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whatever happened to Barzilay?

S

sealforvr

Member
They made great compenent and matching speaker cabinets in the 60's and 70'a. You picked your components and they provided panels precut to drop them into. I have a Fawcett Books "Guide to Stereo" with several pics of various styles offered, I'll get them scanned later today or tomorrow.

Curious minds and all that

Thanks

Brock
 
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Hi,

They're long gone. Regrettably! I want one of their McIntosh component cabinets real bad. They were nice furniture. :tresbon:
 
I have 2 different Barzilay style cabinets that I bought from the original owner who had them built back in the 60's or so. They aren't the style where the gear drops into them but rather on shelves of which he had various systems in including Tandberg and McIntosh. They also have beautiful Tambour doors on them that are fully functional. I have a 6 foot lower cabinet and a 4 foot cabinet that sits on top of the larger one. He had also had a pair of speakers cabinets made with the exact same wood as the Barzilay that housed a pair of JBL D123 woofers, too. They had the same basic dimensions so the cloud be laid end to end or even stacked on the main cabs. Pretty slick.
 
avguytx said:
I have 2 different Barzilay style cabinets that I bought from the original owner who had them built back in the 60's or so. They aren't the style where the gear drops into them but rather on shelves of which he had various systems in including Tandberg and McIntosh. They also have beautiful Tambour doors on them that are fully functional. I have a 6 foot lower cabinet and a 4 foot cabinet that sits on top of the larger one. He had also had a pair of speakers cabinets made with the exact same wood as the Barzilay that housed a pair of JBL D123 woofers, too. They had the same basic dimensions so the cloud be laid end to end or even stacked on the main cabs. Pretty slick.
Click to expand...

Are you the guy advertising on Craigslist looking for Barzilay and old consoles in the DFW area? If so I sent you an email.

Brock
 
My mother worked for Barzilay from the early 70's until they closed their doors in (I believe) 1986. They closed because Ira Barzilay (the founder) was wanting to retire and manufacturing a small furniture co. in CA was becoming incredibly expensive due to more stringent air quality laws. Ira passed away in 2006.

My entire house is filled with Barzilay furniture that I inherited from her when she died. I would never think of replacing it b/c their furniture was of the best quality and it's clean lines make it timeless. My living room wall unit is a mix of shelves that surround a matching TV cabinet/stand and stereo cabinet. I do have an additional stereo cabinet that is just sitting in my garage. Maybe I will consider selling it. I'm really glad to hear that people remember Barzilay and fondly as I do.
 
Folksiegrl said:
My mother worked for Barzilay from the early 70's until they closed their doors in (I believe) 1986. They closed because Ira Barzilay (the founder) was wanting to retire and manufacturing a small furniture co. in CA was becoming incredibly expensive due to more stringent air quality laws. Ira passed away in 2006.

My entire house is filled with Barzilay furniture that I inherited from her when she died. I would never think of replacing it b/c their furniture was of the best quality and it's clean lines make it timeless. My living room wall unit is a mix of shelves that surround a matching TV cabinet/stand and stereo cabinet. I do have an additional stereo cabinet that is just sitting in my garage. Maybe I will consider selling it. I'm really glad to hear that people remember Barzilay and fondly as I do.
Click to expand...

Welcome to AK! You're just the type of folks I/we like to have post, we're not just an audio site. We like just about everything. Do stick around, please, and it would be everso kind of you, to please post a pic or two of some of that fab Barzilay your mother cherished so much:thmbsp: Sorry I talk funny, I'm from TX:D
Craig
 
At one time, we had one of the most gorgeous Barziilay consoles I've ever seen. Top-loader, with a tube Tandberg reel-to-reel and a Miracord 50H turntable, and Dynaco electronics... FM3, PAS3 and ST70. We had it matched up with a pair of Dynaco A25 speakers with exact-matching veneer.

That was a system that MANY people drooled over. Finally sold it to a regular customer... who said he was going to pull out the Dynaco gear (wanted to use it separately), and install some Marantz gear (IIRC, 1152 integrated amp, 2020 or similar tuner, and I think a pair of DS940 floor-standing speakers).

Unfortunately, I never got to see how that turned out... I bet it looked really cool...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
Barzilay alive and well in my house

I answered a newspaper ad about 4 months ago, listing a large stereo cabinet for sale locally. I called the gentleman, who told me the speaker cabinets and the center console were Barzilay furniture (which meant nothing to me at the time). I asked him what the speaker cabinets were loaded with, and he said Bozaks (which meant a little to me at the time). However, he kept talking about the Barzilay furniture. He and his wife had ordered the furniture as a kit and had assembled it as newlyweds. He had also ordered the 302a system from Bozak and had installed it as well.

I picked them up (two trips in the Envoy), put 'em in the library, turned 'em on and started researching, which lead me to you great people here at AK! Since this was my first score, I caught the vintage bug bad and had some immediate success shortly after the Bozaks/Barzilays, but realized that I may never duplicate the quality and value again.

I need to refinish the cabinets - they are in great cosmetic contition, but neet to be heavily cleaned, possibly lightly sanded, and oiled. The wood is walnut. I have a couple of projects ahead of this one (finishing a privacy fence), including rehabilitating a couple of smaller speaker cabinets. That way, when I tackle the Barzilay's, I will be all practiced up!

My center console has the drop down style component rack. However, the Yamaha CR-1020 that will stay mated to the speakers is too large to fit any of of the cavities. Plus, she (the Yamaha) is too beautiful in her own right to shut in (wood cabinet on her, too). I also have a Kenwood KD-5066 TT with a wood plinth that matches up very well. I will have to figure out some kind of a component rack, or remodel the Barzilay center cabinet. I will probably hire a good cabinet maker to tackle that one.

Here are some photos (not very good). I have posted these pictures in other places, so I may be over posting, but I love these babies:

Looks+Good_.jpg


System+with+Barzilay+Cabinet.jpg
 
I found this obit on Google. It seems Mr. Barzilay was very talented.

Obituaries - March 15, 2006
The Hollywood Reporter

Ira S. Barzilay, the piano-playing member of the Our Gang and Little Rascals comedies, died March 4 of a heart attack. He was 86.

Barzilay, a child prodigy on the piano, also was featured in the 1933 Shirley Temple film "Dora's Dunking Doughnuts."

A decorated war veteran of World War II, he served as a captain in the Corps of Army Engineers and landed in Normandy on the second day of the Allied invasion. After the war, he founded the Barzilay Furniture Manufacturing Co. and operated it for more than 40 years.
 
Interior Systems furniture store, Mt. View, Ca.

stuwee said:
Welcome to AK! You're just the type of folks I/we like to have post, we're not just an audio site. We like just about everything. Do stick around, please, and it would be everso kind of you, to please post a pic or two of some of that fab Barzilay your mother cherished so much:thmbsp: Sorry I talk funny, I'm from TX:D
Craig
Click to expand...

Hey Barzilay fans.
I bought my first and only Oak Barzilay from Interior Systems back in
the early 1980's. I remember the 2 ladies that worked there...Marilynn
and Madaline. I remember visting this store when it opened its doors.
It was love at first sight. I hauled my parents into the store and I
wanted to have then buy me one of the wall systems but they declined
since they thought this furniture was way to expensive. I vowed one
day to return and buy a wall system. Got married in the late 1970's and my
hubby and I bought the light oak wall system.
I cherish this furniture still and wish I could add several more hanging wall
units to what I already have.
Thanks for stepping back with me down memory lane.
Swedehead
 
Gosh, I love those cabinets. My local parish outreach had one sitting out in their furniture garage and I wanted it, but didn't have any room for it in my home.
 
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