Twilight Zone Hi-Fi

Sedge

Member
Hi –
Just for fun, can anyone identify all this equipment? Saw this hi-fi set up on a Twilight Zone episode from 1964 (“Sounds and Silences”), starring John McGiver. My guess is that the system belonged to one of the stage set-up people and was borrowed for the show. I took these photos directly from the screen (sorry, not great resolution).
- Two turntables; the one on the left is Garrard, not sure the one on the right
- R2R tape deck (or probably tape recorder) – brand?
- Two speakers that look like they attach to the tape deck (you can see the right one in the photos, the left one is on the fireplace hearth hidden from view)
- A tuner (w/ pre-amp?) – brand?
- Two tube amps on the floor, no covers – Macs?
- One large speaker below the tape deck – brand?

There’s some sort of little box in front of the tape deck with what looks like power cords connected (?). Also inter-connects coming out of the deck at the top and lower left, and one from the right turntable. All the inter-connects look like they were done in a hurry, with no attempt to hide the cables. The deck was not played in this episode, only the right turntable.
The McGiver character (Roswell G. Flemington) was shuffling those records around like a deck of cards. Some are also shown on the stone heart with no covers! No covers anywhere…His wife broke one into little pieces, so they must have been pre-vinyl. Oh well, they were supposedly recordings of WWII battleships firing their guns.
A big attaboy to whomever can ID everything. Have fun!
TZ1.jpg TZ2.jpg TZ3.jpg TZ4.jpg TZ5.jpg
 
That episode showed pictures shaking on the walls for dramatic effect. Even in the 1960's I knew those speakers were much too small to make that happen.
 
The one speaker looks AR to me, maybe a AR4
I was thinking that too. They were the ones to have back then. Would have paired well with the Macs.
But why only one? I know stereo records and FM were just coming on the scene, but the two amps would imply stereo. Those tape recorder speakers would have been overwhelmed. On the other hand, the whole room was a stage prop. Looking close at the freeze frames in other scenes I could see where some of the interior walls were sheets of stretched canvas, and that anchor (if real) sitting on the floor probably would weigh about 1000 lbs.!
 
Thanks everyone for the input. We need an early tape recorder expert for the final piece of the puzzle.
 
McIntosh MX110 tuner / preamp and either a pair of MC30s or MC60s (my guess is 30s) other stuff heck if I know.
Looks like an MC60 to me, owing to the metal bases on the (likely) audio output tubes on the right end of the chassis. As for the tape recorder, it seems fairly generic, and doesn't look like anything I've seen in the Allied Radio catalogs of the time, so I dunno. :dunno:
-Adam
 
My guess on the RR is it's a Wollensak 3M. Can't find an exact match but the shield on the heads look similar.
 
Thanks to all! The survey sez...
Amps: McIntosh MC-60 (x2)
Record changer (R): Voice of Music (Model 1200?)
Record changer (L): Garrard (model #?)
Tape recorder: 3M Wollensak (model #?)
Main speaker: Heathkit AR3 clone (?)
 
Garrard looks like my type A, voice of music is a 1200-2, 1225.
Thanks Hunted11...will update list!
Amps: McIntosh MC-60 (x2)
Record changer (R): Voice of Music Model 1225
Record changer (L): Garrard Type A
Tape recorder: 3M Wollensak (model #?)
Main speaker: Heathkit AR3 clone (?)
 
Have been scouring the internet for anything that even remotely looks like this RR with no luck. 90% of these old machines had some kind of identifier on the head shield. I've looked at Uher, 3M (Wollensak), Akai, Tandberg, Roberts, Crown, Ampex, Beocord (B&O), Studer (Beyer and Dynavox), Panisonic (National), Concord, Phillips, stellavox, VOM (Voice of Music), Braun, Craig, Sony, Grundig, Teac, Ultra, Bell, Ferrograph, Rangertone, AEG, Bernell, and Telefunken. Does anyone else have a suggestion of what brand this might be?
 
Wow infullview...thanks for the extra effort. I bet you found a lot of other peripheral info in the process. That's what this vintage stereo addiction can do. For now let's just put a "?" by the tape recorder (pretty sure it's a recorder vs. deck). And, I left off the tuner/pre-amp in the my last update.
Amps: McIntosh MC-60 (x2)
Tuner/Pre-amp: McIntosh MX-110
Record changer (R): Voice of Music Model 1225
Record changer (L): Garrard Type A
Tape recorder: 3M Wollensak (model #?) ???
Main speaker: Heathkit AR3 clone (?)
 
I didn't search them, but a couple of other brands were Magnacord and RCA, Sears had the Silvertone. also the Viking.
 
Thanks Hunted11. I'm starting to build a database of brands and models for hi-fi equipment in the 1955-1995 era. I will add these to the list.
;-)
 
I didn't search them, but a couple of other brands were Magnacord and RCA, Sears had the Silvertone. also the Viking.
I did search for Magnacord but forgot to write it in the list. I forgot RCA, Silvertone, and Viking. Just did a search on these. Silvertone has a similar layout but not a match because none of the models with a handle on the side are designed to run vertical. If you look carefully, the RR in the screen cap has a handle on the right side of the case. It was a portable RR recorder.
 
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