New Acquisition - Zenith 7300WU Combo

[hi_volt]

After the Phoenix antique radio swap meet yesterday, I went and picked up this 1965 Zenith Combo "The Strandquist" (who comes up with these names, anyway?). It was complete except for the TV. The set originally came with a remote control color chassis 25MC30. I'm going to install the 25MC33 chassis which I removed from the low-end cabinet that I was trying to sell. Still need a good CRT, though, as this one seems to have open filaments. Also need to re-fabricate the part of the cabinet that the front escutcheon attaches to, as the previous owner cut it up a little so that he could put another TV in it. A bit of work, but worth it.

[orthophonic]

Beautiful cabinet, and it has the top of the line Zenith belt drive changer to boot.

[BigDavesTV]

That's a real beautiful cabinet, kinda Danish Moderne style! Your Zenith roundie that you had for sale, should be easy to fit in the cabinet, and look great! I would have bought your Zenith roundie, if it were closer to me :-) :-) Please keep us posted and updated with pictures, as you progress, it's definitely worth restoring to a proper Color Zenith roundie combo! Way to go, hi-volt!

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by hi_volt

After the Phoenix antique radio swap meet yesterday, I went and picked up this 1965 Zenith Combo "The Strandquist" (who comes up with these names, anyway?). It was complete except for the TV. The set originally came with a remote control color chassis 25MC30. I'm going to install the 25MC33 chassis which I removed from the low-end cabinet that I was trying to sell. Still need a good CRT, though, as this one seems to have open filaments. Also need to re-fabricate the part of the cabinet that the front escutcheon attaches to, as the previous owner cut it up a little so that he could put another TV in it. A bit of work, but worth it.

It's a Danish surname, to compliment the Danish modern styling.
Didn't RCA have a model with a model name "Thrifton".
It sounded a little better than "Cheap and nasty".
BTW, does that Zenith combo have a tube amplifier?
Beitmans shows a tube tuner and a solid state amplifier in the "M" model year.

[holmesuser01]

I was given the innards of an RCA combo set that used the CTC-12 chassis about 35 years ago. Someone else removed all of this from the set. For my trouble of going to the guy's home, I got a brand new CRT in the box, the good used CRT (an FJP) from the set, the chassis, the radio, and the audio amplifier, and all of the speakers, and bezel.

I did get to see the cabinet. Cherry French Provincial. Beautiful.

All that was wrong with the TV was the dual-diode on the horizontal oscillator.

I installed the TV in another cabinet, and ran it for years. I still have the new CRT (an FBP) for my other round sets, and built a little cabinet for the tuner and amplifier that I still use from time to time. All original RCA tubes in everything. The 15" speakers wound up in a Magnavox combo, and are still playing today.

I'm still glad that I said "YES" when the guy called my shop...

The cabinet that all this came from was DESTROYED not long after I got the innards. I would have taken it all, if they had just said something...

Hope that you get your Zenith looking good. That's quite a cabinet!

[hi_volt]

Some progress on the 7300Wu combo. I spent a bit of time last week fabricating a wood mount for the CRT escutcheon, as the previous owner did some custom hacking to fit in a modern set. So now I've got the CRT, chassis (which fit perfectly) and rear panel installed as well. I guess the major difference between the chassis I installed and the 25MC30 the set came with was the remote control on the 30. Didn't didn't have a chance to mount the tuners, deflection yoke and other stuff, so for now I've carefully (even though it doesn't look like it) placed them on the chassis inside the set. Here are some pictures I took this afternoon.

[DaveWM]

very nice, love the understated cabinet style.

[KentTeffeteller]

Beautiful install! Nice console, very high end in the day.

[marty59]

I really like how this is turning out. If I had to make room for a combo this one would be it! +1 on the cabinet style, simple and straightforward would look good anywhere you put it.

[BigDavesTV]

That's really looking great! It's already looking like the TV had not been removed! Good job,it'll be nice to see the set working someday!

[zenithfan1]

Nice lookin' set! Mine is named the "Constantine" in a Italian provincial cabinet. These are great performers with a nice sound! I like your cabinet style better than mine!

[hi_volt]

Here's an update. Cabinet restoration is completed, and the donor TV set is fully installed. No electrical restoration started yet....it'll need to wait until I'm retired in a couple of years. It's now the centerpiece in my living room.

[Radiotronman]

That turned out great. I'm glad you saved it! I've been looking for a zenith roundie, but can only find RCA roundies. Maybe one day...great job on this one

Scott

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by hi_volt

After the Phoenix antique radio swap meet yesterday, I went and picked up this 1965 Zenith Combo "The Strandquist" (who comes up with these names, anyway?). It was complete except for the TV. The set originally came with a remote control color chassis 25MC30. I'm going to install the 25MC33 chassis which I removed from the low-end cabinet that I was trying to sell. Still need a good CRT, though, as this one seems to have open filaments. Also need to re-fabricate the part of the cabinet that the front escutcheon attaches to, as the previous owner cut it up a little so that he could put another TV in it. A bit of work, but worth it.

That set looks great! I'll be looking forward to seeing a picture of it working. I'm sure it will have an excellent picture if fed by a DVD player, VCR, or a cable box/DTV OTA converter, as all Zenith TVs from the '50s until about the end of the '80s (when Zenith left Chicago for Korea ) were very good sets. I had a Zenith K2739 b&w console years ago that gave me three years of good service, and all I had to do was put in a fresh set of tubes (someone had filched all but two tubes from the chassis when I found it, at the end of the street I grew up on). You should be able to find a schematic for the 25MC33 in Sams.

Zenith often named their TVs after Chicago suburbs, since Chicago is where the company had its headquarters for decades. However, "Strandquist" is a new one on me, unless there was or is a small suburb of Chicago by that name, or even one in northwestern Indiana.

Good luck. You will not be disappointed. As I said, Zenith TVs from the '50s until the company was taken over by LG (Lucky Goldstar) in the '80s were excellent, well-made sets that were built to last, not like today's disposable no-name flat panel TVs.