balderdash1
New Member
Hi all,
This one has been on my radar for years but have never seen one anywhere close to where I live.
I was perusing CL yesterday and for some reason I started searching for Magnavox's. An ad came up for "retro stereo". That sound's pretty vague and cheesy, but this time it was the holy grail. When I opened up the photo, I thought it looked better than your run of the mill console stereo. I thought with luck, it could be an Imperial.
Once I opened the add it said, "Concert Grand $300 or best offer. I thought it must be a joke. I know it's not like a million people are searching for Concert Grand's, but I can't imagine the listing being up for more than several hrs without the seller being deluged with phone call's.
The number was listed and I called right away. The lady said it had been in the family for many years and that it was lovingly cared for and that it was still available. She said that her parents had passed recently, and that the family had just conducted an estate sale the this past weekend and that no one seemed interested in the Magnavox. She then told me that the company that conducted the sale told her, "you might as well take this to the dump because no one want's these old stereo's any more".
Anyway, this was a case where no one involved realized what they had. Very surprising as Google is just a click away. I offered the lady $ 200 and she almost seemed a little shocked. Frankly, as this thing weighs at least a couple of hundred pounds, I think they would have been fine if I would have just hauled it off for free.
No biggie. $200 is a small price to pay for something as cool as this. BTW, it did come with the remote.
I'll get some pictures up over the next few days.
My question though is, I don't really want to mess with it until I'm sure it's not going to blow up. I did turn it on for about 30 seconds and heard a little hum and some scratchy pots..
Not looking for a full restoration at this point, just want to be able to safely play it for a bit.
Is there a protocol for starting a job like this? Any capacitors I should look at..or maybe give it a good cleaning?
This one has been on my radar for years but have never seen one anywhere close to where I live.
I was perusing CL yesterday and for some reason I started searching for Magnavox's. An ad came up for "retro stereo". That sound's pretty vague and cheesy, but this time it was the holy grail. When I opened up the photo, I thought it looked better than your run of the mill console stereo. I thought with luck, it could be an Imperial.
Once I opened the add it said, "Concert Grand $300 or best offer. I thought it must be a joke. I know it's not like a million people are searching for Concert Grand's, but I can't imagine the listing being up for more than several hrs without the seller being deluged with phone call's.
The number was listed and I called right away. The lady said it had been in the family for many years and that it was lovingly cared for and that it was still available. She said that her parents had passed recently, and that the family had just conducted an estate sale the this past weekend and that no one seemed interested in the Magnavox. She then told me that the company that conducted the sale told her, "you might as well take this to the dump because no one want's these old stereo's any more".
Anyway, this was a case where no one involved realized what they had. Very surprising as Google is just a click away. I offered the lady $ 200 and she almost seemed a little shocked. Frankly, as this thing weighs at least a couple of hundred pounds, I think they would have been fine if I would have just hauled it off for free.
No biggie. $200 is a small price to pay for something as cool as this. BTW, it did come with the remote.
I'll get some pictures up over the next few days.
My question though is, I don't really want to mess with it until I'm sure it's not going to blow up. I did turn it on for about 30 seconds and heard a little hum and some scratchy pots..
Not looking for a full restoration at this point, just want to be able to safely play it for a bit.
Is there a protocol for starting a job like this? Any capacitors I should look at..or maybe give it a good cleaning?