New-to-me Sony Trinitron KV-1710

[AdamAnt316]

Hello, everyone! I've generally shied away from TV collecting, but this showed up during a "ZoomFest" held in lieu of my antique radio club's usual spring swap meet, and I just couldn't help myself. It's a Sony KV-1710, circa 1972. Supposedly one of their last sets to use (mostly?) discrete transistors. The 17" Trinitron jug seems to give a good picture; the reds might be a bit weak as is typical, but the picture seems pretty well balanced from what I've seen with my NES 'toploader' game console connected to it as a makeshift source. Here are some photos of it, both off and being fed with the title screen of Super Mario Bros. 3:





And for fun, a snippet from a Burdick's ad found in a 1972 edition of the Santa Cruz Sentinel, showing an ad for the KV-1710:

(click the image for a larger version)

[maxhifi]

Looks great!

[CrtsRtubular]

Oo nice set! I like the early trinitrons. I haven't been able to find one like this yet though

[etype2]

Great find! This was Sony’s first venture into “large screen” sets with its 17inch diagonal measurement. The actual date of introduction was in Fall, 1970, not 1972. I know because I purchased a KV1720 with walnut cabinet about September, 1970. It replaced my RCA CTC-19 Bremanger.

[AdamAnt316]

Thanks for the replies!

Originally Posted by CrtsRtubular

Oo nice set! I like the early trinitrons. I haven't been able to find one like this yet though

I'm sure they're out there, though how many of them still have a decently strong picture tube is another question. I was lucky to buy mine from the original owner, who most recently had it set up near his treadmill.

Originally Posted by etype2

Great find! This was Sony’s first venture into “large screen” sets with its 17inch diagonal measurement. The actual date of introduction was in Fall, 1970, not 1972. I know because I purchased a KV1720 with walnut cabinet about September, 1970. It replaced my RCA CTC-19 Bremanger.

I saw your page when looking for info, especially since I wasn't sure about the model number at first. I could see that the 1710 and 1720 looked similar, but wasn't entirely sure how they were related. As for the year, the seller told me that he bought it in 1972, and that's when the above-pictured Burdick's ad was from, so I went with that.
-Adam

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by AdamAnt316

Thanks for the replies!

I'm sure they're out there, though how many of them still have a decently strong picture tube is another question. I was lucky to buy mine from the original owner, who most recently had it set up near his treadmill.


I saw your page when looking for info, especially since I wasn't sure about the model number at first. I could see that the 1710 and 1720 looked similar, but wasn't entirely sure how they were related. As for the year, the seller told me that he bought it in 1972, and that's when the above-pictured Burdick's ad was from, so I went with that.
-Adam

The earlier Sony CRT's seemed to stand up better. I seem to think that they were still made in Japan. The ones, made in California didn't last as long.
It sure is a nice example of a well-kept set. It was worth getting.

[Popester]

Price of tv then was a bunch of money in ‘70 or ‘72. At least it was before the troubled SG613 gated switch design that most techs hated working on. Sony TVs are kind of like timex watches logo. “It takes a licking and keeps on ticking. Not sure if Sony’s logo was research makes the difference or if they were using Sony no baloney by then.

[Popester]

Upon closer look at the photos that cabinet is in really great shape as even the rabbit ears are all there with the orange tips and aren’t even bent.

[JohnCT]

Originally Posted by Popester

Price of tv then was a bunch of money in ‘70 or ‘72. At least it was before the troubled SG613 gated switch design that most techs hated working on.

I liked those models, it was the earlier ones that were the nightmares. We were one of only two shops in our city that would work on Sony TVs.

The thing with the Sonys was that you could NOT use anything but a Sony part for the SG613 horiz output, the 2SC867A regulator (God, I can't believe I still remember those numbers) and the damper diode (which I have forgotten, but it was huge and metal cased).

When the horiz output shorted, it always shorted the regulator which was a series/pass arrangement. If you put in just a new SG613 without changing the regulator, it would blow immediately because the regulator pumped full B+ into it.

These parts weren't cheap but if you changed all three at the same time using Sony parts, resoldered the horiz drive circuit, recapped the vertical circuit, you wouldn't see them back for at least three years. Lots of techs tried using HEPs, SKs, ECGs, etc. but it was a futile effort. Use Sony parts or *boom* and smoke would be the result.

John

[etype2]

In 1970-72, the largest TV consoles were 23 and 25 inches.

[Electronic M]

In 1954 color CRTs started at 15” then jumped to 19" then 21" round (which obsoleted the other 2 then was essentially the only color CRT for years). In 1958 Westinghouse had a 1 year only 23" rectangular that had convergence design flaws). For the 1965 model year the 23EGP22 came out and the 10-11" portacolor was introduced (and stayed till the late 70s), and the Japanese exported a 14" rectangular with a roundy gun. Shortly 25"/23V rectangular claimed dominance and Japan continued to introduce small screen color. Around 67-68 US makes introduced the 15NP22 in ~13-14" portables and I believe the in between 15, 17, 19 and 20 inch CRTs followed.
Japanese sets pre Trinitron are harder to follow because fewer survive, fewer people here seem to care about them, service literature coverage wasn't always comprehensive and they used mm for screen size designation in part numbers.

[etype2]

“ Sony color started with a 12" then 8,15, 17, 19 over the 1970's.”

Small correction: Sony’s first introductions in order starting 1968. 7 inch, 12 inch, 9 inch, 15 inch, 17 inch, 19 inch. Later, 5 inch, 3.7 inch and the much larger screen sizes.

[TVTim]

Very nice catch. I love it.

[AdamAnt316]

Again, thanks for the replies! I guess the 'homogenization' I mentioned probably didn't occur until the mid '80s, if truly at all. My grandparents owned a number of portable/tabletop TV sets, all of which appeared to use 13" or 19" CRTs, though I never measured any of them. Their main TV for much of my youth was a 25" Sony Trinitron which eventually developed the usual weak reds and blues; they also had an early '70s 25" Zenith Space Command console (chassis 25CC52) in the living room which had long fallen into disuse for some reason.

At home, we had an RCA 'ColorTrak' console from the early '80s, again with a 25" screen. We also had a couple of portable/tabletop sets, again likely a 19" or some such. In the kitchen was an Emerson radio/TV portable with a 5" color screen. I eventually acquired an RCA XL100 tabletop from 1978, likely with a 13" screen, which I found at a yard sale. So I've seen a few patterns over the years when it comes to screen size, though again, I never took measurements.

One reason I asked is because I happen to own an example of the first home video game system, the Magnavox Odyssey, which used mylar overlays for several of its games. Two sets of overlays were included, a 'large' size for use with 23 and 25 inch televisions, and a 'medium' size for use with 18, 19, 20 and 21 inch TV sets, according to the manual. I'll have to see how one of said overlays looks when placed in front of the screen on this Trinitron. For now, here's a picture of the Odyssey itself, along with its 'cartridges', cables and some of the accessories:

[Rog Beltmann]

I gave my son a used KV-1710 when he made the A honor role.
He got many years of service out of it. Worked great until the CRT
bled out.