[Ampico-kid]

Thought I'd share my latest acquisition with you all. I found it through our local Craig's List. Normally I wouldn't give a second look at something this new or this BIG, but the DuMont name tag sort of caught my eye so I decided to take a closer look at it. Even though DuMont was part of the Emerson company by this time, it's not real common to see a color set with the DuMont name tag.

The set was part of an estate that was being liquidated and the seller was anxious to sell it. I'm sure there weren't a lot of people banging on their door to buy this monster. Even though I knew it was an AM/FM/Phono TV combo, I was still kind of shocked at the size (and weight) when I saw it in person.

This was your typical "Grandmother" TV. That is to say it was impeccably cared for and virtually flawless to look at. I removed the back and did a check of the CRT and after a few slow lazy minutes it began to show signs of life. At about five minutes all three guns were riding high in the upper end of the "good" scale. It appears to be the original DuMont Emerson CRT, as do most of the tubes in the set. Looking at the date code on the tubes it must be a 1965 model and is called La Traviata. I guess using a classic opera as the model name lends a certain high class "air" to the unit.

I was kind of surprised to find a Garrard AT60 changer as the turntable. Although it wasn't the top of the Garrard line, it's certainly a better grade of changer than many of them being offered in the combos at that time, although it does not offer a magnetic cartridge, but opted instead for the standard ceramic.

The audio amp is a solid state unit and seems to be in good operating condition. The AM/FM Stereo unit is a hybrid using both tubes and transistors. It utilizes an eye tube as the tuning indicator. The radio seems to work quite well too.

The TV does work, but there are some issues with it. The image on the crt is a bit dim and blurry, and it has the beginnings of a cataract. I've got some work to do with the TV section.

I've attached some pictures of it. I don't think I'll be doing too much with it until next Winter at the earliest.
Bob