Sears Professional Series

[The80sRocked]

Hey guys,

I just picked up this system at an estate auction. Grand total of $19.21 ($2.00 & $15.00 bid, plus 13% HST). I think someone setting up for the auction set or dropped something way too heavy on the TT dust cover, because it is badly cracked in two places. Too bad. The rest of the system doesn't give me the impression of rough handling or mistreatment over the years.

There is some reference/confusion to/with Sears Professional Series and Audio Reflex on AK. Well, I doubt this is going to remove any confusion, but this system came with a set of Sears Professional Series speakers, and a set of Audio Reflex speakers. The Sears ones are just slightly bigger in dimension, but lighter, and have non-removable cloth grilles. The Audio Reflex ones have foam grilles (haven't tried to remove them), and heavier cabinets. Speaker connections differ from Sears to A/R. The Sears use a small round connection plate recess, and the A/R uses a large rectangular one. Make and model labels on the back have no similarities whatsoever. Interestingly, both sets of speakers have the exact same vinyl woodgrain finish, although they are built from different thicknesses of MDF. The finish is the only external familiarity, but that is probably more due to limited MDF suppliers at that time than anything else.

The Sears speakers, well, sound terrible; boomy, one note bass, and horrible midrange--but clear highs. The Audio Reflex speakers, however... oh my... 'abysmal' doesn't even begin to cut it for them. They are the only speakers that I have ever heard that actually manage to sound worse than my Pioneer CS-53's. Not by much, mind you, but they still do. They sold the A/R speakers with the system ($15.00), and the Sears speakers seperately ($2.00). I bought them to keep the system together, and to make comparisons with the A/R units to see if I could clear anything up, but I haven't!

I am interested, though, because, dollar store speakers aside, I think there really is potential in this system. It all powers up, lights up, and works, but the TT needs a belt. I'm really only interested in the core components of the system, but intend to keep it all together in case I decide to sell it. I will most definitely use different speakers with it, though! This thing just screams 'GARAGE SYSTEM' to me!:guitar:

I don't normally like black in anything electronic, especially now that I'm older and my eyes are changing, but I really like the look of this outfit. I guess the dials, meters, and markings are so bold and vividly white that it offsets the dirge black.

Several references have been made to faceplate mottling, but these faceplates seem to be okay, just dirty, whereas the tops and sides have mottling that almost looks like plugged spray paint nozzle splatter.

 

[dshoaf]

For background, both Sears, Penny's and other department stores tried to get into the higher-end audio gear pretty much after the wave came and went in the late 70s.

The gear you have is a good example of this. Like most of Sears stuff, they sourced it from other companies that also had direct channels of distribution in the US. The gear itself usually is not too bad but it was sold using Sears usual sales promotions rather than a value-added approach that most audio retailers used.

I'd suggest you find some better speakers before you pass judgement on the electronics.

Cheers,

David

 

[ryuuoh]

That's not a bad grab. Those might even be Sharp or NEC made. The speakers are likely US made to the lowest cost possible.

 

[larryderouin]

Probably Sanyo. Sears sold a boatload of Sears or LXI branded electronics in the late 70's to early 90's that was OEM SANYO. The higher ended stuff ("professional series") is most often fairly good, but the speakers always left a lot to be desired.

Also the possibility of the gear being sourced from Hitachi, although by the end of the 70's Hitachi was pretty much out of the Audio scene.

These look to be from about '78-79.

Larry

 

[fhawk618]

don't pass judgement on the "core components" until you hook them up to some decent speakers... as already mentioned, a lot of the store brand stuff in the late 70's was sourced from reputable manufacturers and of decent quality... rebranding for Sears and JCP were just ways to broaden their market exposure

I have an NEC integrated that is built like a tank... 75 wpc with dual power supply transformers and weighs 45 lbs... mine is the NEC with a black face... the same model was sold with a silver face under the JCP MCS series name...

 

[HTHMAN]

I kind if like the looks. Definitely not the BPC stuff. As was mentioned, probably also came silver faced. Maybe if you post some nudies, someone will recognize the manufacturer. I would also guess Sanyo, considering the Sears/Fisher line they had at one time.

 

[The80sRocked]

Thanks for all the responses!

I'm not writing this stuff off at all. I tried some little JVC speakers on it, and boy does it ever sound a lot better. Nice and sharp and punchy. The tuner works great; seems very sensitive.


All the source and driving components have numbers starting with 'C514'. I ditched the 'C' and tried '514' on this Sears supplier code site, but no dice. Well, it came up 'Dynaquip Controls', which "is a Manufacturer of Industrial Valves, Actuators and Accessories", according to their META tags on Google, so still no dice, really. The prefix on an LXI tape deck I have hits a block wall on that list, too.

 

[The80sRocked]

That's not a bad grab. Those might even be Sharp or NEC made. The speakers are likely US made to the lowest cost possible.

Thanks!

The A/R's say 'Made in Korea' on the labels, but the Sears ones don't say where they're made.