Classic Hifi Care

I finally found pictures of Don's GE Trimline stereos that he gave me to babysit with. The bottom one is the RP-1590. VM 1200 series "Custom" changer, 7189 output tubes. Four six inch speakers that sound surprisingly good. This is the parts set for the one I restored for him. It needs a LOT of work, but is savable. It has a brand new 45 adapter and a spare set of knobs.

The second one is the 6AQ5 amp model. I don't remember the model number, but it's like the one posted on the forum recently. This one is nice and works well. The filter caps on these little stereos is behind the "Trimline" sign and requires nearly a total disassembly of the unit to replace.

The last one, probably posted on top is the Trimline 300 model. It has a hot chassis with 35W4, 12AX7, and two 35EH5 SE output tubes. It also works well, but hums like crazy.

I have another Trimline. Totally bottom of the line with 50DC4 rectifier and 35EH5 SE output. It has a dead cartridge. The main difference is that it has the VM 1200 series changer with a 9 inch platter and a crystal cartridge. And it has a baked PCB chassis that may require some hardwiring to salvage it. This thing has a billion hours on it. Somebody broke the carrying handle, so I put a hunk of rope in it. I need to find the correct handle for it. It's nice otherwise.

I got a GE wildcat ... but I consider it the crosley of the 60's cheap made for kids ....

The GE Wildcat series was nearly indestructible. My sister has had one since she was a kid. She has not always taken very good care of it. The little Trimline stereos that I have sound amazingly good for how they are made. They are just about as anti-Magnavox as you can find. They used the cheapest materials known to man. Must have had a former Muntz engineer working in Illinois making GE stereos. The Trimlines use an aluminum cabinet. All you need to do if it gets ratty is to repaint it and put in new grille cloth. Guitar amp grille cloth is usually a pretty good match.