Greetings all, I'm new to these forums. I'm hoping there are some knowledgeable and helpful folks who could point me in the right direction. Basically, I'm getting rid of a Magnavox stereo system for my folks. I've put together and am planning to list the item on eBay. However, I've been unable to locate the year in which it was manufactured.
My mom's best guess is late 50's or early 60's. I'd like to have more definitive info, so if anyone can tell me how to go about finding the date of manufacture, I'd greatly appreciate it.
I do have both the model and serial numbers, but I don't know where to go from here. Thanks for any help you can provide, -Steve. I wish I could give you a specific year, but I was a young-un at the time. It was after 64 and no later than 68. I went with my Dad to Savannah GA to pick it up at 'Bucks Furniture'. Evidently, they had the best price - my Dad was a shrewd buyer.
The cabinet is a little different, mine is 'Italian Provincial'. Years later when I became 70salesguy, he wanted a set of external speakers to help fill the living room.
I copped him a great deal on a pair of speakers out of a shipment of leftover stock from another store location that had been closed and sent to us for liquidation. They were ADC 303AX units that I bought him for a song! They sounded pretty good with the console. Still have them too! Brings back wonderful memories of him listening to his old albums on it. You can be fairly confident it is either 1968 or 1969. They didn't use that turntable platter until 1968.
If you suspect this, email us CLEAR pictures of your needle and/or cartridge. But, if you find a number on the cartridge, go to **Find my Needle by MAGNAVOX Cartridge Number** Search MAGNAVOX 233 Record Player Needle, Cartridge & Idler parts. Search MAGNAVOX 234 Record Player Needle, Cartridge & Idler parts. MAGNAVOX ASTRO SONIC Console Stereo Radio Record Player Phonograph 1960s - $250.00. Here we have an a vintage Magnavox Astro Sonic Console Stereo - model 1P3611, serial number 1963773, from the mid to late 1960s - FOR LOCAL PICKUP ONLY.
That square tonearm replaced the clunky plastic boomerang one in 1965-ish. They used that radio fascia in late 1967 through 1969.
In 1970 they redesigned the unit with inbuilt speaker switching (as opposed to the separate switch in the record storage bin) and balance control to the left of the dial, usually in woodgrain burl finish. In 1970 I believe is when they also started introducing the black turntables and perhaps even the tubular tonearms. You can be fairly confident it is either 1968 or 1969.
They didn't use that turntable platter until 1968. That square tonearm replaced the clunky plastic boomerang one in 1965-ish. They used that radio fascia in late 1967 through 1969. In 1970 they redesigned the unit with inbuilt speaker switching (as opposed to the separate switch in the record storage bin) and balance control to the left of the dial, usually in woodgrain burl finish.
In 1970 I believe is when they also started introducing the black turntables and perhaps even the tubular tonearms.
Hey all, I need a little help identifying what model of Magnavox Stereo Console I have and what year its from, it was a $6 Goodwill find and it fit perfectly in the back seat of my 2000 Chrysler Cirrus LX which is how I got the sucker home. Anyways the tube lineup in the thing is as follows: Tuner Section: 6DT8, 6BE6, 6BA6, 6BA6, and 6AL5 Amplifier Section: 6CA4 (EZ81), 6BQ5 (EL84), 6BQ5 (EL84), and a 6EU7 (12AX7 clone with different pinouts and 6.3 volt filaments). Anyways the cabinet has no model numbers, no serial numbers or anything else (the old paper label that was on the back came off years ago). Anyways the tuner dial has no dial-lamp and its pretty stripped down basic when it comes to tuner dials, and it has the Civil Defense Markers on the AM Dial on the Tuner (it has 2 rather large red triangles marking the Civil Defense stations on the dial which from what I've read was in use until 1965 which puts the stereo pre-1965 which is why I dated the console to between 1956-1963 because of the style of the cabinet and because of the fact that all of the ones I've seen online that were similar to mine were from between 1956-1963. Now here's the odd part, I have yet to see another one just like mine online anywhere, I see some that are similar to mine but not exactly like it. Another weird thing is that all of the Magnavox Consoles I've seen online that were similar to mine had covers on the back whereas mine never had a cover on the back of it originally (no screw holes or anything that indicate it was meant to have a back on it).
Also it has in it a Colaro Model C-60 4-speed record changer which is currently being serviced because the rubber on the idler wheel that controlled the spinning of the platter had a huge chunk of rubber broken out of it because it somehow got too hot at one point in time and caused the rubber to 'melt' which in turn caused there to be a large 'flat spot' in the idler wheel which then hardened over time and then broke off. So I'm currently in the process of locating a new idler wheel for the record player that's under $50 (because most of the places I've searched at had the idler wheel for between $50-$80, and I'm kind of on a tight budget, I also need to replace the rubber motor mount gromets because the original ones started to turn to tar but then dried up and crumbled more or less.
