Classic Hifi Care

Hello. Total Noob here. I posted this on Audiophile and was pretty promptly referenced to you all on this forum as the true brain trust of all info Magnavox related. This piece has been part of my life in my parents home/s for my entire 62 years, but, the natural order of life has made it a current priority to try to learn more about it. The unit is a Magnovox Magnificent (thus, seems I found the right board on this forum) with stereo capability and is fully functional and sounds great but for a slightly choppy loudness dial and a little warmup time on the first cycle. It is totally original, unmodified except for my Dad sometime in the early 70's hooked up an external speaker for stereo capability using an old '50's Zenith TV speaker. The player cabinet looks identical to the Magnavox History stock photo of the 1956 Radio/Record Player with the notable exception that it does NOT have an AM/FM tuner. An AI search suggested that these never really came without a tuner unless maybe a custom order or something... Can't really see inside the turntable cabinet in the stock photo but it seems the 45 adaptor holder is on the left instead of the right in my unit and there is no knob on the left side of the interior cabinet. My hope here is that maybe someone can help identifying an actual year ('56, '57, '58, '59??) and model number since I could not find any tag on the exterior of the unit itself. I have attached a few pictures. The glare on the glass hides the wood pattern on the front slide doors but they are identical to the one in the stock photo (kind of a diamond pattern). Appreciate all input. I am remote but may be able to get more pictures taken for me if needed.

Welcome aboard! We're glad you found us! Please refer to the rules pertaining new membership. We require that you post your location in your user profile. Your first three posts will be moderator approved, so be aware of that.

Magnavox made lots of combinations that were not necessarily "regular" production items. Most of their products were sold in furniture stores. Magnavox would build almost anything you were willing to pay for. We have guys here on the forum who are more familiar with the earlier consoles than I am, so they are sure to chime in and get us on the right path.

We hope you enjoy the forum!

Thanks for the heads up on the introduction board. I will do that.

Perhaps there were a limited run of units without tuner as a cost reduction option...

I am going to approve your third post. You need to post an avatar along with your location in your user profile. I'm sorry it this sounds picky or petty, but our forum and other forums have been inundated with spambots whose intended purpose is to cause havoc and to try and shut down forums by overloading servers. Our experience has been that folks who are interested in the forum and want to participate don't mind jumping thru a few hoops in the interest of forum security. Those who are intending to cause havoc won't take the time to post their location or an avatar. I have the software set so the avatars are giant. Partially because we all like pictures here on the forum, but also since most of us are not youngsters anymore, it makes them easier to see detail. We appreciate your posting pictures of your topic and certainly invite you to post often and include pictures to your heart's content. Thank you for your understanding and for complying with this request.......

Thank you also for your posting in Introductions. Tell us a little about your interests, skills, projects, anything you'd like to share. We like to know who is on the forum......

Greetings dabrakeman, and welcome to the forum. And yes, please complete your chores so you can enjoy all the benefits of the forum.

Two things, your Magnavox is in the 1957 and 1958 brochures which are found under downloads in the upper righthand corner of the main forum page. You will find what you are looking for under those two years which are found on page 5. For 1957 your model would be CP293H and was mono only. For 1958 your model would be SP293F and it was available in stereo if the auxiliary matching speakers was added. The 1958 version was offered with the radio. If the model tag is still attached you should be able to find it inside the cabinet.

Second, your Sylvania if a deluxe model, not sure if it was TOTL as I can't tell what year it is from. The Garrard changer would tell me not TOTL but the controls are definitely up there. The only info I have on Sylvania is this link and I think yours is newer then the years provided here:

https://www.vintagesylvania.net/?page=c ... egory=cons

I hope this helps, and again, Welcome Aboard !

Bill

@William Thank you!!! I never expected to be able to find actual catalogues including this unit. This is fantastic. I'm still a bit confused on '57 vs '58 whether the two units are actually identical but for in '58 an available separate speaker was made available or whether the '57 unit had no capability whatsoever to incorporate an external speaker for stereo capability. Zooming in on the photos of each both seem to have 3 positions on the left most know which would be mono, tape and stereo left to right. If I am correct that there is no physical difference in the console itself between '57 and '58 then I would have to go inside to find some identification to conclude whether it is '57 or '58?

