I saw this and picked it up . It is a wooden case with two units side by side with a wooden divider in the middle. These units are relatively short in height. THey are by Olson- an amp model no. AM-323A (110w) and a AM/FM/stereo tuner model no. RA-940 A. They are made in Japan and I have googled and search here and AA without any info on these models. Can anyone shed any light on them. It is a low profile unusual look. Both are solid state and I am guessing pretty early solid state at that. THanks Norm
Help with an odd old Olson combo
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ticntoc
Active Member
Here's my Olson
Odd, I just pick an Olson up on Tuesday at the local GW. for the price it too nice to set on the shelf. Kind of cool looking. There was an Olson Electronics store around So Cal about that time period, guessing mid-60s. I dont know if they are related. Other than that, I don't know anything about them either. Good luck with it.
Glenn
Odd, I just pick an Olson up on Tuesday at the local GW. for the price it too nice to set on the shelf. Kind of cool looking. There was an Olson Electronics store around So Cal about that time period, guessing mid-60s. I dont know if they are related. Other than that, I don't know anything about them either. Good luck with it.
Glenn
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ticntoc
Active Member
HI. Its a RA 98. Stick around (welcome to AK, BTW) they seem to be getting more common. Some one under general audio discussion posted that they just came across a tuner. That makes 3 Olsons in one week by 3 AKers. Damn, I am going to find something more obscure to collect!
Nice Danish Modern cabinet that the Olson is setting on.
Its 10:30pm I hear fireworks, the Angles must have won.
Glenn
Nice Danish Modern cabinet that the Olson is setting on.
Its 10:30pm I hear fireworks, the Angles must have won.
Glenn
ekmanning5
Time has told me...
Twas' me. An Olson RA-628 tube tuner.
ticntoc
Active Member
Can you post a pic?
I was pleasantly surprised. It does have a very good tuners section. I just put my finger on the antenna jack and pulled in several stations towards the top of the signal strength meter. It also has an amazing amount of bass from my cheap-o Sony test speakers.
They’ve got a good styling and very nice wooden cabinets. Onepixel, yours is very cool.
Anyone know anything about the company? The logo seems to be reminiscent of the Olson Electronics stores, back in the day. Maybe a house brand?
Glenn
Switchblade
Super Member
I wish my receiver looked that good! It was just metal with scratchy, square push buttons that popped every time you pushed them in or out, circa 1969. Olsen Electronics was located on north Western Ave and Washington Blvd. in Chicago, although there were others just like Knight (Radio Shack).
ekmanning5
Time has told me...
Here you go.
More on Olson Electronics equipment
Well....with my unit I guess that it is going to be 4 notes on Olson equipment
I purchased these giant Olson speakers last week on eBay....for $12.49 from a pawn shop !!! The (accurate" description on eBay was:
"Pair of Vintage Olson S-23 3-Way 16" Speaker Systems. These vintage speakers, were well taken care of, and are in Beautiful Condition. Only a couple very minor scratches on the wood surface, and no rips or shredding on the fabric. Near Perfect all around. The measurements for these speakers, are 27" 3/4" High - 21" Wide - 15" Deep. "
Just got them home the other day and haven't hooked them up yet. They appear to be well built.
Anyone know about the quality of the product that this company produced ? I heard that they were more of a Radio Shack-type organization....
Well....with my unit I guess that it is going to be 4 notes on Olson equipment
I purchased these giant Olson speakers last week on eBay....for $12.49 from a pawn shop !!! The (accurate" description on eBay was:
"Pair of Vintage Olson S-23 3-Way 16" Speaker Systems. These vintage speakers, were well taken care of, and are in Beautiful Condition. Only a couple very minor scratches on the wood surface, and no rips or shredding on the fabric. Near Perfect all around. The measurements for these speakers, are 27" 3/4" High - 21" Wide - 15" Deep. "
Just got them home the other day and haven't hooked them up yet. They appear to be well built.
