you must not have a wife...I don't think most ladies would put up with all that stuff..to us guys that's all really cool stuff but to the women it's mostly junk.
My mom has a similar philco all in stereo, but its not built into a racck it has 2 big speakers but the foam is rotten, and there is a very large heatsink that sticks out the back of the unit, at least 70 watts a channel! back in the 90's she had it turned up so loud the house would jump up and down with the bass!
The rack and speaker grilles got ruined in a house flood, the TT cartridge and stylus is missing...
@luvsthose8230s I do have some Realistic and Optimus stuff. Some of it was quite good, most of it was entirely adequate and some of the rest is just plain cool. Perhaps I will make a video about some of the Realistic/Optimus stuff I have here.
Well, it depends on the interpretation of what I said.
I said that a good bit of MCS stuff was made by Matsushita, but I never said that this particular system was made by them. JCPenney did have stuff, including that from MCS, made by other companies, not just Matsushita.
If this system was made by Sanyo, it would be no big surprise as Sanyo was also a big OEM supplier for many store brands.
William, I think you would have loved this old turn table stereo my grandfather had, He used it as his end table near his recliner and I only recall seeing it actually open once or twice, but I think you would have had a great time checking it out. I'll talk to my parents, and see if I can get any information about it. If I can, I'll shoot you a PM with the details.
Sure, I'd love to know more about it. I would take a wild guess and assume that it was probably a Zenith product of some kind. They made an awful lot of those kind of things back in the day. Many are still around and still playing just fine, and the fidelity is not bad.
I actually like that speaker more than I like the stereo, too bad you couldn't find the other (Who the heck throws away ONE speaker????). I bet it sounds really sweet.
In my opinion people with all these multi-channel home theater in a box setups just don't know what they are missing when it comes to the sound of a good floor standing speaker like that.
That's exactly what I was thinking--why would anyone throw away only ONE speaker, especially when there is nothing wrong with it? Better yet, why would anyone have just one stereo speaker to throw away?
I have nothing against home-theater-in-a-box setups, some are actually quite good. But none are going to have the kind of power that a "real" receiver of any type will--and I'd reckon this Penney's stereo would compete fairly well with most of them when playing stereo-only material.
I have no objection to all the stereo equipment videos. In fact they were what drove me to get my Bang & Olufsen turntable working again. Now I have a whole HiFi system cobbled together of a B&O turntable from 83, a Sony AM/FM tuner from the 60s, a tape deck from what looks like the 70s, and two speakers probably of a similar age to the turntable. And it all plays like brand new.
ive got a Schneider Power Pack from 1979 laying around the house. It was one of the first stereo systems with a CD player. Its quite small for such a machine, which has a turntable, double cassette deck, a cd player (which doesnt work for new cd's too well), and a FM/MW/LW tuner. it can handle a max of 140 decibels, and it has a wattage of 160. so its quite powerful
CDs weren't generally available until the early 1980s, so maybe you have a prototype unit? I didn't see a video on your channel about this, can you make one?
If your lucky, maybe the owner of the Technics speaker will throw out the the other one next week. Hey that's a cool turntable I have never seen a fully automatic like that! How do you know when it's time to replace the stylus?
I found 2 turntables in the garbage. One is a MCA with 4 speeds, with a extra long spindle in the center, I don't know why it's so long. The other one is a Phillips model 222 with bizarre switches that I believe work with the salt on the skin when pressed.
I had hoped that they might, but I've had this speaker for several months now and there has been no sign of the other one.
I'm thinking that your MCA turntable was originally a stacking/multi-play table. That's the only explanation for a long spindle that I could come up with.
And oh yeah...to answer your other question...you could check the stylus on this table the same way you would any other. It can be removed and examined under high magnification or even a microscope.
"Hey Good Lookin' " written by Hank Williams (Senior) and performed by Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass. (This will be mentioned in my upcoming video, where I finish up almost all of the outstanding issues with this receiver.
I'm thinking it might have even been free by the time I got there. It's been too long to know for sure. I do know it wouldn't have been more than $10 if I did pay for it.
Nothing wrong with being interested in stuff. Its what makes us individuals. It looks nice. I got a Zenith stereo about 1976 vintage. Cassette deck and turntable doesnt work but the displays and tuner and everything else works just like new.
Cool! I'll bet fixing that Zenith stereo of yours wouldn't be too hard...it's probably belt trouble more than anything else.
