[Jeffhs]

I owned a 1964 Silvertone (RCA chassis CTC-12) round-tube table model color TV in the early 1970s which I got from a neighbor in my old neighborhood, a suburb of Cleveland. The set needed some work, but when I turned it on for the first time . . . well, the picture was there, but it was not as good (in fact, nowhere nearly as good) as the picture on my present RCA CTC185 (F19261 19-inch). There have been tremendous advances in television technology in the last 30 years which allow TV stations to transmit more powerful signals and better video on those signals, and the TVs themselves are much better than they used to be, the country of origin of all new sets notwithstanding. For example, my Silvertone did not have automatic color control, color tracking or remote control, whereas my RCA has all three. The convergence circuits in new sets are much more stable than the earlier ones as well. It used to be that one could not move a color television across a room without the CRT becoming magnetized, which meant a serviceman had to be called to degauss the tube; moreover, time was when color sets required convergence touchups at least once a year. Thanks to new convergence correction circuitry, today's color sets can go for years without having to be reconverged (unless the CRT is replaced, of course). All modern color sets are equipped with automatic degaussing which operates every time the set is switched on, so set owners can move their sets anywhere with no worries about the CRT's shadow mask becoming magnetized.

My point is that today's color sets (and the technology used to transmit the signals those sets receive) are much better than their predecessors of 30 or more years ago. I have to admit that I am more impressed these days with the cabinets of those old sets than with what's inside them, even though I used to work on those old sets in the late 60s and early 1970s as a hobby. I responded to a post this morning from a gentleman who had a 1967 Magnavox color TV in a white French Provincial cabinet. The cabinet needed work, to be sure, but the craftsmanship, what little of it I could see in the image attached to the post, was in my opinion much better than that of the cabinets modern TV sets come in (unless, of course, you are willing to pay through the nose for a modern console).

I almost laughed out loud (in fact, I did) when I read a post today from a person who said he had an aunt who owned a Magnavox TV in the same type of cabinet until some time in the 1980s, then went out and bought a Zenith TV which the poster described as a "generic hunk of Korean plastic" (no offense meant or intended; I am only quoting the post, so please, no flames). The new set didn't look like much; the cabinet was just an off-white shell on a matching integrated pedestal base.

However, times have changed. The era of the elegant console television is over. In its place, we now have folks putting their entertainment gear, which these days often consists of a 32-inch or larger TV, a VCR and/or DVD player, stereo installation, and perhaps a cable box, in an entertainment-center cabinet which matches the decor of the family's living room or family room. These cabinets are nice, but except for the very expensive ones some of them are not (again, in my own opinion) as well-crafted as the old TV cabinets were.

I like the idea of using the cabinet from an old console TV as a stand for a modern set. I did something like that with a utility cart meant for use with a microwave oven. I set my RCA TV on top, put my VCR on the shelf immediately below, and the cable box on the third shelf below that. The result is a video installation I am really proud of. I live in a very small apartment, so don't have the room for a big entertainment center as I did when I lived in the Cleveland area. No matter. I am as proud of my present video installation as I would be if I had a big floor console. The cart matches the decor of my apartment perfectly, and as for cable management, all cables are neatly tucked behind the back of the cabinet where they don't show. (I also mounted a 6-outlet power strip on the back of the cart and plugged all my gear into it. Makes things look a lot neater.) In fact, the only cables visible from the front of the cart are the power cord for the TV and the RF cable from the VCR to the antenna port in back of the set.

I'm sorry I don't have a good picture of my installation, but one of these days I'll snap a couple new ones and show it off.

Regards,