1967 Magnavox Imperial

[Moto_TJ]

I will be picking up a 1967 Imperial when I get back from Vacation.

The '67 Imperials were quite the machine, 2 horns per channel, huge magnets on the 15" speakers, remote controls, 150 watt amp, and this one has the factory tape deck.

I'm actually surprised that Magnavox didn't call these the Concert Grand, as they would appear to be the successor when you compare features.

It will be interesting to hear this one going once I get it recapped, should be quite the performer!

Pictures attached!

[William]

That is a model I have never seen before, or maybe I should say I have never seen those controls before. It looks heavy, and about 6' long? Very impressive, and I'm looking forward to your restoration and the next set of photos of "under the hood".

Bill

[hermitcrab]

It appears to be the French Provincial model 4104... I have the model 4102 from 67 it is the mediterranean , I had a hum in the amp, so i re-capped the whole amp... and the power supply , very easy to work on, Heavy?... when you get the back off you will know why... the speakers are all encased in there own sealed acoustic boxes... it took me and another guy all we could to lift one end into the back of my pickup... I am 6'2" and I can lay on mine ...I call it the aircraft carrier... the tape player has 2 belts....all you got to do to access them is remove the bezel , just look for them under panasonic model RS766US... that is who made them for magnavox.. only thing I don't like about the tape player is, it it regulated by the 60 cycle frequency , so if you play tapes from another machine that uses DC motors you will hear a speed difference , depending what you line voltage happens to be on that particular day . Hope the remote work for you... there is a microphone on the right side next to the horns , it senses the frequencies when you push the buttons ..unfortunately mine doesn't do anything but I would only use them to show it off ...mine was rescued from the curb... these things were 1000 bucks back in the day top-o-the line...good luck with it... they sound awesome when working properly

[hermitcrab]

Bill, never seen these model before? they are hard to come by... I have a PDF copy of the catalogue from 1967 for the astro sonic imperials... I would post it but file size is limited on this site...

[Moto_TJ]

It appears to be the French Provincial model 4104... I have the model 4102 from 67 it is the mediterranean , I had a hum in the amp, so i re-capped the whole amp... and the power supply , very easy to work on, Heavy?... when you get the back off you will know why... the speakers are all encased in there own sealed acoustic boxes... it took me and another guy all we could to lift one end into the back of my pickup... I am 6'2" and I can lay on mine ...I call it the aircraft carrier... the tape player has 2 belts....all you got to do to access them is remove the bezel , just look for them under panasonic model RS766US... that is who made them for magnavox.. only thing I don't like about the tape player is, it it regulated by the 60 cycle frequency , so if you play tapes from another machine that uses DC motors you will hear a speed difference , depending what you line voltage happens to be on that particular day . Hope the remote work for you... there is a microphone on the right side next to the horns , it senses the frequencies when you push the buttons ..unfortunately mine doesn't do anything but I would only use them to show it off ...mine was rescued from the curb... these things were 1000 bucks back in the day top-o-the line...good luck with it... they sound awesome when working properly

I have heard that the remote chassis on these need a full recap to work properly as well if you have not done that. I am looking forward to getting this, it sounds every bit as heavy as the VM 1000 that I have. Hopefully, this will get working with little issue!

[William]

Elton! Maybe Greg knows how to post to a "downloads" section? I have not even looked into that yet.

Bill

[hermitcrab]

You have a VM 1000?.... go ahead rub it in... lol... The remote box in the back has a cardboard cover over the solenoids that control the volume and the on/off functions..first thing you will need to do is remove the cover and douse it with contact cleaner , and rotate the switches by pushing the
small buttons on the tuner...when I got mine one channel was dead... after checking the amp and finding nothing wrong I went right to that box... the rotary contacts in there were tarnished killing the signal so if you have sound issues ... that is where I would look first... good luck
Elton

[Moto_TJ]

You have a VM 1000?.... go ahead rub it in... lol... The remote box in the back has a cardboard cover over the solenoids that control the volume and the on/off functions..first thing you will need to do is remove the cover and douse it with contact cleaner , and rotate the switches by pushing the
small buttons on the tuner...when I got mine one channel was dead... after checking the amp and finding nothing wrong I went right to that box... the rotary contacts in there were tarnished killing the signal so if you have sound issues ... that is where I would look first... good luck
Elton

Here is my 1000: https://photos.app.goo.gl/FHSbgXyfzt2QMsgT7

It’s a very nice machine, not as powerful as I had hoped for, but still very nice.

[William]

TJ, when you say "not as powerful" what do you mean? Not loud enough? Just curious!

Bill

[electra225]

A "downloads" section is in the future. My mind is about fried from setting up the forum. I haven't decided yet what form it should take. I want it organized so it's easy to search. I'd like to accomplish a couple other things, and take a break from "thinking" before I tackle something like that. I need to find out how much I don't know about FTP. File transfer protocols.

