Video

My grandfather 1966 MAGNAVOX tv/stereo console used those remote controls displayed here in this video French providential style my parents had a 1973 Astrosonic console sounded great speakers were encased in styrofoam 8” woofer and horn tweeters miss console TVs and stereos MAGNAVOX was the best great video thanks

Anybody ever tell you your voice sounds like George Clooney’s?

Lovely

That’s the most beautiful car I have ever seen.

Your videos and information is excellent! I have a 1mv417m that I have been trying to find information on with no success. Believe it’s a 1962 model of the little information I have found. Do you possibly have any information on this tv stereo console? Thank you!

My aunt had an old Magnavos Astro-Sonic console similar to this one. I used to play records on it all the time. This one sounds beautiful. I love your setup, too.

Thank You for interdiction, you have done some deep study on these Magnavox, I’am sure Magnavox would have chosen you to be a representative to advertise there 💎s,(Console), Your right, to on the sound of the console, I’m a piano tuner, It’s the box that makes a the difference of sound travel, just like the sound board of the piano harp that’s lies on the sound board itself, My Father had the highest end Zenith in 65, in was over a 1000 also and it was boarded with 12 woofers for bass and 8” full range and 4 horns, and all of was covered with chrome even the turn table and the cobra arm and controls, With dual amplifiers, you felt like you where in a theater when the volume was only set a quarter turn, The Console wood wood resonate the quality of the sound itself, Made in USA 🇺🇸, I’m near 70 now and I haven’t seen one these since the 70s, cause only people of high standard could afford them then, and they still have and carried down to there grand kids, same with the Magnavox, what gets me they used the 15” in most of there units, you can feel the on the floor, I’ve got me one before they decide to throw it away cause the turn table wasn’t working, it’s sad, I’ve seen more Magnavoxs at the road for the past years here Texas, I’m surprised there’s not many left, anyway Thank You for educating us the quality that Magnavox consoles had provide for in the day, may to people will considering to keep there and have them fixed, 🙏🏻good job👍🏻

It an amazing unit. The look and sound is truly amazing. I definitely know about not functioning properly now I am over 50 years old! But a truly amazing sounding machine. DO you have Wind Up Gramophones too? I am really interested in getting a high end 78rpm Wind Up Gramophone. Maybe one with 2 horns if they did them? I am glad this went to a good home and the the person who bought it will treasure this treasure.

You forgot to mention the know just above the tape deck that controls an additional set of remote wired stereo speakers that can be set up in another room, outside patio, or at the poolside cabana !! ( it's labeled internal speakers/external speakers/ or both! Since you added Bluetooth, I believe that you could incorporate a Bluetooth transmitter into the external speakers switch which would send a Bluetooth signal to a pair of powered portable speakers with Bluetooth that would eliminate any additional remote wiring for external speakers!, just an idea ! Great video! Thanks 😊

Don't forget to mention the optional reel to reel tape deck !!

I love my Imperial , went through and recapped all of it... the tape deck, the radiohead , the amp, even the remote box ,...and of course the crossovers ...

I love this one❤❤

I have one in my garage that i just got through fixing. The tone arm shocks, but at least it works

Wow takes me back to my mom's prized Magnavox console that she had a bookcase built around. This was in 1971 and there were no legs on it, no carvings and narrow speaker screens on the front with larger speaker screens on the sides. Perhaps you know of the model. I keep searching for it out there hoping someone didn't discard it. When a TV repairman told her the tube was not worth repairing and to get a new TV, she did...BUT she kept the console and moved it to act as a side table by the sofa since that magnificent turntable kept working. We were SO sad to leave it behind or maybe it went into an estate sale when they had to downsize. It was really beautifully made and her model was pretty simple in its design so it never really looked dated but looked like a nice piece of walnut furniture by the sofa when the wood tv screen panels were closed. So civilized in design. A lot of money...like buying a car. But this is what so much is now too and you do not get near the quality. Thank you for walking through the tone arm functions which seemed miraculous and survived my childhood curiosity. It's so great to be old now and look back on how it all worked. We knew they were special and beautiful then. And just a decade later by the 1980s, the quality difference was significant although my mom stuck with loyalty to Magnavox with the replacement. It was a nice wood but just a TV and no panels to cover the screen which disturbed her (and us too.) Now everything is just a giant plastic screen on a wall and so intrusive and ugly. These consoles got criticized as conspicuous consumption but compared to today, they are a study in discretion, respect for quiet and high quality at every turn. They do require a sizeable room. Thank you for such a great job with this. And thank you for keeping people appreciative of the value in repair and restoration.

I do have a Magnavox AstroSonic! I love it!

DIY Magnavox wrench- some of you may be familiar with Magnavox's practice of mounting the faceplate with upside down PAL nuts. They provided their dealers with the proprietary "handi-tool" to allow easy disassembly. In my console one nut came out easily with pliers, but the other absolutely refused to budge. After several failed attempts, I came up with a sure fire DIY tool. Get your hands on a 1/4-20 x 1 3/4" coupling nut (such as Grainger #41JZ35). Make certain that it measures 7/16 (.438) across the hex flats, some providers have other sizes here. Drill our the threads to 3/8 inch. I don't have a machine shop, so I had to do it a little at a time with successively larger drills from 1/4". When you are done you will have your own Magnavox wrench.

GREAT FT. WAYNE, IN STEREO. HAD A FRENCH PROVINCIAL IMPERIAL MODEL. RECORDS SOUNDED GREAT ON IT. GRANDPARENTS HAD A NEW ONE IN 1964.

