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Earliest Stereo Tube Set Up...What is It?

M3-SRT8

M3-SRT8

Active Member
Hi Boyz 'n Gurlz:

I own one of the First mass produced Television Sets available to the Public, completely restored. It is an RCA 630TS, and, I want to match it up with the earliest known Tube Based (of course) Stereo System. I'm going to use a 1964 RCA MX-7 in the meantime, but, that's not early enough, not fer Me.

What Manufacturers released the FIRST Stereo Components available on a Mass Produced scale?

Hmmmm...?

LJB:smoke:
 
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I do know the Dynaco ST-70 came out in 1959, but I am sure there must have been an earlier tube stereo amp out there.

Regards,
Sal Brisindi
 
I'm pretty sure the "first" stereo rigs were actually doubled up mono systems using a "simulcast" am/fm tuner, and stereo phonograph.

The first stereo broadcasts were made by radio stations that had both FM and AM transmitters. In the stereo setting(on my old lafayette tuner) the tuner would receive one channel on the AM side, and the other channel was broadcast on the sister station's FM frequency.

In the case of my lafayette, it had two tuning knobs, one for AM and one for FM with two seperate pointers behind the glass. The selector had three positions, am to the left, fm to the right and "STEREO" in much bigger print in the center.

Quite honestly i'm not sure which came to the consumer's home first, the stereo radio broadcasts or stereo recordings. My guess is probably the radio broadcasts came first, but this is entirely my novice WAG.
 
Hey, Bowtie, I KNOW You from Somewhere...A Car Forum, or something. A Couple of Years back...

I'm a Muscle Car Enthusiast from waaay back. As far as Muscle Cars go, I prefer MoPars. As my Title states, two of my cars are an M3 (an '02 cab) and an SRT8 (300C, an '06).

Getting back to Stereo, I'm not sure what came first, broadcast stereo or LP's. But Stereo was first applied (I believe) in the Movies. Some Gent in the early 30's first proposed it and executed it in 1931, I think. He died during WW-2 in a Bombing Raid on England, and his loss was lamented by Churchill himself...

LJB:smoke:
 
The first stereo source was tape - stereo phono cartridges and even stereo simulcast broadcasting came later. I have a 1958 catalog that has only mono equipment - except for one stereo tape setup with two mono amps.
 
My dad picked up his first stereo console, a Philco, in 1963. By then, many FM radio stations in larger metro areas were delivering FM stereo, although no one had really figured out what to program there. I remember it being mostly Muzak-type, Montovani schmaltz or AM radio feeds. This also means that the FM stereo modulation technique had been finalized by the NAB by then. Prior to that it was left to the local radio station engineers as to how to generate stereo broadcasts - with some proprietary approaches being proposed.

McIntosh came out with their full-stereo gear in 1960 or so as most of the others. This means that all of the other big vendors in the US were there already. LPs were also available in mono but also in stereo. You'll see those in many thrift stores today with big ads or disclaimers at the bottom of the back side explaining how to treat the stereo recording with new needles or, in the case of Columbia, marketing their new stereo consoles.

For the high-end crowd, remember too, that open reel tape decks were quite the rage at this same time. Look at any of the old audio magazines of the day and count the number of tape deck ads in each issue to get an idea of how big this was.

Switching to stereo on those was another formidable challenge. In a way, it much like switching media as we dealt with in the 80s from LP to CD. We're dealing with it again now with the move to online digital media. What goes around, comes around.....

Cheers,

David
 
Hey, Bowtie, I KNOW You from Somewhere...A Car Forum, or something. A Couple of Years back...
Click to expand...
Maybe ebay? AK is the first forum i ever participated in, and ebay would be about the only other place my ID appears publicly.

The first stereo source was tape - stereo phono cartridges and even stereo simulcast broadcasting came later.
Click to expand...
Of course! I'll have to claim "ignorance of youth" here as this was before my time.:D
 
I've got a pre-Concert Grand Magnavox stereo console with dual mono blocks, and a stereo TT . . I *think the FM tuner is stereo too, but not positive . . build date on the speakers is 1957, and it's a 1958 model . . .
 
modern multiplex stereo wasn't approved by the FCC until 1961 (according to HH Scott). AM-FM stereo simulcast dates to the second half of the 1950s (prior to 1958). My father engineered the first AM-FM stereo simulcast in Baltimore, MD on WITH AM and FM.
 
IIRC, the Newcomb 3D12 amplifier was one of the first to put (2) output transformers on the same chassis for dynaural playback c. 1957.
 
I think the 1st stereo records began appearing in 1958. The 1st stereo "hit" was the Jamies' "Summertime, Summertime" from summer of that year. "High Fidelity" had only been around for about 10 years then, spurred on by the development of the LP in the late '40s by Peter Goldmark.
 
I have a Fisher 600 tube receiver from 1958. The unit is stereo except for the tuner. Both FM and AM are mono.

John
 
See this thread and then read Post #5
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=79125&highlight=fisher+600

The 600 was the first stereo receiver that Fisher made. It was available for more than one year...I have a 1960 brochure that still has the 600 listed. I also have a "test" that Hi-Fi Review conducted of the 600 and the Harman Kardon TA-230...which were touted as the first stereo receivers available.
Click to expand...

So maybe 1958 for the Fisher 600 and Harman Kardon TA-230.

John
 
Harmon kardon a224 1958.12 watts per channel.Decent sounding a bit on the warm side.I own one its a easy rebuild i did mine.El 84 based intigrated
 
Sherwood had a 260 power amp that mated with a stereo preamp/mono power amp integrated. Not sure of the year but does it count? Also wonder what year Grommes released the stereo Little Jewel. I'd almost bet the 1st stereo amp was produced by a smaller company rather than 1 of the majors where the production costs and risk of failure may have been too risky.
 
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