1968 JC Penney PennCrest Player

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

I grabbed another one of these little SS amp portables
with the mini BSR changer.

I was attracted by the two tone case with removable cover.

After cleaning and a new stylus, it had a curious bit of
feedback when the stylus tracked on the silent lead in and
lead out grooves.
Feedback was volume dependent.

The changer base is attached to the plastic cabinet using
rubber pads.
I had removed the mount screws for the cleaning
When I played records to try it out, I did not replace those
screws.

Motor and mounts were good.

So, when I pressed down on the base, while testing another
record, the feedback disappeared.

I added a small rubber washer to the four mounting posts,
tightened down the mount screws and all seems good.

I would never have expected a feedback problem with this
little set-up, but there it was.

[TC Chris]

A fun project, it appears. Looking at the amp and speaker, I'd say there's no danger of getting noise complaints from the neighbors!

Chris Campbell

[William]

I remember that series of record players. We had the same model only sold under the Coronado name, which was the Gamble Stores, store brand.

Bill

[electra225]

I would see those at auction occasionally. The changer was the most sophisticated part on it.

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

These little SS amps that have the tone
control are quite volume adequate and
have good sound from the 3 x 5 speaker.

Cleaning the changer was the biggest challenge,
since I was NOT going to undo all the hard wiring !

I'll leave it at the record shop on consignment, and I'm sure it
will find a good home with someone.

[electra225]

Would that have a ceramic cartridge? And, how easy on records would you say it would be? I'm assuming a sapphire needle would be used. It's probably eons better than a modern Crosley player would be.

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

Would that have a ceramic cartridge? And, how easy on records would you say it would be? I'm assuming a sapphire needle would be used. It's probably eons better than a modern Crosley player would be.

Greg,
The original stylus was a 0.7 mil sapphire/3 mil sapphire flip over.

I put in a 0.7/0.7 DS, and set the ceramic cart's tracking force
to specs.

From all I've read, if the records are clean, and the stylus good,
with tracking set close, should be no problems.

I've never had all those terrible "problems" of the audio-phools
who think these carts are the worst thing ever.

If they were so bad, there would have been millions of records
damaged.

And I always check a test record for any gross signs of
damage when I'm finished with the repairs.

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

This one sold the first week in the record shop !

When the youngsters working there Oooed and Aaahed over her,
I knew it would be gone soon.

[William]

Record shop, if you do not mind, please tell me more.

Bill

[hermitcrab]

I bet it would attract the kids of today getting back into vinyl... looks more unique than a crosley cruiser ... what's old is new again...

[Firedome]

"there would have been millions of records damaged"... and I'd wager that there were.

[electra225]

I don't know that it would be all that hard on records. Someone who bought an instrument like that would not tend to be a heavy user of a record player. I have records from the wife's family that were played a million times on a Magnavox console from the middle 1950's, probably with a Collaro 456 changer with a tone arm that weighed many more grams than we now consider optimal. Those records are still just fine, save the label being worn from playing them on a changer. I'm not sure tone arm weight is the main consideration. Having a changer set up properly with accurate tracking and a with a needle in good condition are more important considerations, IMHO.

[TC Chris]

Cartridge compliance matters-- how much force it takes to move the stylus. As a kid I played records on an old 78 rpm radio/phono with an add-on RCA 45 changer, one of those little bakelite devices. I recall that we often returned records because they "skipped." When I got my own little RCA suitcase player the problem went away. Later it dawned on me that it was likely a low-compliance cartridge and maybe also a tonearm resonance issue combined. While those little RCA changers are cute, they're not really top-quality record playing devices.

Chris Campbell

[Firedome]

I doubt many families used these as a main music source, it's more of a plastic toy than an "instrument", I'd bet a large % were used by kids, not exactly known for careful use of anything. You wouldn't want them to have anything good anyhow...lol.

A lot of people with these kinds of players totally neglected stylus condition until the records stated sounding
fuzzy, and by then it was too late. Both of my sisters were prime examples... clueless!
Irrc they both had Sears versions of something like this that they got for Xmas in the late '60s.

The kid in the room next to me in my freshman yr of college had one almost identical to this, very plastic-y, maybe made by whoever made this one. Mainly used for playing The Doors, Hendrix, and Cream... over and over and over again. I would agree this is light years better than the fake-repro Chinese garbage being foisted off on the uninformed nowadays, however, and certainly worth putting some effort into resurrection at any rate.