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Friend Bought Magnavox Console...Amp Is Missing!

artsybob

artsybob

Active Member
My friend, who wanted a neat vintage stereo console to put into his house, bought what he thought was a Magnavox console in good shape that just needed a little restoration work. When he got it home and showed me the pictures, I told him it was missing its power amp! Not only that but it's missing the right side woofer and tweeter speakers! The speakers on the left side are still there, which makes me wonder if someone took parts out of it to sell individually or used them to make a homemade guitar amp. The model number says "1ST278R" on the information label but nothing really comes up when I search for it (including the SAMS website). From what I know it's from around 1961. Would anyone know what kind of amp this console would have, and if there's somewhere I can find replacement speakers for him? Thanks!
 

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based on the size of the dust outine I'm thinking its one of the smaller single ended amps. 8600 or a 196 maybe.

fair bet someone bought it, yanked the amp as the most valuable part, and re-sold the rest.
 
Maybe a 9303, 04, 05, etc. EL-84 PP amp?
The 9303 amp has a smaller foot print than the 175 and 185 6V6 amps.
There should be a drawing glued to the inside if the consol showing what tubes go where in the amp. The consol with a 9303 amp I found had one.
 
looking in there I see what looks like a paper glued on the side of what I'm guessing is the record bin, on the side facing the tuner. Thats probably the tube diagram. Possible its got a chassis number but a tube layout would certainly narrow it down.


How hung up is he on having an all original console? With a missing amp but a nice cabinet you have a reasonable excuse to re-load it with different electronics. I could picture a receiver mounted in here with a better turntable and some work on the speaker system to improve it's performance. Wouldn't have to be anything super high power, something in the 20 watt range from the 70s would be a good fit. Build a real crossover and fit some better drivers in here. Upgrade the turntable too, and add a bluetooth receiver or whatever else might make it more functional.
 
The amp is probably similar to this one:
reverb.com

Magnavox HiFi Console 1962 1ST285R Walnut | Reverb

1962 Magnavox Model ST-285 HiFi Modern Console This is an great condition, restored Mid-Century modern Magnavox console stereo model 1ST285R. The Mid Century Modern styled cabinet is built with a solid hardwoods frame and walnut veneers. It features a 15 watt stereo tube amplifier, AM/FM...
reverb.com reverb.com

magnavox-hifi-console-1962-1st285r-walnut.jpgmagnavox-hifi-console-1962-1st285r-walnut 2.jpg
The tube diagram is visible above.
 
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The woofer shown on your friend's console might have been a replacement as it's different from the one shown above.
 
eiraved said:
The woofer shown on your friend's console might have been a replacement as it's different from the one shown above.
Click to expand...
I haven't seen ceramic magnets used in Magnavox consoles until the SS Asteosonic consoles came out. I would bet that woofer was replaced. The Astrosonic consoles had 8 ohm woofers. The tube consoles had 4 ohm woofers with Alinco magnets.
 
I have nothing to add other than I am sorry this happened to your friend.
Hopefully, it was cheap.

Nice of @gadget73 offer to help out with speakers.:thumbsup:
 
It could be a 175, 9300, 9303, 9304, 9800, etc, just look at the end of the power umbilical and find an amp with one that matches.

Should be pretty easy. Two wires for power swich, three wire for phono switching, and two for tuner preamp power.

You can find the schematics for the umbilical connections all over the place especially Sam's folders.

It's probably going to be an amplifier that was also able to drive the tuner preamp. The AMP185 did not drive a tuner preamp, just a passive preamp control for a phono only unit.
 
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century tek said:
It could be a 175, 9300, 9303, 9800, etc, just look at the end of the power umbilical and find an amp with one that matches.

Should be pretty easy. Two wires for power swich, three wire for phono switching, and two for tuner preamp power.

You can find the schematics for the umbilical connections all over the place especially Sam's folders.

It's probably going to be an amplifier that was also able to drive the tuner preamp. The AMP185 did not drive a tuner preamp, just a passive preamp control for a phono only unit.
Click to expand...
In case my friend can't find a drop-in Magnavox replacement, could a SE EL84 amp from another console work? One of those might be easier to find
 
My first thought was of course they took the amp. I have a few waiting on me to figure out how to repair them
 
I've had a couple of those pass through my hands.

My advice is to just stick a $30 chip amp in there and save himself a lot of bother. IME those chip amps sound pretty dang good.
Those speakers were nothing to write home about, either. Pretty much any modern speakers that fit in there would be an improvement.

The turntable is cool looking and could be made to work with some effort but won't track much below 3 grams or so which is pretty high by modern standards. Personally I wouldn't use it; I ended up tossing the one I had after realizing the poor return on effort to restore... and I really, really like turntables!

It is a nice looking cabinet.
 
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artsybob said:
In case my friend can't find a drop-in Magnavox replacement, could a SE EL84 amp from another console work? One of those might be easier to find
Click to expand...
Short answer is yes but the wiring diagram from the umbilical won't match and will have to be reversed engineered from the amp in order to work. Plus, the voltages for the tuner preamp won't be the same.

Check ebay. They always have some sort of Magnavox tube amp from a console for sale.

You can always rig any amplifier to work in that console but to keep it original, try and find and original amp.
 
century tek said:
Short answer is yes but the wiring diagram from the umbilical won't match and will have to be reversed engineered from the amp in order to work. Plus, the voltages for the tuner preamp won't be the same.

Check ebay. They always have some sort of Magnavox tube amp from a console for sale.

You can always rig any amplifier to work in that console but to keep it original, try and find and original amp.
Click to expand...
I figured that would be an issue, mismatch between amp and the preamp/tuner section. I don't see any available on eBay right now but there might be some in the future (that's if my friend wants to keep the console stock and doesn't want to gut it
 
Here are my two— I expect that his console had the smaller one, an 8600 series or equivalent. mine is an 8605. I still have the consoles for each of these for a someday project.

IMG_0065.jpeg
 
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