Anyone know about the quality of the product that this company produced ? I heard that they were more of a Radio Shack-type organization....
Attachments
Got my latest Olson 3 days ago.
I've got Olson bottle amps. I know ... this is a solid state thread ... but maybe it helps appreciate Olson's arrival at solid state to see where they'd been?
Acquired my quad of 6BM8 PP stereo amps separately and recently. The later "modern" styled amps are an AM-229 and AM-253. The earlier gold-tone units are both AM-214s (my newest on top). All have identical chassis and circuits under their hoods. Built in Japan -- Suzuki caps and resistors, Matsushita tubes.
In their day, Olson marketed some decent lower cost, imported gear, which helped put "hi-fi" within reach of the average working man. Collectors seem to ignore the brand, thus in a sense that legacy continues. Ample availability puts more VINTAGE hi-fi within reach of the rest of us.
Oops! Is the cat out of the bag? Glad I got mine ...:thmbsp:
I've got Olson bottle amps. I know ... this is a solid state thread ... but maybe it helps appreciate Olson's arrival at solid state to see where they'd been?
Acquired my quad of 6BM8 PP stereo amps separately and recently. The later "modern" styled amps are an AM-229 and AM-253. The earlier gold-tone units are both AM-214s (my newest on top). All have identical chassis and circuits under their hoods. Built in Japan -- Suzuki caps and resistors, Matsushita tubes.
In their day, Olson marketed some decent lower cost, imported gear, which helped put "hi-fi" within reach of the average working man. Collectors seem to ignore the brand, thus in a sense that legacy continues. Ample availability puts more VINTAGE hi-fi within reach of the rest of us.
Oops! Is the cat out of the bag? Glad I got mine ...:thmbsp:
Attachments
onepixel
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Brian
An Old Geezer
Olson was startedby Sid Olson who sold to Teledyne that also owned AR. He went on thne start EV/Game and was brought back by Teledyne after it bought Cramer Electronics in an effort to integrate the 2 and at trying to bring the company bark to some levewl of competitiveness with say Radio Shack. He tried to go back to the hobbiest beginnings and you could walk in and buy surplus motors, stuffed military PC boards pulled from equipment. Cd radios, caps, resistors, and so on. Sadly almost evreything was bottom of the rung quality. I was transferred to Olson with the Cramer sale and stayed 18 months before deciding I could not look persons in the face as I took their money.
The last Olson store I saw was in Florida in the mid '80s. Going in,I did not see much with Olson packaging and suspected it may have been a franchise that was still holding out as I think by that time the company had gone under.
The last Olson store I saw was in Florida in the mid '80s. Going in,I did not see much with Olson packaging and suspected it may have been a franchise that was still holding out as I think by that time the company had gone under.
ticntoc
Active Member
Thanks for posting all of the photos. Its great to see what more of their line looked like. I love the Danish Modern speakers, just awsome.
They seemed to have made some nice looking stuff from tubes to SS. I remember a local store. It was kind of a Radio Shack type of store. Too bad they didn't make it.
They seemed to have made some nice looking stuff from tubes to SS. I remember a local store. It was kind of a Radio Shack type of store. Too bad they didn't make it.
I know this post is a few years old, but I have a pair of these speakers in great condition, if anyone is interested. They are Olson S-23 16" 3 way speakers encased in a solid wood case. They have two controls on the rear to control the mid range and tweeter. I recently had the mid range and tweeters replaced.
Привет! Понимаю, что это старая тема, но возможно кто - то даст ответ ... Ко мне пришел старый Олсон Ра628 со стереодекодером мультиплекс. Мне понравилась эта маленькая вещица и я хотел бы восстановить её. Но не могу найти сервис схематик. Может быть кто-нибудь подскажет где её раздобыть? В интернете вообще мало сведений об тюнерах Олсон, а об Ра 628 почти ничего ... Всем хорошего дня!)