So now what do I do? Magnavox.

[Eric H]

Some of you may remember this 1955 Maggie from a few months ago, it's a 24" model, it has a separate 6V6 PP Amplifier and two 10" speakers mounted underneath the chassis area.

It would smoke the 5U4 rectifier if plugged in because it had a shorted Capacitor somewhere.

I had pretty much decided to strip it for parts but I really wanted to see it play before I did that.

I took the chassis out and threw it on the bench, I plugged in a solid state 5U4 substitute so I wouldn't ruin another tube and brought it up on the variac.

Nothing seemed amiss, it was getting several hundred volts on the main filters with no apparent distress, however there were two smaller Axial type Electrolytics under the chassis that looked really bad, electrolyte had been leaking out of them and the ends looked a little bulged.

After running at about 90 volts for a few minutes off and on those caps felt slightly warm, I clipped them out and soldered in what I had handy, one was a non polarized cap so I hooked two regular caps with the negative together and the positives at either end, this should be OK except the voltage rating was 100 volts less than the original.

I also replaced an 18k 5 watt resistor going to the HO tube, it had gone open.
After all that I powered it up again, I couldn't tell if it was doing anything so I tried to stick a screwdriver under the 1B3 cap, I got a small shock so I figured it was working.

Time to put it back in the cabinet and see what the big tube would do, hooked up a DVD player and both sound and picture came in full and strong!
The sound on this set will rattle the walls!

So now my dilemma is what to do with it, the CRT works well despite checking weak and having been rejuved on a Beltron.
I can't really see junking it now, maybe hang on until a tube comes along?

Anyway, I put up a short video of it playing on Youtube, pictures can't convey how good it sounds like a video can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qHqIg1wubs

[Sandy G]

It WANTS to Live...Do a proper resto on it & keep it...

[Eric H]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

It WANTS to Live...Do a proper resto on it & keep it...

Kind of what I was thinking Sandy.

It was so easy to get it working this well, I could probably just do minimal repairs and use it occasionally.

[Reece]

Use it to show youngsters what TV's used to sound like.

[DavGoodlin]

A 24" was a big screen in 1955.
That is not a common Mag, I would keep it too.

[holmesuser01]

Can we see pictures of the chassis? Drool....

[Eric H]

Originally Posted by holmesuser01

Can we see pictures of the chassis? Drool....

Sure, that can be arranged, it's nothing special though, actually fairly compact considering.

[Eric H]

Okay, here are some pictures.

First is a 5U4 subber, just two diodes in an old octal base.
This saves me from blowing up any more 5U4's and it also has the advantage of providing B+ immediately when using a Variac, a 5U4 doesn't start conducting until there's 50 or 60 volts on it, this conducts even with 5 volts of AC, good for reforming capacitors at low voltage.


Here's a shot of the top of the chassis, guess it's missing the Flyback cover.


My temporary hack to get it running, the big silver Cap is leaking as was it's mate that's been cut out here.
It uses those white ceramic Elemenco Capacitors for all the paper caps, those are usually very reliable, my 55 Magnavox Regency Symphony Combo uses them also and it's still working great on 100% original parts.
This set also came from a very dry environment, the Mojave Desert near Victorville.

A different angle


The Flyback has a black spot on it next to the Rectifier socket, I wonder if this is what I heard arcing and snapping while it was playing?
A little cleaning and Silicone should fix that.


This male connector plugs into the separate amplifier, there's an AC socket on the rear apron for the amp to plug in to and a selector switch on the control panel. There is a Phono jack to use with an attachment like a 45 Player or whatever (iPod?)


And now what makes this set really interesting, the Audio Section.

Those are 10" speakers! two 10" speakers in a TV set!
I don't see a Tweeter but I do see a crossover network and the wires from that network go into the front of one of the 10" speakers, so there might be a Tweeter mounted inside one of them.
This thing should sound damn good!


And last but not least, the 6V6 Mono Amp, there are Audio people who would wet their pants for things like this. A pair of them would be worth a lot more than the TV.

[holmesuser01]

Thanks for the pics. I like seeing the chassis on sets. I've had good luck with those Elmenco capacitors, too on lots of Maggie stuff over the years.

[DaveWM]

yep that amp makes audio guys go nutz. I bet it sounds GREAT. Not too long ago I had my zenith 25DC56 color set hooked up to the DVD so the kids could watch IRON MAN, I also had the maggie console stereo on the DVD, I have some nice 12" maggie separate speakers (same as the ones in the console, with the horns and a cross over upgrade) set on both sides of the TV set. Between the great pic that zenith makes and the 6bq5 stereo amp in the console, the house was a better movie experience than the theaters. the kids LOVED it.

[mstaton]

Most modern TV's(there are a few exceptions) have very crappy audio and teeny tiny 2x1 inch speakers! The audio chip is the size of a button on the remote. Pretty cheezy! My 1960 Zenith with it's 2 6x9's and 6bq5 audio output tube and bass and treble controls blows everything else I have out of the water! My 1959 RCA color set also has decent audio with an 8" woofer and separate tweeter but not near as nice as the Zenith. I guess the days of "good" audio are gone for modern sets

[Eric H]

Originally Posted by mstaton

I guess the days of "good" audio are gone for modern sets

The internal audio system in my Panasonic Plasma is awful, I use an external system with it, that is pretty much what is expected any more I think, suits me fine since I have a whole set of older Advent speakers to use with it.

OTOH I have a Sony Wega Projection set from 2005 and it has an incredible sound system built into it, 30 WPC and it even has a Subwoofer inside, great sound and no rattles.
That set of course has a lot of empty space inside with plenty of room for good speakers.

But yeah, most flat sets don't have room for decent speakers inside in any case.

[miniman82]

Originally Posted by mstaton

My 1959 RCA color set also has decent audio with an 8" woofer and separate tweeter

I guess I never thought about audio quality in TV's, I just always accepted the fact that most of the money went into getting the picture up there. That being said, I have several sets with different audio sections to them. A CTC-5 with woofer and bi-directional tweeters, another set with a pair of 6" speakers, but oddly the CT-100 with it's lowly single ended 6AQ5 sounds best to me. Very neutral, good mid range response.

Can you imagine what a CT-100 would be like with a pair of 10's?

[Eric H]

Originally Posted by miniman82

Can you imagine what a CT-100 would be like with a pair of 10's?

It might cause the CRT to start leaking.

Some of these old sets sound quite remarkable, my 53 Philco proudly proclaims that it's "Hi-Fidelity" right on the front badge, it sounds quite good too, not sure what tube it uses, possibly a 6V6.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Eric H

It might cause the CRT to start leaking.

Some of these old sets sound quite remarkable, my 53 Philco proudly proclaims that it's "Hi-Fidelity" right on the front badge, it sounds quite good too, not sure what tube it uses, possibly a 6V6.

Some of those Philco's used SE 6L6GAs. The 6L6 with the smaller bulb.