That has to be the most beautiful example of craftsmanship. In real life as apposed to youtube. Truly a sound worth driving interstate for. Thank you. Paul. New Zealand

that speaker display is to die for! 🤤 I've never seen those type of speakers chromed or galvanized or whatever that finish is. I'll just about guarantee they were done like that just for that display.

Mine was 1967 and had the Meditarran cabinet but the same speakers. I was sad to see it go.

My parents had one similar from back then and it could drown out a teenage party when the parents were away.

I am just now seeing this video. I would bet this unit sold rather quickly. Being a lover of vintage hifi systems it is a wonderful example of the style of the 60s console systems. My Sony based component system is mid 70s vintage. I don't suppose you still have this wonderful unit?

I just came across your Magnavox videos, I have one that belonged to my grandparents, it has an Astro Logic hi-fi stereo, that i heard last about 20 years ago, I think i burned out a tube or two and never opened it up. Mine has a radio/tv controls under a sliding door on the right and a turn table on the left under another sliding door with a green tubed tv in the front center, cherry wood and very heavy, I have never seen another like it. I'd like to know more about it.

I went and listened to a more contemporary version of Mr Tambourine Man and this one, even with the mic your using (recording a recording) almost had me in tears. So authentic, rich and deep. This console is to die for.

Why doesn't such an expensive stereo have a magnetic cartridge?

So glad to find this! We still have this exact model, have the external 8 track player box to go with it.

Absolutely beautiful !!!

There is a company in San Diego CA that makes modern console stereos like this with vinyl record playback and Bluetooth receiver technology called Wrensilva!

Magnificent . I would love to hear it first hand . Here in the uk we never see anything like that . I have a 50s English made console radio that I have fitted a bluetooth unit to. It sonds great but yours must be amazing . Is the Magnavox tube or transistor ?

My folks had a couple of the Magnavox entertainment centers back in the '70s that were behemoths. I always thought they were for old codgers and hifi separates was the only way to go. Fast forward to 2023 and I'd love to have a console even if I do have a couple of expensive stereo rigs. Yours sounds fantastic!

Was there ever a Solid state Concert Grand?...we had a guy on the forum claim the shop he worked for had two of them come though , and he claimed he kept one , and had to give the other away .... but we found nothing in maggie literature to prove that those were even a thing ... ever heard of them?

Wow… sounds wonderful.

Did you end up selling this?... I found another one identical but without the R2R...

We had one in the year 1970 or 71 that we bought at Macy’s New York I was a little kid, and this thing was huge. It was bigger than the one you have, it was by Magnavox, and I remembered that the turntable was a chromatic slide out from the front with a slide out real to reel and FM radio has had huge horns with removable grills. The thing was gigantic and the sound was amazing. I don’t know the name of the model. It was Mediterranean or imperial one of them and it had like a full marble on top and black just a gorgeous unit.

Hmmm. I don't know if I'd call that mid century modern...

I remember as a kid ... my Family would shop at a local furniture chain that also sold electronics..when we went shopping for stuff like this , it was like buying a car... the Salesman would sit you down on a couch and demonstrate all the features of the system ...and explain the pros and cons of it.... of course there were never any cons... but they always exclaimed you could throw a block party with these TOTL systems ... the good ole days...

I have always favored Magnavox. I, too, have a collection of Magnavox Consoles, covering the years 1942 through 1961. From the later years, I have a 1959 Concert Grand (Traditional Cherry Style); a 1960 Imperial Classic; 1961 Imperial French Provincial. As a side note, My late dad had a TV Sales/Service business here in San Francisco. He sold Magnavox from 1961-1976. Sadly, in those later years, the overall quality declined. I have all the service literature and the complete model reference, covering all the sets, both television and stereo styles. I remember your set, as I had one, but in the "Agean" style. Quite a unit. Astro-Sonic sets were introduced in 1962.

I'm drooling absolutely beautiful

The woofer on the right with the square magnet appears to be a CTS brand woofer. It looks very similar to the woofers used in the mid to late 60's in Klipschorns and other Klipsch Heritage models, which were made by CTS (Chicago Telephone Supply) and labeled by Klipsch as their model K-33P or K-33B. Very efficient and powerful woofer for the day.

More expensive than a VW Beetle at that time.

What is the continuous RMS power output of the amp, both channels driven, from 20 to 20,000 cycles per second at .1% maximum harmonic and intermodulation distortion? Music power output was a marketing term that is not an actual testing metric. My money says that Magnavox never revealed the measurement I am asking for.

Did you replace the capacitors and resistors as needed in the crossover network for the various speakers?

Thanks for sharing. I scored a 64 mid range magnavox for free. I just had to get the wheels to get it home. Other than the radio face plate for the radio having some wear... its very clean for its age needs cleaning and needle. After i woke the speakers back up... its loud and clear. I love the old magnavox stuff.

I guess based on what you said about $1967 vs $2023 dollars, Wrensilva - look em up! - would be justified in charging north of $8,000 for their modern consoles with Blue Tooth and Phono, etc.

I have a 1965 Magnavox Astrosonic console that I restored, recapping and replacing some noisy transistors. Everybody who hears it loves it. Yes you are right, none of my other hifi gear can fill a room like the Magnavox. No matter where you are, even in the kitchen you hear full balanced sound. Most people don't realize the stylus tracks at 2.8 grams, or tenth of an ounce, it won't ruin your records.

My brother in law had a 1963 ,5 gaxily 500 with a 390 with a top loader 4 speed we called is mad because it just beat a 56 chevy nomad that was fun the good old days

Is that a Hudson in the background? Wicked.

"promosm" 😕

beautiful piece. we had one when i was growing up.

Absolutely gorgeous 😍 ❤️