Consumer Reports electronics evaluations

[electra225]

I have a collection of Consumer Reports magazines, in folders and very complete, from 1957 or so to 1963 or so. Some of the comments they make about console stereos, record players, turntables, changers and TV sets from this era are interesting and many run counter to the experiences we experience almost 70 years later. For example, in 1957, the VM 1200 series changer performed so poorly in their initial evaluation, they didn't do further testing. Wow and flutter was their complaint. But by the 1960 evaluation of several brands of console stereos equipped with this model changer, it was the highest-rated changer in the stereos they evaluated, priced from $200 to $400. CU was had a bad opinion of console stereos, en masse. If there is interest in some of these articles, I would be willing to reproduce them here for discussion. If there is no indication of interest in the subject, I won't go any further.

[electra225]

I can offer a rather incomplete synopsis of this material. If Zenith is in the running, they are at the top of the list. Console stereos would be the exception. GE and Admiral are typically rated higher than RCA or Magnavox in audio. One Magnavox model and the Collaro RC-456 changer were actually rated "Unacceptable", the stereo due to high electrical leakage and the Collaro changer due to excessive wow and flutter. The VM 1200 series changers went from being "Unacceptable" due to high wow and flutter to being top-rated in console stereos. This in a period of three years. The TV guys maintain that Zenith and RCA had the TV business sewed up. Not according to Consumer Reports. Zenith led the pack in TV, radio, FM, and record players. Some of the criteria CR used is ambiguous to me and something I wouldn't necessarily lose sleep over. Lack of horizontal width control in TV was a big thing. Some kind of tone arm vibration (I forgot their terminology) is another thing they graded on. Kiddie players, (one tube wonders) and console stereos got a bad rap. Stereo separation on the consoles and crude, tinny sound with lots of speed variation, high tone arm weight and lack of refinement in the kiddie players. They try to take the word "high" out of high fidelity when they are rating console stereos. Fisher and VM are not highly rated, either. Some of their findings are rather surprising.....

[William]

From personnel experience, reading CU and then purchasing what they suggested, and every time getting a piece of junk. In todays world, if they suggest it I would probably run and buy what they did not like or give good ratings too.

Bill

[electra225]

I was thinking that same thing, Bill.

It sure seems like that was the case back when these magazines were new. The oddest thing I read was their evaluation of cigarettes. And their claim that evidence of cigarette smoking causing cancer, was inconclusive and needed further study.

[TC Chris]

Let's remember that the late '50s and early '60s were not exactly a golden age of quality control in the U.S. CR necessarily had a small sample of devices under test. If they got a poorly built example, the brand would suffer in evaluation. Manufacturers wildly inflated their products' characteristics. The FTC had to step in and set standards for amplifier output power because the advertised data were so inaccurate.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

Why I offered to post some of the Consumer Reports material is that their findings run counter to many of the opinions held today. RCA, Magnavox and Fisher are not highly regarded in audio by CR, but are with collectors and enthusiasts all these years hence. Many of their top-rated brands are unfamiliar with collectors nowadays. "Tubby bass" was a criticism leveled at Magnavox many times. What does that even mean? They criticize changers we hold in high regard for defects we either haven't experienced or that we don't notice. Are they being overly critical or do we settle for less than the best. Why, if this equipment was so sub-standard was so much of it sold to consumers? And, if quality was so punk in that era, how has this stuff survived in the neglected state we find it for nearly 70 years? They like the Electro-Voice ceramic cartridges, the models 21 and 26. They like the Shure Bros. magnetics. Maybe I should post by type, i.e. mono cartridges, stereo cartridges, changers, consoles, like that. Are you guys interested in discussing this further? We don't have to agree with their findings or even with each other. I found some of them quite interesting. They also think that a Checker sedan with Hydra-Matic and a flathead Continental engine was the slowest vehicle they have ever evaluated. 89 horsepower pulling over 3700 pounds. And that a Falcon with a 144 has "adequate" power if you don't order it with Ford-O-Matic.......

[TC Chris]

I think it' really interesting.

Tubby bass usually refers to bass that's not proportionate, and that is affected by distortion such that you can hear the tone but not its characteristics--is that an organ playing, or a bass guitar, or a string bass, or synthesizer? Most sounds are a combo of fundamental frequency and overtones that are unique to the instrument producing the sound.

Chris Campbell