Sylvania SC761W - hybrid 1965 console

[Motorola minion]

Once again, I jumped and made an offer before researching this one. Assuming it was all tube, nowhere does it say solid state. Picked it up yesterday and also noticed an empty spot for a reel-to-reel tape deck (R2R). I tested it at the sellers before paying up, prepared to walk way if it sounded lousy. It was in nice shape and had been moved from Buffalo.

The pull-on power switch is a plus on any unit. AC power switch piggy-backed on function switches and treble controls was a bad idea that most manufacturers used for some reason. The knobs are all metal and control panel looks very much like the TOTL model of 3 years before, the SC617 which uses PP7868s like a Fisher 400.
The chassis is all hand-wired, tubes are used for RF-IF-MPX but its all transistors for the preamp and output stages.

I have had a SS Sylvania before this one and I was not able to get it sounding quite right even after replacing all the capacitors. I dropped that one off at Habitat, working, complete and it sold quickly. Suspecting the germanium transistors, mainly because they weren't RCA transistors. This just may be another lesson in solid state fails and why to avoid them.

[Motorola minion]

Looks like a crypt in here but no bugs . Sometimes Im surprised by what I see. My 69 GP likes company in my rented garage, where volume testing is cowabunga no limit! Unfortunately, this console makes a very soft but clear FM and AM out both channels. Hope its just caps and DeOxit

Only one thing "jumped out"; by this time, Sylvania TVs had been using fiberglass-based PC boards for years with mixed reviews, yet none are used in this console!

[Motorola minion]

As can be seen from pictures, the speakers are baffled with jute? so adding some cabinet reinforcement may even improve and tighten bass by improving enclosure rigidity.

The two cone tweeters with a cap between them, means the jute needs pulled back, hope it doesnt disintegrate

[Firedome]

Nice looking console Dave, should be an easy re-sell to a Gen Xer looking for MCM style!

[electra225]

I have never understood the need for hybrid chassis. Why not go all one type or the other?

[Motorola minion]

I have never understood the need for hybrid chassis. Why not go all one type or the other?

Agreed 100%! but it was a transition for most and those early heat sinks looked impressive because germanium was more sensitive to heat. My best SS equipment uses silicon transistors only; Dynaco, HH Scott and Sherwood. Fisher and others that did not jump on the silicon bandwagon early, made some less-than-stellar equipment that failed under hard use. Hours will wear out these early transistors like tubes, not much effect on silicon

Solid state was a shot in the arm for an unsustainable market segment, prolonging the decline of console stereos into the 70s. Most of the first use of transistors were just audio output duty, frequency limited. Think car radios using tubes and a very stout Delco DS-501 to drive the speaker. Transistor amps were so much cheaper to manufacture than tube amps which often require custom transformers to operate. Most 1963-1965 models still used tubes for receiver stages, others offered SS tuners to claim they were all "solid state", germanium wasn't as good. This Sylvania may just be a good test of whether to bother with early SS at all.

The manufacturers also seemed to forget about honest advertising when printing sales literature extolling the virtues of solid state. Not enough to tout "cool operation with no tubes to burn out" , marketing played fast and loose with music power watts and peak power then IHF (hi fi institute) and RMS power became the basis for more sedate advertising. I am also about to confirm again with the Fisher W-59, which also uses Germaniums.