I like "stuff" but sometimes I feel a bit, well, "hollow" (for want of a better term) when I start talking about it at length. You're right though, interest in stuff makes us what we are, and I like to look through junk stores, estate sales, "antique" shops for "stuff". It is both interesting and kind of sad when I look through the stuff that people once cared about...
I've always been pretty happy with Sanyo products both new and old, even though I too think they catered to the lower middle-end of the market.
I'm sure JC Penney wanted to be in the audio market because they thought it would make money for them and nothing else. Even so, some of their gear was really quite good, having been made by Panasonic and other well respected manufacturers of the time. Sometimes they didn't even change the designs, so it was easy to tell.
@uxwbill right now i run sorta a mixed bag of stuff. i am in the hunt for a good linear tracking turntable but none have shown up. i ended up with a computer controlled one but part of it doesnt work and the magnetic drive setup doesnt keep the platter balanced and when you have the rubber platter mat on it and the record on it plays off speed. its an older fisher one i got for 5 bucks out of a record store in seattle a few years ago. just hope a linear one comes up
I'll bet you could fix that turntable if you sat down and had a good one-on-one discussion with it. :-)
Good luck finding a linear tracking turntable. I'd recommend the PS-LX520 from Sony if you don't mind doing some work on it. I think it sounds pretty incredible after getting it to the point where it is reliable.
In my opinion I would LOVE to have this...and some speakers that match the color. This is totally worth restoring. Never have I seen one either...although if I did I wouldnt hesitate to purchase it!
Those seem likely choices to me, although its being made in Taiwan by a Japanese company seems odd for the time frame.
I did buy some speakers to go with it--some JBL 2600s that were cheap. They're a lighter color but I am not majorly concerned if everything is an exact match.
I worked on one of these back in 1985 working for a electronic repair place in CT
when I was in the NAVY submarine service The problem was that it would not seek correct in the tape deck I dove into it found very dirty head and loose wire from head to the logic board . I seen a sticker in it saying it was manufactured in Taiwan by sony it was SEARS branded looked just like yours . Gee I miss those good old days. I have worked on electronics for most of my life until I became disabled Thanks
My first thought was "made by Panasonic" (the font appears to be similar)if it is, that Technics speaker would be a great match. The RCA/Phono type speaker jacks tells me that it is a lower power unit, however I could feel the bass off it here (or my sub is set too loud)
I have been wondering...the wood grain between it and speaker is awfully close in style. Audio amplification comes from an STK4151 II integrated audio power amplifier, which seems to be rated at 30 watts per channel into an eight ohm load. So yeah, it's low power but plenty good enough for a moderately sized room I'm sure.
I need to make some cables for it. I was using a very crappy one and almost ended up shorting the output!
@uxwbill Considering the RCA speaker outs, I would have guessed no more then 10WPC, either way, it sounds nice and healthy. I would have been a good roach palace stereo, except you already have a good one over there.
I never knew for sure until I pulled the back cover. For some reason, I really thought it would have a discrete output section (the smaller department store stereo systems always seemed to do it that way, but they were older) so I was surprised to find that it used a hybrid module.
I've never touched it, but now I'm curious about what's inside my grandparents' Sears unit. I may have to make an exploration!
There's just something elegant about a turntable that is lost in today's equipment. I read somewhere that the dynamic range is much better on a record than on a cd and to my ears at least, they do sound better.
I have read that as well. I don't know if it is a by-product of "psychological suggestion" (the idea that if you want something to be true, it may seem like it is) but I would say that I do have some records that sound "warmer" than a CD does.
I was so impressed at the time that I didn't think I could leave it there to be unceremoniously dumped in the trash. Yes, I know that sounds silly. I don't remember if I paid anything for it or not. At the time, they were trying to get rid of everything that had been left behind and it didn't matter if they made money on it or not.