I have a friend who was, at one time, considered THE Magnavox guru on the "big forum". He claims he has a solid state Concert Grand. The dealership he worked for get two of them in, but couldn't give them away. He took one home, his boss took the other one. I've never seen it. It allegedly has the tape deck and remote control. It is allegedly an impressive performer. His has a set of external speakers with it. My understanding is that it cost almost $1500 when it was new in the 1960's. I've never heard or seen a solid state Concert Grand mentioned except by this man.

[TC Chris]

A "downloads" section is in the future. My mind is about fried from setting up the forum. I haven't decided yet what form it should take. I want it organized so it's easy to search. I'd like to accomplish a couple other things, and take a break from "thinking" before I tackle something like that.

To quote Henry Ford: "Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason why so few engage in it." I love that one. It come to mind every time I have to organize research into a written product at work. It's actually the second thought. The first one is "Why am I still working at this miserable job when I could be retired?" But then I set to thinking and the mood passes. Henry got it right.

The guy who serviced the Chevy for my Dad was named Henry Charron. He had a small garage, later joined by his son Kenny. Dad took me in one day and asked Henry to explain why he would not work on Fords. I recall his words. "That goddamed Hank Ford.... he told all those guys he'd pay them $5 per day but then he didn't have jobs for all of 'em." Mr. Charron liked to set idle speeds a bit too low and the Chevy would tend to stall at stoplights after he had done a tune-up.

Chris Campbell

[William]

I wonder if the photos provided in this thread is a Magnavox Concert Grand, but just not call that?

Bill

[electra225]

Bill, I believe you know the man I spoke of. We have talked about this before. The guy is not given to "over-dramatizations". He swears he has a solid state Concert Grand. The Imperial that is pictured would be a potent performer, certainly much more potent than a tube Concert Grand. You might be correct. The one pictures could technically be a solid state Concert Grand.

[danrclem]

Bill, I believe you know the man I spoke of. We have talked about this before. The guy is not given to "over-dramatizations". He swears he has a solid state Concert Grand. The Imperial that is pictured would be a potent performer, certainly much more potent than a tube Concert Grand. You might be correct. The one pictures could technically be a solid state Concert Grand.

Did he say if it actually had a Concert Grand logo on it or if it was just referred to as a Concert Grand because it was the TOTL? Is there any chance getting pictures of it?

[hermitcrab]

what was the difference between the imperial and the concert grand in the tube models?... never heard of a SS concert grand , but would like to see one...

[William]

I'll let Greg answer your question Danny, Greg and I have talked about the SS CG, but as far as I know it's not been seen by the general public.

Elton, the biggest difference between the Imperial and the Concert Grand is power. Dual bi-amps that are rated at 50 watts. The speakers that are in the CG have bigger magnets, the cabinet is longer than the Imperial and the CG was offered with a remote. Take a look at this, it might help to understand what's in a CG:

https://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/vi ... 1&t=321948

And, here's info on the Imperial:

https://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/vi ... 9&t=268390

This is what my Imperial looks like except I do not have the MPX adaptor, at least not yet anyway.

Bill

[electra225]

Bill is right about the difference between an Imperial and a CG. Two inch longer cabinet. Two amplifiers instead of one. Four power transformers, six rectifiers and 44 tubes with MPX on a CG. The Imperial has 26 tubes with MPX. The speakers are similar. You could get remote on an Imperial. The earlier ones were wired. A few of the late ones were remote. like the CG. I've never seen one, but the Magnavox MPX install guide shows where the MPX goes when you have a remote Imperial. I've never seen the SS Concert Grand. The man who claims to have it has provided lots of information over the years. I take his claim as credible.

[Moto_TJ]

It was a success, the '67 imperial is home, all 6 feet, 300+ pounds of it...

I have already started to take it apart and asses what all I will need to do.

It works surprisingly well for being 54 years old, the volume and balance knobs are incredibly dirty though and will need a good cleaning. I will be replacing all of the old electrolytics in the amp and tuner/preamp, and remote chassis.

1967 is when Magnavox brought back the imperial name, and I'm wondering if they were going to make a Concert grand version, but never got it past the bean counters. Feature wise, this would be the true successor to the Concert Grand, but maybe the Magnavox engineers had bigger plans?

The changer needs some work, it will only run if you hole the knob in the reject position, something wonky is going on there.

Yet to try the tape deck, but I did plug my phone into the tape input and played a couple of my benchmark songs that I know how they should sound and Knowing how it sounds now, it will be amazing to hear it once I get it recapped and the controls cleaned.

I was going to attach a picture, but no matter how much I resize it, I cannot get it small enough to attach.

[William]

Thanks for the update TJ, and 300+ pounds. Oh my aching back! Good luck with you new project, and please keep up posted.

Bill

[hermitcrab]

Those sealed speaker enclosures help add to that weight , I just replaced the original cartridge in mine as it became intermittent, and the difference in separation and sound in general was amazing , can't wait to see some more pics! I recapped the amp on mine but left the tuner alone , it works fine so far...