firing up the DuMont

[Firedome]

Decided to temporarily move aside the TV on top and fire up the ol' DuMont as it hadn't been used since I got it almost a year ago as a completely untouched original unit. The tuner dial string is awol but the amp & changer were operational last year. This time she warmed up fine, with a just bit of background hum which I'm guessing may be a PS cap needing to be changed out, so that will need to be attended to at some point.

The AT-6 spooled up with just a small initial shove of the platter, runs smoothly and quietly, and cycles as it should. Playing the Nat King Cole classic LP, "Unforgettable" (what a great record!), the slight hum wasn't really audible. It has a little 6BQ5 SE amp with the original DuMont label tubes that look like GE & RCA make. The 3 way speakers are all Jensen (EIA 220) 10", 5" and 3" all conventional cone type. The xover caps probably should be changed too. Overall it has a very sweet and smooth sound at normal listening levels, but this one's not for blasting heavy metal that's for sure. In all a very successful audition, now the TV needs to be more permanently moved to a better location so it can be fired up more often!

The pics aren't mine, which won't load for some reason. My little SE amp is the same but w/o the Emerson ID, they bought DuMont around 1960. The use of the big 5U4 rectifier seems somewhat unusual here. The control panel and changer are also identical, but ours is in a Early American maple cabinet.

I'd really love to find a nice tube stereo Magnavox or RCA console in Early American style, but not sure where the heck I'd put it!

[Firedome]

Yay! - got my pic to load. So Here's the actual EA style cabinet in it's original owner's home, it's in A-1 shape. Am glad to like this style because it's not nearly as sought after as MCM... sometimes it helps to be a contrarian!

[electra225]

I like the more formal cabinets myself. That's a nice stereo. Thanks for sharing.

[William]

I like it! I have always been a sucker for Maple.

Bill

[Firedome]

Me too, I like the DuMont above as it's pretty clean and non-frilly for an Early American piece, some can get a bit carried away, but I like the warm look of Maple and the nostalgic feel EA evokes for me. I'd say EA style was found in a lot more houses in the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast in the 50s and 60s than MCM style. My family and pretty much all my friend's and relatives had it, only 1 modern household that I can recall were 2 friend's parents, one had all early '50s modern looking limed oak blonde furniture, the other the dark walnut Danish stuff.

This GE tube model is near me, it's a nice size, it has that warm maple look, also not overly elaborate in style.
If I got it it would have to replace the DuMont, which is longer, so that would be good in a way. Hmmm...

[William]

But, but, the Dumont is a less common unit and you like the way it sounds, and, it looks nice. I think you need both!!

Bill

[Firedome]

Ya... I asked and the length is actually the same at 60", so there's no size advantage, they're very similar is style, and I have the DuMont already, so the status will probably remain quo. But honestly you've no idea how small this place is, literally there's nowhere for another one to go.

[William]

I understand! The important thing, you are happy with what you have?

Bill

[Firedome]

Right, and with 2 in the LR as it is (DuMont and the Ethan Allen custom) the wife-approved limit has been reached !! lol

[TC Chris]

Has anybody created a name for the phenomenon? That is, that collections will expand to fill the space available. Or in my case, a bit beyond.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

A wise man once told me "there is always room for just one more". Something to do with learning the art of stacking.

As for satisfying the "happy wife, happy life" requirement, my grandpa always told me you should keep your Buick forever, then trade wives every ten years.

My wife calls everything dealing with home entertainment equipment a radio. The only thing that is not a radio is a TV.

[William]

Mine too, Chris, mine too.

Bill

[Firedome]

Well in design and architecture, the term applied is "horror vacui", a fancy Latin/Greek expression for "a fear of empty space", perhaps best exemplified by some Rococo-Baroque church interiors LOL, and actually coming from the fact that a perfect vacuum essentially doesn't exist in nature as vacuums have a tendency to get filled in! Certainly some console collectors definitely do have that "fear of empty space" LOL

[electra225]

My wife accuses me of preparing to audition for an episode of "Hoarders: Buried Alive". I hope to have enough room in the shop to have a path to the bench without having to crawl over something. My stepdad had the best shop I have ever seen. He tossed components he removed to the back of the bench. He would swipe his arm over the bench when he wanted to work, letting the stuff in his way fall to the floor. He'd kick that stuff toward the wall, most if it two feet deep, beveled toward the middle. Cobwebs hung everywhere. He had to dig to find what he wanted, but knew exactly where it should be. Old caps and resistors, dud tubes, hunks of wire, other broken stuff was everywhere. He didn't toss anything into the trash, ever. There was about two dozen TV's torn apart, mostly used for parts. Radios were everywhere. He was a GE, RCA and Curtis-Mathes dealer. He wouldn't touch a Zenith with a ten foot pole. All his new inventory was still in the shipping box. If you wanted to see it, he'd take his pocket knife and cut a chunk out of the box so you could peek in. How he ever stayed in business is beyond me. He had his shop for over 40 years. He worked full-time at Honeywell and GE, did repair work on the side. I always felt at home in his shop. He was the best TV repairman I ever saw. Shango reminds me of how Sam worked. He hated repairing TV sets. He wouldn't teach me TV repair because he thought it a horrible way to make a living. He basically ran his shop until the day he died, two days past his 61st birthday.