...and it really was kind of silly. At the time, the '79 Cadillac was still roadworthy, so that's we had taken. I'm not sure how we shoehorned that stereo in there, but we did!
jCpenny? MCS? you gotta be kidding me
jogmas12 1 month ago
@jogmas12 I'm not kidding anyone.
uxwbill 1 month ago
I have an LXI from sears rated at 100 watts per channel and it would blow the transistors off this one easily
okrafoot 3 months ago
you must not have a wife...I don't think most ladies would put up with all that stuff..to us guys that's all really cool stuff but to the women it's mostly junk.
whiskeyify 4 months ago in playlist Kitchen Table Electronics Repair uxwbill
@whiskeyify Why in the world would I ever want one of /those/? I'm young, free, *single* and happy. I'd never want to wreck that. :-)
uxwbill 4 months ago 2
jc penny made some nice stuff especiley thier higher end turntables
musicman257 1 year ago
My mom has a similar philco all in stereo, but its not built into a racck it has 2 big speakers but the foam is rotten, and there is a very large heatsink that sticks out the back of the unit, at least 70 watts a channel! back in the 90's she had it turned up so loud the house would jump up and down with the bass!
The rack and speaker grilles got ruined in a house flood, the TT cartridge and stylus is missing...
raymondleeleggs 1 year ago
another words a piece of junk
rednecknber 1 year ago
@rednecknber Don't judge a book by its cover. Do you really expect a 25+ year old piece of equipment not to require some attention?
Some of the MCS gear was actually made by some very reputable companies. Don't know about this--would guess Sanyo or Panasonic is the OEM.
uxwbill 1 year ago 2
@uxwbill Nice! this is the kind of home stereo system I dreamed of owning as a kid and teeanger but never got.
phantumwolf 1 year ago
@uxwbill i actually have the Sears LXI model and for 30+ years old it can shake my house no problem great construction and great sound
KaneTheTraitor 9 months ago
cool rack stereo, are you into realistic electronics? got some old realistic equipment, and will be viding soon.
luvsthose8230s 1 year ago
@luvsthose8230s I do have some Realistic and Optimus stuff. Some of it was quite good, most of it was entirely adequate and some of the rest is just plain cool. Perhaps I will make a video about some of the Realistic/Optimus stuff I have here.
uxwbill 1 year ago
Nothing wrong with a fascination with stereo equipment.
In fact, not enough people show an avid enough interest in it.
And, MCS was actually pretty decent stuff for what it was; a good bit of their stuff were made by Matsushita (Panasonic and Technics).
Watcher3223 1 year ago
@Watcher3223 r u sure, it looks more like a sanyo/fisher design!
sidadadvocate4autism 1 year ago
@sidadadvocate4autism
Well, it depends on the interpretation of what I said.
I said that a good bit of MCS stuff was made by Matsushita, but I never said that this particular system was made by them. JCPenney did have stuff, including that from MCS, made by other companies, not just Matsushita.
If this system was made by Sanyo, it would be no big surprise as Sanyo was also a big OEM supplier for many store brands.
Watcher3223 1 year ago
William, I think you would have loved this old turn table stereo my grandfather had, He used it as his end table near his recliner and I only recall seeing it actually open once or twice, but I think you would have had a great time checking it out. I'll talk to my parents, and see if I can get any information about it. If I can, I'll shoot you a PM with the details.
mgospeed31 1 year ago
Sure, I'd love to know more about it. I would take a wild guess and assume that it was probably a Zenith product of some kind. They made an awful lot of those kind of things back in the day. Many are still around and still playing just fine, and the fidelity is not bad.
uxwbill 1 year ago
I actually like that speaker more than I like the stereo, too bad you couldn't find the other (Who the heck throws away ONE speaker????). I bet it sounds really sweet.
In my opinion people with all these multi-channel home theater in a box setups just don't know what they are missing when it comes to the sound of a good floor standing speaker like that.
NoxTekDotCom 1 year ago
That's exactly what I was thinking--why would anyone throw away only ONE speaker, especially when there is nothing wrong with it? Better yet, why would anyone have just one stereo speaker to throw away?
I have nothing against home-theater-in-a-box setups, some are actually quite good. But none are going to have the kind of power that a "real" receiver of any type will--and I'd reckon this Penney's stereo would compete fairly well with most of them when playing stereo-only material.
uxwbill 1 year ago
I have no objection to all the stereo equipment videos. In fact they were what drove me to get my Bang & Olufsen turntable working again. Now I have a whole HiFi system cobbled together of a B&O turntable from 83, a Sony AM/FM tuner from the 60s, a tape deck from what looks like the 70s, and two speakers probably of a similar age to the turntable. And it all plays like brand new.
