1989 Zenith System 3 SF2589W

[NoPegs]

Very similar to my TV. It actually has a ~10w per channel stereo amp built in, that's what the L/R jacks by the int/ext switch labeled Variable Audio are for. (Not to be confused with the line level out of a modern converter box with built in volume control, these want an 8 ohm load.)

Mine's an SF2027W, born in August 1989. I'm willing to bet that the only difference is the tube size and maybe the flyback output.

There's a pair of diodes and 3 or 4 resistors in the HV portion of the main board that flake out on occasion,(3 times so far since '89 on mine.) but when they go, they tend to stand out visibly that there's something wrong. Don't up the wattage on the resistors when replacing them, something more expensive will burn out next time. Other than that they run more or less forever and have quite good picture and sound for what they are.



Edit: My only regret is that mine doesn't have CC decoding built in... I think 91 and up it became mandatory.