curtis mathes
 

Hi well im new at this but i needed some info. Ive got a 1960s curtis mathes steriophonics high fidelity music center. Model #4529 serial #227086. Im looking for some history about it and what it value is. thanks for listening.

bandit

Big old console? $50 give or take. Should have a decent amp in it. Mine had Amperex 6BQ5's.

$50 only if it has tubes and the cabinet is decent. Other than a few collectors, there is really very little demand for '60's stereo consoles because they take up so much room and most people today want CD players, surrond sound, etc. Most of the solid state units are not even worth bothering with unless you need some speakers or a spare record changer. The tube type CM consoles were pretty decent performers and most had wooden cabinets. By the time solid state came along, CM was farming out the production of the chassis to whatever foreign company would build them the cheapest and the cabinets were usually particleboard and plastic. The performance was about equal to a Lloyds, GPX, or Morse-Electrophonic unit.

If I had the space, I'd bring home more tube console stereos than I do. Right now, I have a '60 Magnavox, a '59 RCA Victor, a '67 RCA TV/stereo console, and a '57'ish Philco mono consolette record player. I can't even remember how many consoles (mostly solid state) that I've gutted and tossed because they were either in bad shape or no one wanted them even though they worked.