours or so