Phonoland

Magnavox made the worlds finest sound systems! THE BEST

ABSOLUTELY ......................................................................................SO GOOD. INFACT I HAVE 56 DIFFERENT FURNITURE PIECES AND 15 DIFFERENT AMP TURNTABLE SPEAKER COMBINATIONS...MICHAEL

Wow! thats amazing 56 different furniture pieces huh? I absolutely LOVE some of the styles Magnavox used on their furniture peices. My neighbor has a French Provincial, and it's gorgeous. I collect, and collect these consoles, and always end up getting rid of them because I don't have room, I always kept the parts thought. I have 4 or 5 Micromatic turntables, and 2 Imperial Turntables. The only console that I had that wasn't a Magnavox was my first one, which was a Sylvania from 1979, and it sounded real crappy. I did keep the BSR turntable that was in it though? Do you have any pictures of some of these units?

PHONOMIKE, I SENT YOU A PRIVATE EMAIL TRYING TO TELL YOU WHAT I HAVE COLLECTED IN THE LAST 3 YEARS.

The French provincials were great, as were the Collaro record changers. Happy collecting

I bet that RCA Model you have is good? Is it an RCA Orthophonic?? Because that's what my Great-Aunt has! I believe the model number is SHC-4 It's wonderful!! It still works, but Unfortunately doesn't work as good as it did when it was new. Yes! I will keep collecting, I collect all the time! I'm running out of room though!

Yes, It is an orthophonic model. Originally mono; I added an additional amplifier from a similar victor model so it plays in stereo now with each amp dedicated to it's own right or left channel. I was lucky as both the original amp and the add-on are both shf-3 so the sound quality is matched. I had the recordchanger made operational at a little mom and pop hi-fi place in California. One of the last they did before they retired. I adore the tube sound, now that I've heard it, I can never go back although I do appreciate the sound of Magnavox's solid state amps. But nuthing they sell at circuit city even comes close to the musicality of the rca tubes or magnavox solid states. I listen to a lot or "living stereo" reissues on SACD -Hybrid. If you like music from the golden age of stereo I strongly reccomend the series.

http://www.amazon.com/RCA-Living-Stereo ... KOBDIO6JJ4

WOW! Thank you for showing me the pictures! That is the exact same set my Great Aunt has! The only difference is the handles on the front. I'll tell you, I really like the idea of the drawer sliding in and out to get to the record player. Actually the reason why my Great Aunt and Uncle bought this stereo is because it has a solid top. She was always able to put lamps, and pictures on it. On my Magnavox the drawers slide back and forth on the top. On the French Provincial Magnavox the my neighbor has, only a small portion of the top lifts up(in the middle) It looks a lot like the Magnavox Concert Grand, if you are familiar with that.

My Great Aunt tells me, that this RCA was one of the first things her and my Uncle bought when they got married. They got married in 1951 so I'm assuming it was made around that time. You're lucky if you have no problems with it.

She promised it to me someday, but once I get it, I have to look into having it repaired. It works, turns on and powers up, and all that. But it's all weird. Sometimes it works great, and other times it doesn't work at all.
I really don't know whats wrong with it. It was acting up when my Great-Uncle was still alive and he's dead 10 years.

Theres something wrong with it where it will play for a little while, and the sound will fade out to where you can't hear it. The sound comes and goes. It seems as though if the record is in good condition, it plays fine, but if it isn't the speakers will go in and out. I don't know if somethings wrong with one of the speakers, or if there's a short in one of the wires. All I can remember is, it broke my Uncle's heart when it stopped working right. He missed it terribly. You have this machine, so I'm sure you know what good sound it has.

The one thing I could never understand is why it has a Voice of Music turntable in it, instead of the RCA one. I asked my Great-Aunt many times if they've ever replaced the turntable, and she said they didn't, so my guess is, is that The factory it was made in, must've put a different turntable in before they bought it. I've never come across any RCA Orthophonic model like that, that has a Voice of Music turntable in it. It functions great though. Me and my Great-Aunt enjoy it when it wants to work. But, I understand that it doesn't work sometimes because it has to be over 50 years old.

I'm surprised to hear that it is Mono though. the set she has, sounds magnificently, and sounds as if it has Stereo sound, I could be wrong though. Welll thank you for showing me the pictures, and have a great night!

By the way, I do love a lot of the music from that time. My favorite music is from like the 40's and 50's. People my age laugh at me because it's way before my time lol.

It's from 1958. Stereo was relatively new on the consumer market though recordings were being produced. In '59 RCA started shipping "Dual Amplifier" models in several cabinet styles similar to this one. If the sound is dropping in and out on the phonograph only...It's the cartridge. I got a replacement on ebay. Sonotone 2T series, and easy to replace. I use my computer soundcard as the preamp and play MP3's and Reel Tapes through it as well. I have a magnavox I'm not sure of the chasis number cause I got it a long while ago, it's a tube stereo set with a collaro conquest record changer and features two matching cabinets. One houses the amp and record changer, the other has the satelite speaker and holds records. pretty groovey but the HIGH end is kind of punchy, it's got 5" tweeters rather than the groovy horn drivers featured in the later solid state models I'm sure you're familiar with. Regards, Ted

You know what, now that I'm think about it, I believe the one my Great Aunt has, is a Dual-Amplifier. I think it was bought in 1959, because there's a label upstairs saying that's when it was bought, but when my Great Aunt told me, it was one of the first things they bought when they got married, I thought it was made earlier than that, but I guess I'm wrong. I think it's the cartridge to.

By the way, I heard of Magnavox doing that. I've seen a lot of those units sold on Ebay (The 2 piece sets) My Great Aunt was also given a Magnavox (when RCA started acting poorly) by another one of our family members. They were glad to have it because my Great Uncle enjoyed music so much. That one was a tube model. and it was really nice. She gave it to me, and I wish I kept it!

I'll send you pictures in a while, I'm visiting my folks in California, (I gave my Mom The Magnavox when I got the victrola) and I misplaced the usb cable for my camera.

If both channels are fading together, only the power supply circuitry could cause that. It sounds like a bad connection or an intermittent rectifier tube. A bad preamp tube might also cause it, if it is a dual triode.

Look for a dirty tube socket. The contacts can corrode or oxidize over time.