Brought home a Hoffman

[Charlie]

I found this set on accident a couple of days ago. I was delivering a 1940 Zenith Radio to a lady, and found an Antique Mall that I had never been to. I stopped and found this one set... Hoffman Easy-Vision Mark 5... model 3281... Sams 378-3 dated 11-57. It has a 21ACP4 that tests good, and power tuning (a wired remote was optional).

The sound pumps out from TWO EL84's into two 8" and one 4" speaker! It also sports seperate bass and treble controls. The lower side of the speaker grill says Soundorama. Pretty good sound system for an upright console. There is also an RCA jack for plugging in a turntable, and a 25 watt max AC outlet on the back.

The cabinet has the fake stuff on the sides, and the top is veneer. I kinda think it's been sitting out in someone's garage. There are no scratches, but the finish has flaked off on most of the front woodwork, and the finish on the top is just starting to peel up. It wouldn't take much effort to sand and refinish it considering how easy the original finish pops right off. The side panels are a little rough at the bottom edge. It has really nice trim on the front that should clean up nicely.

The insides don't look too bad. The chassis is rust-free, but the tubes show a good coating of nicotine. Most of the original Hoffman tubes are still in there (including the pix tube). It would seem even the HV rectifier is original... date coded 1957. The HO, LV rectifier, and sound tubes were changed. The EL84's and 12AX7 was replaced with Amperex Bugle Boys. Those cost a bundle today! There was a schematic sitting inside the cabinet, but it looks like bugs have been eating at it.

I'm not going to attempt bringing it up on the Variac untill I pull the chassis and get a look underneath. No sense in possibly blowing something out.

Overall, I think it's an attractive set and should clean up nicely. I'm sure this carried a hefty price tag in it's day for a black & white set.