What is this old TV / radio console...?

[petercapo]

I have a friend currently living in Austria who sent me a photo of an old console with a radio and television in it. Please see the two attached photos (of the one item).

Can anyone tell me what this is and how we might determine its value?

Thanks!

[zenith porthole]

Hi,
I have owned several West German console record player/am/fm/shortwave radio combos, (Loewe Opta, Korting, Nordmende, Telefunken) but have never seen one with a television in person. It is difficult to read, but appears that this one is made by Kuba. Unfortunately, consoles are usually a pretty hard sell due to their size, and seem to end up getting gutted for their tubes, amps, and speakers.
I have always loved the complex engineering of these sets, as well as the super high gloss finish used on the woodwork. When these sets work, they work beautifully; the sound is delicious. As far as value is concerned, I am sorry that I can't be more precise. I am the only one I know who is looney enough to collect consoles.

[Steve McVoy]

It is a Kuba:

http://www.earlytelevision.org/kuba_brochure.html

Unfortunately, it has very little value. Black and white sets made after 1950, with a few exceptions, are plentiful, and sell for very little.

[newhallone]

I think it's really neat. I think with mid-century modern getting hot it would be worth more than in the past. How much I couldn't say. But I think personally if I seen it in a shop I would pay 150 expecting to recap it. It would look great in my lounge.

[RobtWB]

What a nice set.
Have no clue what the value for a set like that would be in Austria.

Vintage modern and Danish modern seems to be "hot" in certain areas of the US right now. But I suspect that a piece like that would be gutted and converted into a wet bar or buffet.

Was recently at an estate sale and saw what was once a magnificent console with tambour doors. It matched perfectly a dining room set in the sale. The owners had long ago gutted the cabinet and turned it into a buffet. What a shame.

I have seen similar sets sell in antique and "retro" stores here for ~ 150$.

[Old1625]

The set--while absolutely gorgeous, and I wannit--is of little value in some areas, and a great deal in others; it's hard to judge the value of such a set. I've seen stuff like that in antique shops with a price tag that would gag a maggot--$4-5 hundred or more isn't out of the question. As to whether it will ultimately sell for that much is up to question, and the dealer is obviously leaving haggle room, and hoping some richy-rich will go ga-ga over the thing and buy it at full price to place in his rumpus room.

Putting a dollar value on old entertainment stuff like this is as easy as catching a fart and painting it yellow. Ask any antique dealer or eBay surfer and they will tell you the same....

[Josef]

Hello!
No question, this is a very nice set. What are your friends plans with it? If he wants to sell he could offer it here: http://www.willhaben.at/
Greetings Josef

[petercapo]

Many thanks to all who responded. I will pass this information along to my friend!

Thank you.
Peter

[cbenham]

Just curious, where is the TV tuning knob? US sets usually have a large knob but this set
doesn't. Is it one of the small knobs on the front or maybe one of the knobs on the radio panel? Very nice set. I hope it gets restored and makes great pictures, like all the German radios that make great sound!
Cliff

[Josef]

Hello!
I don't know this set exactly but it was quite common that the big rotary switch for the VHF tuner sat on the right side of the cabinet. Unfortunately we have no side view photo where we could see.
Greetings Josef

[Jeffhs]

I agree wholeheartedly that this console should be restored to its former glory. Those old German sets (here I am referring to radios, as I've had no experience with German televisions) were and still are great performers when they are operating as they should. I think Zenith must have picked up (in the '50s-'60s) on some of the Germans' engineering techniques for audio amplifiers, etc. as Zenith radios can sound every bit as good as many German sets. The Germans, as I learned from reading a post on the subject some time ago here at AK (one can learn a lot from reading these things, as I have found in my short time as a member), pioneered and perfected audio systems that can produce very rich sound from very little audio output power (the 35C5 audio output tube in my Zenith C845 and K731, for example, is rated at perhaps just over one watt, and the 50EH5s in my stereo MJ1035 Zenith are fairly close to that). The bass response of all the better Zeniths is fantastic as well, and would likely put many German sets to the test. I like listening to an oldies radio program on weekends on my C845/K731, depending on where I am in my apartment when the program is on; the bass is so good in both radios that I hear notes in the music I never would have heard through a cheap transistor radio speaker.

"Kuba" is a brand of German stereo/radio/TV I had never heard of before now. When I first looked at the pic of the console under discussion here, I thought the unit had been made by Saba, as I was sure that was the name I saw both on the TV's CRT mask and the radio dial. Was genuinely surprised to find out this unit was made by Kuba. It is a fine piece of furniture as well. It wouldn't surprise me if these sets were found in a great many German homes 50 years ago; of course, that would depend on what the going price was for these units in those days, and the state of the user's wallet as well. I would guess those Kuba consoles weren't cheap by any stretch of the imagination, even in 1950s currency; they would probably approach the price of a new Cadillac in today's money.