Have you guys seen this video on YouTube?

[Dr. Radio]

While you might not agree with some of his techniques, (I would have done some things differently), I have to hand it to him....This was a good video to produce.

It helps show others what kind of things are involved if you acquire something like this. It's not just about "dusting it off, plugging it in, and spraying WD-40 in the mechanism".

Would also be a good tool to show some others that want to sell these pieces of electronic furniture for like $9000 since it's "mid century modern". Yes kids, nothing can be used "as is" without risks. And sellers need to realize the asking price should not be astronomical unless they have done a full resto, and even then, not astronomical!

https://youtu.be/a-DqONg5yaA

[electra225]

I like those cabinets with the louvered speaker grills. To the guy's credit, he isn't gutting it and turning it into a wine cabinet or a guitar amp. I personally wouldn't put that kind of time into a solid state Zenith.

[William]

I have that exact Zenith except in a butt ugly over the top Early American cabinet. The honest truth, if it was rebuilt, it would be the best sounding console I own. Even with it being all original, the bass is so extreme it will shake the cabinet apart if the bass is turned up all the way. The highs are nice and crisp, and the mids are nice and bright. 15" woofers, horns for mids, and two cone tweeters on each side. Mine is a 1969 model and it had the brochure with it when I got it. I believe it was rated 320 watts in 1969 numbers. The cabinet is 9 miles long and very heavy, and very ugly. It's in storage and probably will never see the inside of the house. Sad, but it's two big and the cabinet is ugly. I wish I had a photo of it to share, maybe in the spring.

Bill

[electra225]

You know my lack of affection for Zenith. I wouldn't argue with their performance. But I will say that "Obscure problems requiring unobtanium parts go in before the name goes on" should have been their motto on a lot of the Zenith stuff I've owned.

[TC Chris]

I've watched part of the video. Zenith used socketed transistors then, as they had earlier even in things like transistor radios. My first portable radio is a Royal 675, with P-P output. But back to the console--that amp looks nicely built, with those tower or turret solder points and point-to-point wiring. Now, printed circuit boards often provide equivalent performance, but 50 years down the road the hard-wired unit will be easier to repair than its PCB cousin. And that big glass plate on the tuner.... Most others were using plastic. Plastic is less subject to breakage but also more prone to scratchage, so the glass maybe gets points here too. Zenith used what was an advanced changer too.

Chris Campbell

[TC Chris]

I personally wouldn't put that kind of time into a solid state Zenith.

Sez the guy who is recovering a portable phono in Tolex....

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

I meant no disrespect. My luck with Zenith is not very good. Anyone who puts some of themselves into a project deserves my respect. Sorry if my response sounded snarky.....

[William]

The Zenith in the video, and mine, are both TOTL Zeniths for the 1968-1969 years. The only thing lacking in either one is the R to R that pops up where the record storage is behind the tuner. The retail price, depending on the cabinet, was touching around a grand.

Bill

[TC Chris]

I meant no disrespect. My luck with Zenith is not very good. Anyone who puts some of themselves into a project deserves my respect. Sorry if my response sounded snarky.....

No, not snarky, but amusing. If we divide the value of the finished product by the hours invested, I'll bet the Zenith guy comes out ahead as compared with the Tolex portable guy. Remember, please, that this is being typed by the guy who restored his one-tube, steel-cased RCA portable!

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

Ten years ago, you couldn't give away a solid state stereo, not much better for a tube one. Pat started Vintage because he got a snarky response on ARF about a console stereo. This forum continues that effort. Now we see people like this video who are doing full restorations on solid state stereos, admittedly a high-end Zenith, one of the more desirable makes. I believe we can take heart in the knowledge that console stereos of all types are coming into their own as far as collectibles go. I don't believe console stereos or record players of any kind, will see the type of following radios do. Maybe more like the TV hobby. A smaller but dedicated group of hobbyists who appreciate them for what they meant to us when we and they were both younger.

[chazglenn3]

Thing is, this guy regularly sells the consoles he restores on Etsy at the $2000 price point. Zenith, RCA, Magnavox. You name it. Mostly solid state units. So, for him it's most definitely worth it.

[Firedome]

I don't know about Zenith SS console models, but given their tendency to do things well (like TV) and the tube Z's I've owned I'd imagine they were quite good. I too never paid much attention to SS consoles, but after my experience with the 1972 R231 chassis Maganvox I have a great respect now for their SS consoles at least, up to their early '70s models anyway.

When I found Vintage a couple of years before it vaporized, it was perfect timing exactly matched with my own shift in interest from components exclusively to vintage consoles as well. I'm still mystified by the disappearance of VHF, whatever happened to Pat anyway? One has to wonder if he's a lurker here.

[chazglenn3]

He has a 1960 Motorola currently for sale at over $4800. I always think they are too much and then they are gone!

[Firedome]

I suspect maybe they just gave up.

[electra225]

Who gave up on what, Roger?

Let's consider ourselves fortunate that Pat started Vintage at a time when console stereos got a bad rap on most of the other forums. He believed they deserved more respect. For whatever reason, the baton was passed to this forum. Perhaps it might be advantageous to concentrate on this opportunity and not dwell on what happened before. I have wondered often if Pat is lurking. I hope he is and I also hope he has found the baton was passed to a worthy successor.

[Firedome]

I'd bet the seller gave up trying to sell it.
I've found that some people refuse to acknowledge their stuff isn't worth what's asked for it and stubbornly refuse to drop the price so they just take it off the market.

[electra225]

I'm reminded of ebay seller "Radios10467" that all the guys on ARF made so much fun of. His name was Eric, I think. He could sell a common AA5 for hundreds of dollars. He was criticized for shill bidding, but I think most of the criticism was sour grapes. If this guy can get $4800 for a console stereo of any description, good for him. He's making all of ours more valuable and less likely to be tossed to the curb. Being priced too high but still in existence is better than being cheap and in the dumpster.

[William]

Amen to that Greg. Nothing I would like better than to have a dozen consoles worth stupid money.

After Charles mentioned the guy with the Zenith selling his consoles on Estey, I took a look. I have never explored Estey before and pretty much every console was listed for big bucks, even the smaller ones that are nothing special. I'm thinking they must be selling on Estey, if not they would get a reputation for not producing sales and people would not bother listing there.

Bill

[hermitcrab]

what gets me in these videos is everything he works on... looks like it came out of a museum... he also restored the same model unit with a R2R in it...

[Firedome]

"If this guy can get $4800 for a console stereo of any description, good for him."
Call me a doubting Thomas but I doubt it. There's a few crazy idiots in California that might pay it because they're too lazy to inform themselves about the market, or too rich to care, but then some seller in Indiana sees it and thinks it's the norm, and again being too lazy to inform themselves, or out of speculative greed... you get a trendy nice-looking MCM otherwise mediocre Zenith $4800 consoles for sale. Interesting that he seems to have a Brit? accent, maybe they are that rare in the UK.

I had a very similar 1963 MCM Motorola, louver front, 3 ch TOL 6V6 tube unit. I bought it for $40, played with it for a year or so then sold it to a nice young couple with modern tastes for $50 ----->>
I could care less about the value of any console, component, )or car or motorcycle that I own for that matter), I have them because I like them, not because they are an investment. I buy them cheap and sell them cheap or give them away. I don't see any benefit to a drastic price appreciation of consoles, they're the last bastion of reasonably priced vintage audio for the financially challenged. It's strictly a bad thing imho.