1974Alfa5Spd 1 year ago
can anyone help me with my question i posted earlyer
rockerboy12doglover 1 year ago
Yes, but you have to be patient. :-)
uxwbill 1 year ago
@uxwbill ok i will wait for an answer
rockerboy12doglover 1 year ago
totally cool.
Davidsfarmrules 1 year ago
ive got a Schneider Power Pack from 1979 laying around the house. It was one of the first stereo systems with a CD player. Its quite small for such a machine, which has a turntable, double cassette deck, a cd player (which doesnt work for new cd's too well), and a FM/MW/LW tuner. it can handle a max of 140 decibels, and it has a wattage of 160. so its quite powerful
nelizmastr 1 year ago
CDs weren't generally available until the early 1980s, so maybe you have a prototype unit? I didn't see a video on your channel about this, can you make one?
uxwbill 1 year ago
If your lucky, maybe the owner of the Technics speaker will throw out the the other one next week. Hey that's a cool turntable I have never seen a fully automatic like that! How do you know when it's time to replace the stylus?
I found 2 turntables in the garbage. One is a MCA with 4 speeds, with a extra long spindle in the center, I don't know why it's so long. The other one is a Phillips model 222 with bizarre switches that I believe work with the salt on the skin when pressed.
101xfmrogers 1 year ago
I had hoped that they might, but I've had this speaker for several months now and there has been no sign of the other one.
I'm thinking that your MCA turntable was originally a stacking/multi-play table. That's the only explanation for a long spindle that I could come up with.
uxwbill 1 year ago
And oh yeah...to answer your other question...you could check the stylus on this table the same way you would any other. It can be removed and examined under high magnification or even a microscope.
uxwbill 1 year ago
@uxwbill ok thanks for the advice!
101xfmrogers 1 year ago
Uxwbill What was the name of the second song you played on the record????
rockerboy12doglover 1 year ago
"Hey Good Lookin' " written by Hank Williams (Senior) and performed by Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass. (This will be mentioned in my upcoming video, where I finish up almost all of the outstanding issues with this receiver.
uxwbill 1 year ago
amazing stereo! how much you pay for it?
MaurizioM89 1 year ago
I'm thinking it might have even been free by the time I got there. It's been too long to know for sure. I do know it wouldn't have been more than $10 if I did pay for it.
uxwbill 1 year ago
Nothing wrong with being interested in stuff. Its what makes us individuals. It looks nice. I got a Zenith stereo about 1976 vintage. Cassette deck and turntable doesnt work but the displays and tuner and everything else works just like new.
schomminater 1 year ago
Cool! I'll bet fixing that Zenith stereo of yours wouldn't be too hard...it's probably belt trouble more than anything else.
I like "stuff" but sometimes I feel a bit, well, "hollow" (for want of a better term) when I start talking about it at length. You're right though, interest in stuff makes us what we are, and I like to look through junk stores, estate sales, "antique" shops for "stuff". It is both interesting and kind of sad when I look through the stuff that people once cared about...
uxwbill 1 year ago
I must say again, very well spoken. I have been fascinated with old stereos lately and i have hoarded about 5
lobsterbox20 1 year ago
some of the jc penney mcs stuff was made by sanyo which sanyo was i felt a lower end brand but jc penneys stuff was the lower end anyway i think
rmx77 1 year ago
I've always been pretty happy with Sanyo products both new and old, even though I too think they catered to the lower middle-end of the market.
I'm sure JC Penney wanted to be in the audio market because they thought it would make money for them and nothing else. Even so, some of their gear was really quite good, having been made by Panasonic and other well respected manufacturers of the time. Sometimes they didn't even change the designs, so it was easy to tell.
uxwbill 1 year ago
@uxwbill right now i run sorta a mixed bag of stuff. i am in the hunt for a good linear tracking turntable but none have shown up. i ended up with a computer controlled one but part of it doesnt work and the magnetic drive setup doesnt keep the platter balanced and when you have the rubber platter mat on it and the record on it plays off speed. its an older fisher one i got for 5 bucks out of a record store in seattle a few years ago. just hope a linear one comes up
rmx77 1 year ago
I'll bet you could fix that turntable if you sat down and had a good one-on-one discussion with it. :-)
Good luck finding a linear tracking turntable. I'd recommend the PS-LX520 from Sony if you don't mind doing some work on it. I think it sounds pretty incredible after getting it to the point where it is reliable.
uxwbill 1 year ago
I have the LXI version of that stereo. I got it for $25 and replaced the stylus for $25 then sold it for $80.
tghbenz99 1 year ago
Sounds like that worked out real well.
uxwbill 1 year ago
Im going to guess Panasonic or Fisher brand.
