Imperial Astrosonic

[hermitcrab]

Looking thru the Magnavox literature in the downloads section, I only found 2 years that mention Imperial Astrosonics 1966 and 67.... was that it for Astrosonic Imperials? the other years call them 1000 series and 500 series . if they only made these for 2 years , I consider myself lucky to own one ... there is another on FB close by that is the agean model for 67 and looks to be in good shape , no R2R thou ....they are asking 50 bucks ... if I had the space for another aircraft carrier It would already be here

[electra225]

There was a member on ARF named Randy who was a Magnavox guru and a long-time servicer of Magnavox equipment. He had an extensive collection of Magnavox factory documentation, parts, etc. He told the story of a solid state Concert Grand. Apparently, a solid state Imperial like yours only more powerful with remote control, tape deck, the works. He is alleged to have one, but I have never seen it. To be quite honest, I didn't know they built a solid state Imperial until you posted about yours. I'm wondering how connected the Imperial and Concert Grand (if there was a solid state version) were. The story goes that the shop Randy worked for got in two Astro-Sonic Concert Grand instruments. They allegedly couldn't give them away, so, after a span of time, Randy took one, and his boss took the other for personal use. I don't know/remember how long they built them, nor how many were allegedly built. Randy was always helpful and dependable, so I had no reason to believe he made the story up. My guess is that a solid state Imperial would be fairly rare. Like I said, I have never seen another and I have several pictures of Magnavox stereos of most years and descriptions.

[hermitcrab]

I reached out to the guy that posted on Ebay a few months back with that imperial he added bluetooth and lights and was asking some ridiculous price for it...he claimed to have worked for Magnavox for years and told me a little about the runs of production for these .... he claimed only the elite of the dealers were given the chance to sell these, they had to sign a contract and have a space to display them... each one was ordered for the customer in the model or cabinet they wanted and options ... he said my set... the Mediterranean had a run of around 1500 units , which does not seem too small ... but he says when original owners died , kids didn't want these monsters so to the dump they went by the hundreds ... as I said I wish I had room for the one 20 miles away from me... last year another popped up close by and it did have the R2R in it... it was posted only one day when I inquired about it ... they were so fed up working around it ...and they already took it to the dump..but I will say out of all the consoles I have the imperial is by far my favorite and gets the most use ... next is the Fisher regent ....IDK if I was offered a rare solid state concert grand ... I would be all over it...

[William]

It is so sad when a special, classic, one-of-a-kind, console ends up in the dump. Like other things from our history, cars, truck, trains, phones, fans, mixers, or anything else, sending them to the scrap yard or the landfill is a crime. I am grateful to all of you and our individual hobbies for keeping these treasures alive and working.

Elton, would you please consider sharing more of what heard from the gentleman that worked for Magnavox, that is a history that should not be lost, and I know we would all appreciate that knowledge.

Bill

[hermitcrab]

I was surprised he took the time to answer me ... he seems like a good guy.... and I did mention this site as his knowledge would be great to have... but haven't heard anything since from him...

[maxidyne]

We have a new member this morning. I wonder if that is the man you invited to join us.

[hermitcrab]

not sure... I put out invites in comments of YT videos... guys restoring or trying to restore their "new" console they just got... I figure the more the merrier...

[hermitcrab]

There was a member on ARF named Randy who was a Magnavox guru and a long-time servicer of Magnavox equipment. He had an extensive collection of Magnavox factory documentation, parts, etc. He told the story of a solid state Concert Grand. Apparently, a solid state Imperial like yours only more powerful with remote control, tape deck, the works. He is alleged to have one, but I have never seen it. To be quite honest, I didn't know they built a solid state Imperial until you posted about yours. I'm wondering how connected the Imperial and Concert Grand (if there was a solid state version) were. The story goes that the shop Randy worked for got in two Astro-Sonic Concert Grand instruments. They allegedly couldn't give them away, so, after a span of time, Randy took one, and his boss took the other for personal use. I don't know/remember how long they built them, nor how many were allegedly built. Randy was always helpful and dependable, so I had no reason to believe he made the story up. My guess is that a solid state Imperial would be fairly rare. Like I said, I have never seen another and I have several pictures of Magnavox stereos of most years and descriptions.

well Greg here is your answer... from Murphman himself
Oh yes...they do exist...but are far rarer than the original Concert Grands of 1957-1962. One was marketed - and is in the Magnavox Console audio catalogs - for 1975/76. There was a national ad on it too. I bought one brand new. Later, in 1983, the Concert Grand appeared again and is rarer than them all owing to the fact that there was almost no market for a high-end console.

it figures that year catalog is not on the forum....