I've posted a few pictures of the unit in question. I had also heard that some of the early AM/FM Stereo Receivers (floor models and table top models) had to have a Multiplex unit installed in order to receive FM Stereo and wanted to know how hard it was to install or find these multiplex units for these old Magnavox consoles and if they had to be specific to the model of stereo you had or not or if any old Magnavox multiplex unit would work. Also The Chassis Numbers for the Amplifier and the Tuner on this Stereo are as follows: Tuner- Chassis No. 7907-00 Amplifier- Chassis No. 8601-20 Hopefully these Chassis Numbers will give us some idea of how to identify either the age of this unit or the model of this unit. Attachments: DSCN2032.JPG 32.22 KiB Viewed 1935 times DSCN2034.JPG 33.8 KiB Viewed 1935 times DSCN2036.JPG 31.57 KiB Viewed 1935 times DSCN2037.JPG 25.1 KiB Viewed 1935 times DSCN2038.JPG 26.32 KiB Viewed 1935 times DSCN2039.JPG 23.52 KiB Viewed 1935 times DSCN2040.JPG 38.69 KiB Viewed 1935 times DSCN2041.JPG 23.19 KiB Viewed 1935 times DSCN2043.JPG 28.83 KiB Viewed 1935 times DSCN2044.JPG 28.72 KiB Viewed 1935 times. Magnavox service data is by the number stamped on the chassis.
The model number of the whole console basically only tells you what kind of box it is. If you can find the EIA numbers on the transformers, that would be a good clue as to the date it was made. The iron is usually within 4 months or so of final production. Try thevoiceofmusic for the idler. Don't know if he rebuilds this specific one, but I've gotten rebuilds from there for Garrards for about 30 bucks per. The MPX unit may or may not be hard to install. Mostly it depends if there are output jacks on the tuner for the MPX unit.
If there is not an unused RCA plug marked MPX Out or similar, then you're into circuit modifications to tie it in. The actual MPX unit shouldn't matter all that much, though finding one that will connect in to your power wiring makes life easier. I have modified mono tuners for MPX output before. Its not that hard, basically you tap straight off the detector instead of after the R/C filter setup that signal normally passes through. Saving vintage electronics, one dumpster at a time. Magnavox service data is by the number stamped on the chassis. The model number of the whole console basically only tells you what kind of box it is.
If you can find the EIA numbers on the transformers, that would be a good clue as to the date it was made. The iron is usually within 4 months or so of final production. Try thevoiceofmusic for the idler. Don't know if he rebuilds this specific one, but I've gotten rebuilds from there for Garrards for about 30 bucks per.
The MPX unit may or may not be hard to install. Mostly it depends if there are output jacks on the tuner for the MPX unit.
If there is not an unused RCA plug marked MPX Out or similar, then you're into circuit modifications to tie it in. The actual MPX unit shouldn't matter all that much, though finding one that will connect in to your power wiring makes life easier. I have modified mono tuners for MPX output before.
Its not that hard, basically you tap straight off the detector instead of after the R/C filter setup that signal normally passes through. I have a picture of the side of the tuner chassis but I couldn't post it because I had reached my photo posting limit by the time I got to that picture. Anyways it does have 3 unused RCA jacks on the side of the tuner chassis one of them of which has MPX In marked by it, and the other 2 jacks are marked Ch. 2 out, so I'm assuming that would be for connecting the Multiplex Unit. I have posted some pictures of the tuner chassis so you have an idea of what it looks like. Attachments: DSCN2045.JPG 105.72 KiB Viewed 1919 times DSCN2046.JPG 131.29 KiB Viewed 1919 times DSCN2047.JPG 126.35 KiB Viewed 1919 times DSCN2050.JPG 127.31 KiB Viewed 1919 times DSCN2051.JPG 131.59 KiB Viewed 1919 times.
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I am working on the same radio: Tuner- Chassis No. 7907-00 Amplifier- Chassis No. 8601-20 It is a radio my grandmother owned. It belongs to my sister now; and I am restoring it to operation for her. I found a schematic that is close to the amp board and probably the right one.
I'm looking for a schematic for the tuner. I found through searching that it is probably in the 1963, Sams Photofact 651-9. I'm considering buying that photofact for it. I'm willing to pass it on (the schematic) once I'm done. If you want it, just let me know.