In my opinion I would LOVE to have this...and some speakers that match the color. This is totally worth restoring. Never have I seen one either...although if I did I wouldnt hesitate to purchase it!
clubcar98 1 year ago
Those seem likely choices to me, although its being made in Taiwan by a Japanese company seems odd for the time frame.
I did buy some speakers to go with it--some JBL 2600s that were cheap. They're a lighter color but I am not majorly concerned if everything is an exact match.
uxwbill 1 year ago
When I worked at JC Penney they never sold any kind of electronics, if they did I probably would not have quit LOL :)
The88camaro 1 year ago
Could Sanyo be the maker ???
jefferyb304 1 year ago
I worked on one of these back in 1985 working for a electronic repair place in CT
when I was in the NAVY submarine service The problem was that it would not seek correct in the tape deck I dove into it found very dirty head and loose wire from head to the logic board . I seen a sticker in it saying it was manufactured in Taiwan by sony it was SEARS branded looked just like yours . Gee I miss those good old days. I have worked on electronics for most of my life until I became disabled Thanks
ncrdisabled 1 year ago
My first thought was "made by Panasonic" (the font appears to be similar)if it is, that Technics speaker would be a great match. The RCA/Phono type speaker jacks tells me that it is a lower power unit, however I could feel the bass off it here (or my sub is set too loud)
BTW great video.
weasel2htm 1 year ago
I have been wondering...the wood grain between it and speaker is awfully close in style. Audio amplification comes from an STK4151 II integrated audio power amplifier, which seems to be rated at 30 watts per channel into an eight ohm load. So yeah, it's low power but plenty good enough for a moderately sized room I'm sure.
I need to make some cables for it. I was using a very crappy one and almost ended up shorting the output!
uxwbill 1 year ago
@uxwbill Considering the RCA speaker outs, I would have guessed no more then 10WPC, either way, it sounds nice and healthy. I would have been a good roach palace stereo, except you already have a good one over there.
weasel2htm 1 year ago
I never knew for sure until I pulled the back cover. For some reason, I really thought it would have a discrete output section (the smaller department store stereo systems always seemed to do it that way, but they were older) so I was surprised to find that it used a hybrid module.
I've never touched it, but now I'm curious about what's inside my grandparents' Sears unit. I may have to make an exploration!
uxwbill 1 year ago
no sounds buddy
starlite2991 1 year ago
There's just something elegant about a turntable that is lost in today's equipment. I read somewhere that the dynamic range is much better on a record than on a cd and to my ears at least, they do sound better.
MAG315 1 year ago
I have read that as well. I don't know if it is a by-product of "psychological suggestion" (the idea that if you want something to be true, it may seem like it is) but I would say that I do have some records that sound "warmer" than a CD does.
uxwbill 1 year ago
That is really quite well featured for a department store all-in-one stereo, especially with the linear tracking turntable.
vwestlife 1 year ago
I was so impressed at the time that I didn't think I could leave it there to be unceremoniously dumped in the trash. Yes, I know that sounds silly. I don't remember if I paid anything for it or not. At the time, they were trying to get rid of everything that had been left behind and it didn't matter if they made money on it or not.
uxwbill 1 year ago
...and it really was kind of silly. At the time, the '79 Cadillac was still roadworthy, so that's we had taken. I'm not sure how we shoehorned that stereo in there, but we did!
uxwbill 1 year ago
clean up the shop time
backwoods3214 1 year ago
Bah. ;-)
uxwbill 1 year ago
for the metal tab use some two faced tape works great...
bigjohnson5619 1 year ago
I love your videos! mainly for your voice... its weird, but i just like to listen to your voice! lol
andruha11234 1 year ago 2
@andruha11234 I'm glad that there is something good about them! ;-)
uxwbill 1 year ago
@uxwbill don't get me wrong, I like to see you repair stuff too.
andruha11234 1 year ago
I assume most people who want to use the AUX inputs would probably use them for a CD player and a VCR or TV set with audio outputs.
Lachlant1984 1 year ago
@Lachlant1984 Yeah, that's my guess as well. It's nice that there are two. The Sears version only has one.
uxwbill 1 year ago