Classic Hifi Care

I think I made a discovery today, but maybe someone on the forum already knows this.

I found a Magnavox portable, model SC-245 or SC-246 depending on the year, in my local Estate sales site. It looked interesting so I decided to look up the brochure and check it out. What I discovered was the interesting part. The SC-245 is listed in the 1961 brochure and it talks about the usual stuff, speakers, controls, changer, cabinet finish, etc. The SC-246 is listed in the 1962 brochure and it pretty much states the same thing except, it also states it has a transistor amplifier. Could this be the start of Astro-sonic? The 1962 brochure had box like page that had several portables that fell into the transistor amplifier category. Everything else in the 1962 brochure was tube, or at least there was no mention of the transistor amplifier. I found this interesting so I thought I would share my discovery.

Bill

I remember around that time, most electronic manufacturers were working on how the available transistors and other semiconductors could be used in what they manufactured. My 1964 or 5 Astro-Sonic uses some of the lowest numbered, hence early transistor types available in my substitution guide.

I wasn't aware Magnavox made transistor record players in 1962. That said, the 1961 version is apparently all-tube. The 1961 catalog also shows transistor radios, several in fact. The only theory I could offer is that Magnavox may have utilized some of the technology they used in transistor radios in their smaller record players, pending the rollout of the Astro-Sonic line in 1963. All their 1962 model TV sets and console stereos, combinations thereof, were all tube in 1962. I don't see where Magnavox advertised their 1962 transistorized amplifier record players as Astro-Sonic. Wonder why they called them "transistorized" rather than calling them solid state like they did with the Astro-Sonic models?

electra225 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 02, 2023 12:12 am Wonder why they called them "transistorized" rather than calling them solid state like they did with the Astro-Sonic models?

My recall is that it was a matter of timing. First, 'transistor" was very modern. Then it became a synonym for "portable radio" and lost some luster. The advertising guys came up with "solid state," which sounded more sophisticated.

Chris Campbell

The word "transistor" and "transistorized" came into common consumer use when Regency came out with their TR-1 little pocket radio in 1954, then the well-known Zenith Royal 500 with its round-mouthed face, my Dad had a beige one. By the late '50s the cheap Japanese ones flooded the market (I have a couple) and the connotation was associated with those kind of transistor radios, so the cachet had been degraded by then. "Astro-Sonic" sounded so much more impressive!