The other oddity I find is the photo in the Magnavox History site which appears to show a unit very similar to this with the title "1956 Radio/Record Player" yet it does not appear in the 1956 Catalogue. I guess I would tend to trust the catalogues over this standalone photo from the website. Probably a summer intern put it on there...

I think Magnavox was a bit less stringent than the auto industry in differentiating model years. It seems like they made a model until the parts ran out.

I have two '56 Maggies. One is a mahogany Magnasonic that was my grandmother's. The other is a "Provincial Serenade" that is my avatar (along with the Mustang behind it) in a pretty cherry console. Most appropriate for a device located in the Cherry Capital!

Both have the Magnavox-special parallel push-pull amplifier, 4 6V6 tubes as output amplifiers, for a healthy power output at that time.

Chris Campbell

Chris, I have a Chet Swanson license plate that my wife had on the front bumper of her "77 Buick Regal. I usually don't like dealer advertising plates, but Swanson had cherries on it and I've always regarded it as an asset on a vehicle.

TC Chris wrote: ↑Sat Jun 14, 2025 3:57 pm I think Magnavox was a bit less stringent than the auto industry in differentiating model years. It seems like they made a model until the parts ran out.


Chris Campbell

You are probably quite right.

Still a little fuzzy on whether it had built in stereo capability (2-channel amplifier) such that you only had to add a speaker or whether the speaker would have to have its own amplifier. The speaker my dad hooked up was the speaker base of an early 60's TV. Not sure if it had its own amplifier or not, but, it did make sound.

Typically, what happened with Magnavox in their early "stereo compatible" instruments is this. They supplied a small amplifier, housed in the external speaker cabinet to make the unit stereo. The amp used a 6X4 rectifier, 12AX7 audio tube with P-P 6AQ5 output. They used this little amp with their two-track stereo tape decks on the 1957 Concert Grand which was mono with the exception of the tape deck. Model 300H. The 1958 Concert Grand was full stereo, model 250H or you could still buy the mono 300H, which may have been a leftover 1957 model. The Concert Grand gained remote control for 1959, but it lost the clock and tape deck. Magnavox "mixed and matched" components and models, so making definite statements about the different models and equipment is particularly risky. I have a picture of that little amp, or at least the cabinet sticker for one, if I can find it. I offer this rather rambling response in the effort to shed a bit of light on "the ways of Magnavox". Very interesting company, hard or impossible to accurately document.....

I might also add that the stereo compatible jobs had a stereo phono cartridge, but the instrument itself was mono. The external speaker connection would provide the audio to the external speaker, then the function switch had a stereo position. The external amplified "stereo" speaker was an extra-cost option. My understanding is that this was 1958 only except as noted above. By later in 1958, most of Magnavox was full stereo. I don't know when they quit offering stereo compatible instruments. Maybe someone else will know. Your dad may have connected an external speaker somehow that you remember.

The way to verify stereo is to examine the leads off the phono cartridge. Two = mono; 4= stereo--(stereo at least as far as the outputs for the external amplified speaker). And that prompted me to go back and look at your device's control panel. There is no channel balance control, suggesting it's all mono.

Look at the amplifier. Most of these mono units used 4 output tubes for one channel. There will be one big power transformer and a slightly smaller output transformer. The latter, in those days, likely still had a black steel shell. Others can correct me.

I am wondering if the "stereo" position on the selector switch was to select a third audio input, so you could use this as the second channel in a stereo setup. The external device would supply the two channels, one to this device and the other to another amplifier/speaker.

Chris Campbell

Chris's suggestion is interesting and looking at the photos again I notice that the speaker selector switch also has a stereo position. Reading the 1957 and 1958 brochures again shows some similarities showing the same amplifier line up, speakers, and changer. The 1958 brochure does talk of stereo by adding the aux speaker. The 1957 brochure also talks about adding a aux speaker but does not say it will make it stereo.

Bill