My Magnavox Portable Stereo and my love for Magnavox.

I had always had a record player from the time I was 5 years old. My parents gave me a cheap Fisher-Price suitcase model. Records were the only medium I ever really knew. This was in the early 90's when cds and cassettes were dominant. Even as friends boasted about their silly little Discmans and Walkmans I had developed a deep love for records and hearing them on my record player far more than any cd or cassette. Sometime while in grade school I was given a cheap garage sale find radio shack turntable from the 80's which was atiquate for a grade school boy with a growing record collection.

Then one day my entire view on audio quality would change forever.
I was 13 and I was literally walking down the street near my house when an older couple stopped me and said they were moving and getting rid of a record player. "Would you like a record player little boy?" "Sure!" I responded. They pointed to the side of their house where there near the gutter and ready to be thrown away was a gigantic Magnavox Stereo console. They explained that their parents had never used it! It was stored away.
Far beyond excited, I ran home to my parents without even bothering to examine the stereo. "Come quick, I need you to get the van and pick up this record player for me!" Both parents got in the car to assist me as I explained that it was a huge stereo. We loaded it in the van which was no easy task as the stereo was so huge that it had to hang out of the back with the door open. My father and I held on to it's legs as my mother drove. We carried it in the house with the help of a neighbor. All the while my parents were complaining about how heavy and cumbersome this "thing" was.
Once settled in the living room I had finally a chance to examine my new stereo!
It was certainly a monstrous possession for a skinny 13 year old boy. I recall so well seeing the beautiful cherry colored wood which was gleaming from every angle. I opened every door on it almost all at once. It was not just a stereo but a T.V. and radio as well. It had a manual inside on top of the record player. The turntable even had its original paper cover, Imperial Micromatic it read. There was a receipt inside stamped 1962. It was clearly never used!
I plugged it in. T.V. first, The T.V. lit right up and worked beautifully getting about 4 local stations. Then came the record player. I believe I grabbed a Beatles record off hand.
This is when things got serious.
I had never heard a sound quality quite like this. It was so deep and overwhelming. Immediately I imagined this is probably what it would sound like to have an actual live band in the room - if not even better!
Both parents remarked that the sound was amazing.
I was in a sort of heaven playing every record I owned through the night on this giant monster.
An eclectic collection of records that were once ordinary and antiquate sound were transformed into beautiful masterpieces. The thrill that the bass on this stereo gave is still something I cannot quite put into words.
This was not an ordinary record player by any means. It was a musical instrument!
It remained my favorite possession and was completely reliable as a radio, record player and t.v. heavily used up until my mid 20's when it was destroyed by a flood in the basement. Nothing ever went wrong with it and it sounded just as it did when I was 13 up until the day it drowned.
There was nothing that ever compared in years to come to the sound quality of that Magnavox Stereo. I heard other friend's consoles and various record players. I even purchased a medium sized 1960's Zenith console which served as my go-to record player for years. My ears and the way I perceive music on radio, record players, and live is always in comparison or competition to that Magnavox.
"Does it sound as good as my Magnavox?" - my ears ask that question. "NO!"
Finally this year I decided to buy myself a Christmas present. I wanted a portable Magnavox Stereo! I have seen many of these online in the past. I even have a few friends that have them. They are cute and usually sound absolutely amazing. I know some of them are tubes and some transistor. I wanted a tube model. I didn't care what color. It just had to be from the same time period as my former 1962 console.
Using Ebay I blindly purchased a green and white portable stereo for about $500.
I knew this one was a little older. Possibly from the late 50's. It's so handsome. When it arrived I began playing records of course. All functions worked quite well. It sounded terrific but I could tell there was something 'off' about the sound. Within 2 days of heavy use I began to hear a humming that grew louder. Darn it! I don't know all too much about aging amplifiers but I knew something was going wrong. I took it to get repaired at a nearby shop where I was told the filer caps needed to be replaced. Within a week my record player was returned and working! The needles were replaced. The 'new' sound left me speechless. It sounded incredible! However later that day after heavy use I noticed that it was getting very warm, hot even. Again, not knowing much about amplifiers I knew something was wrong. The entire player shut itself off while being used. However it powered on minutes later. I called the repairman who fixed it an explained what happened. He told me that it was usual for this to happen given it's age and the other older components inside. It may be something to do with the new filter caps.
It all seemed 'okay' after that. I ran it continuously for a day. It no longer got 'hot'. I did however notice that the speaker in the cabinet where the amp is located was making a slightly fuzzy sound whenever a low bass recording is played. I am pretty sure that something is probably damaged to the fact it had a period of overheating that night when it was 'hot' or 'adjusting' to its new filter caps.
It still sounds just incredible aside from the fuzzy sound every now and then. I mean incredible! it's sound quality is far beyond any portable audio device I have ever owned. I made a decision to just live with it the way it is rather than invest in further repairs. I have been using it heavily for over a month now. I love my portable Magnavox Stereo dearly.
Thanks for allowing me to share my story. I was wondering if any of you have any comments or feedback in regards to having a Magnavox console or portable stereo.
If anyone could provide me any further information on my portable stereo that would be wonderful too!
It's model number is magnavox 1sc242j
- Roger

My "word of advise", is to find another repair person--soon, as there is no "adjustment" needed (or possible) to new filter caps !
Ron Rich

Ron Rich wrote:My "word of advise", is to find another repair person--soon, as there is no "adjustment" needed (or possible) to new filter caps !
Ron Rich

Yeppers Ron, I always say that ya either do the job right, or not at all!
I don't believe in doing half-assed restoring.
And my customers appreciate that.

Something is clearly wrong with your Maggie. You need to get it looked at by a competent repairman. I play my Maggie, Silvertone, Airline etc. 8-10 hours a day with no problems. I'd stop using it until I had it looked at.