Quote:
Originally Posted by radiotvnut
The micromatic changers are heavier than the VM changers and the micromatic changers seem to be more complicated to work on.
Both changers track lighter than most other ceramic cartridge equipped changers of the day; which, means that the records played on them will last longer.
|
Yes, indeed. Magnavox made a particular point in their ads for the Micromatic changers used in radio-phonos and 3-way entertainment units of the '50s (National Geographic magazine carried their ads regularly) that the changers had very light tracking force; the company even went so far as to say that "your records can last a lifetime" when played on these changers.
Since Magnavox's Micromatic changers were made by Collaro, I would expect them to be of the highest quality attainable at the time, and they were -- if the prices of Magnavox radio-phonos and 3-way consoles in the '50s were any indication. These combos cost upwards of $150 for the former and something over $200 for the latter when they were new (no small expenditure by any means for most families in the '50s), but as the expression goes, you get what you pay for. The $150+ you paid for a new Magnavox radio-phono in, say, 1957 bought you an entertainment unit with quality electronics and a record changer built to last, all wrapped up in a cabinet anyone would be proud to display in their living room; Magnavox 3-way entertainment centers with TV were the same, although all that fancy stuff on the Maggie 3-way 25-inch remote-control entertainment units of the mid-'60s was likely a real headache to maintain and to repair when it eventually failed. I remember reading here, i another post some time ago, that the automatic remote record changer mechanism in these high-end Maggies was not all that complicated; just a relay and/or a solenoid under the record changer motor board, although somehow I can't see it being quite that simple. The remote receiver would have had to be designed (with at least one extra tuned detector coil) to handle another frequency from the remote unit as well; the hand unit itself would need an extra bar to generate the frequency used for the record reject, and so on.