Magnavox - Paducah, Ky. - $100

[danrclem]

I don't think I've ever saw one like this before.

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

[electra225]

I would question this being a legitimate Magnavox. The cabinet appears to be too new for the guts. Those guts are late '40's early '50's. I say homebuilt, a Frankenvox......

[TC Chris]

I dunno.... Look at the 3rd photo--the hinges and bullet catches, those aren't typical home-build methods. The 4th photo too--doesn't look amateurish at all. I wonder if some 3rd party vendor was making custom cabinets and getting guts from Magnavox? Also look at the veneer pattern around the speaker grille in the first photo. Too well done for a basement job. On the other hand, nobody has ever seen its like, so that does raise questions.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

I agree that the cabinet and fittings seem well done. I question whether this was a design that was ever built by the Magnavox factory.

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

1. There's a Garrard changer off kilter mounted.
2. The Magnavox components are just
stacked one on top of the other.

So, it looks like a nice hi-fi cabinet
possibly gutted, and other parts added in.

[electra225]

I don't believe Magnavox ever used Garrard changers. The way the components are stacked would be typical of how Magnavox mounted them at the factory, only in an older cabinet. The tuner chassis hangs upside down, which is correct. I believe the cabinet is home built, or a cabinet not designed to house electrical components. Maybe a liquor cabinet turned into a record player? Wouldn't that be poetic justice?

[TC Chris]

Is that a Garrard? Doesn't look like one of their designs. As we've noted, it was common to switch out 78 changers for newer ones when LPs came along. Note that there's a paper label of some kind pasted inside the speaker compartment on the right (looking from the back). Wish we could ask what it says.

Chris Campbell

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

Whoops, my mistake. That is a BSR "Monarch".

I was looking at the "Monarch" escutcheon in the
blurry photo, and I thought I saw Garrard.

I should have gone with my instinct at first,
since the changer is all 1950's BSR style.

And I've never seen a Magnavox console with
a BSR changer, have you guys ?

[Hydrolastic]

Hello, looks like a early cabinet added onto by a pretty good cabinetmaker.

[TC Chris]

Hello, looks like a early cabinet added onto by a pretty good cabinetmaker.

That's a possibility. Looking at the photos, the top and bottom pieces seem to be continuous, however. A good woodworker could have removed the old top & bottom and replaced them with wider ones, of course. Has anybody looked for ca. 1949 (guessing at the age of the guts) Magnavox catalogs lately? We used to have that great inventory of them until we had to switch over. Maybe somebody else can confirm that those are late-40s innards and specify the likely year.

Chris Campbell

[danrclem]

Maybe they took one similar to this one and made the one in the OP out of it.

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[William]

Actually, it is a Magnavox. It appears in the 1948 brochure and it's called the Cosmopolitan. The one pictured in the brochure is limed oak blonde. Eighteen watts of power and two 12" speakers. It's shown with book on the side shelves. I tried to copy, then I tried to attach but it neither worked. Sorry!

Bill

[danrclem]

Good catch Bill. This must be a really rare piece if nobody here ever saw one before.

It would be nice to add to a collection. If someone had the room for it that is.

[Motorola minion]

The receiver and FM tuner are identical to components and mounted the same way in my 1947 Berkeley 134 and yes, the FM tuner is mounted upside down, if looking from behind. I have a later-model Magnavox Custom changer that was fitted in place of the original.

Looks like a serious upgrade and that receiver and speakers are surely the reason that much detail was done. I am not familiar with that later model BSR record changer but the original was probably a 78-rpm Webcor.

[19&41]

Look closely at the rear of the unit. What's missing that should be there, if the cabinet were of manufacture for Magnavox?

[William]

Rex, I guess I do not see what you are referring to that is missing?

Bill

[19&41]

The data plate that carries the serial and model number. A unit of those chassis' vintage should have had one.

[William]

I was thinking that was probably what you were referring to, but was not sure. I wonder if that was on a back that is not there. I did not notice if there were screw holes where a back might have been attached.

As I mentioned earlier in this post, I did find this model listed in a Maggie brochure. It is called the "Cosmopolitan". If I can figure out how to attach the photo, or a link to the brochure I will do so.

Bill