Magnavox - Homer, Mi. - $40

[danrclem]

It looks like this one may be a lower level 1963 model. It may be SS but I don't see Astro-Sonic on it anywhere. I saw one that was the same/similar that had 6V6 outputs in it.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... _type=post

[walyfd]

Hybrid, perhaps? '63 seems to be the first year of tube and transistor mixes. '62 seems to be the last year of all tube across all manufacturers.

[electra225]

Magnavox never made a hybrid stereo. In 1963, they sold both tube instruments and solid state instruments, many times sharing the same or similar cabinets. There are not enough pictures of this one to tell what it is.

[macgolf]

I don't see Civil Defense markers at 640 and 1240, so guessing this unit is after August of 1963. More photos would definitely help.

Mark

[hermitcrab]

That catalog looks like the same one that listed my astrosonic for 1964...but they could have used the same cover for many catalogs

[electra225]

I have a 2ST653 dated to be a 1963 model. It has the 88 series amp chassis and a weird setup on the tuner where the inputs are on the top of the chassis rather than the rear apron. It has FM-AFC, but I can't tell you about the Conelrad markings. Mine is called "Contemporary" and is all-tube. It had a partner in the same cabinet but in the Astro-sonic series. The tube instruments in 1963 were cheaper than the new solid state versions. This little stereo is the smallest Magnavox stereo I have with a push=pull amp, but it has the best tuner of any Magnavox I own, possible exception might be the Stereo Theater, but I haven't messed with it too much. It is rock solid. It takes a bulldozer to pull it off station, to make it drift. It's not crabby about the antenna, either. Not many tube Magnavox tuners that would describe. This little stereo was a curb find in New Franklin, MO. I answered a CL ad about old car parts I needed. They had this little stereo sitting on the curb awaiting an unpleasant fate. This is my wife's daily driver. She has put a million hours on it. Somebody put a Matsushita belt-drive changer in it, but, fortunately, they did not hack the motor board. I have an "Imperial" S-600 changer for it.

[hermitcrab]

Finding something on the curb to me is like finding buried treasure... I watch a guy on YT called Mustie1 ... this guy finds just unbelievable stuff thrown out to the curb... side by sides, motorcycles,lawn mowers,snowblowers ... basically anything with a engine he picks them up and takes you along on the repair to get them running again.. in my area you would never see anything like that thrown away ...

[Firedome]

Yep the really good stuff seems to be mostly in the more affluent areas. Though I've found curbside consoles in some decidedly less than fancy neighborhoods as well. No great finds, but fun nonetheless and usually savable, and I'd say most of the $25-50 kind of consoles as well. Many of which had cabinets that were pretty trashed but only one so bad that it had to be broken up. A few that were able to be repurposed, most fixed up and passed on to good owners, usually for little to no profit, but a good home is always the best outcome, the profit being the fun to be had doing it. Now I'm finding any good sub $75 consoles are getting harder to find, even SS ones, there's just too many eBay scavengers out there now. That $40 Maggie is a nice find nowadays.