Hi,

We just found a great deal on an antique Magnavox console. It's in great shape and sounds perfect. It's kind of one of those "granny only drove it to church" kind of stories. This one sat in a preacher's office for years before he gave it to the church secretary and she decided to sell it to us today.

Before we bought it, I tried to do research on it wtih the model number printed on the back of the unit, but I can't, for the life of me, find any information on this particular unit. We were hoping that maybe one or some of you guys might have some more information on it, like year made, if we could get a copy of the original owner's manual somewhere, etc. that would be great.

We've attached the back label in hopes that'll help y'all with out questions.

Anything will help!

Thanks so much,
Charles and Shelly

Might want to post some pics of the set to help...we have some Maggie experts here that probably can help you.

Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll attach a few photos.

Hi Charles and Shelly and welcome to the forum!
For most postwar Magnavox consoles, the model number on the printed label is of little help in dealing with the electronics inside. What you need are the chassis numbers, usually stamped in black ink on the metal chassis body. If the console has separate tuner and amplifier chassis, then there will be a separate chassis number for each.

Here is great website which specializes in postwar hi-fi consoles, especially Magnavox: http://vintagehifi.net/

Thanks for the info. I noticed when I took off the back that there were different numbers on those components. At this point, we'd just love to know what year it was built and maybe a model name.
Thanks again,
C&S

You brought up the " Little old lady" analogy. Unfortunately cars and radios are not served well by not being used regularly. The capacitors in the radio dry out, and the lubrication used in the changer gets dry and hard. Even if the radio currently works, it could be on the verge of a meltdown if those filters capacitors fail in the wrong way. At best dried caps only cause the familiar 60 hertz hum. At worst they will take out other more expensive and hard to find components that would turn the console into a too expensive to repair unit. If the unit has never been serviced during it's life, the very least that should be done would be replacement of the filter caps and lubrication of the changer.

Not so sure. This is a solid-state console, and filter capacitors are not nearly the problem they are with vacuum tube sets. I think if it works and doesn't hum it's OK to use.

-David

However, I think I may recall something about speaker coupling capacitors being a vulnerability on Magnavox Astrosonics.

-David

Those numbers you spot may get you your date. Something like in picture. Your chassis most likely R231-???????.
Bill J.

I found this sticker on both speakers.

There was also a schematic.

Maybe so, but the electrolytic caps are often by now well beyond their expected life span.

Life spans vary depending on storage and operating conditions. If they're working, they're working. Big low-voltage electrolytic capacitors like the filter caps in this set usually fail by drying out with increased ESR, leading to a hum.

It's different with a vacuum tube set with filter capacitors being subject to 450 volts while being cooked by a rectifier and a couple of output tubes.

-David

True.

Also depends on the quality of the cap as well.

I have had instances of bad electrolytic caps in solid state stuff such as my Fisher 202 Futura Series receiver where a bad cap caused a hum so I recapped the whole thing to ensure there were no other failing caps present. Figured if I had to desolder them to test them provided I had a cap checker I may as well put new caps back and the cost wasn't that much for new ones and peace of mind that I wouldn't have to do anything to it for a long time.

I have the Manavox console and I was trying to figure out the year and how much it's worth. It's in pretty good condition.

216BBoyd do more than what the poster has done. Take the back off and get the chassis numbers. Get record changer numbers too.

Bill J.

Your console was featured in the 1972 catalog. It was a mid-line model and is solid state. Changing the capacitors will improve the sound. I wouldn't worry about them though if it's working well enough.

Thanks so much for the help !

Thank you all again for your help in identifying our unit!

We haven't had any issues with it, until today. Today I took the back off and pulled the speakers out to get all the cobwebs out of it. When I put it back together and put a new album on, as it was loading the record, the unit started making a noise that I can only describe as a fast "clicking". It seems to only do it as the arm with the needle (sorry I don't know the term for it yet) was moving into and out of place. It wasn't doing that before, so I'm hoping I didn't mess something up while cleaning it. Would you guys have any advice / thoughts as to what this may be? The arm does move into and out of place properly, it just makes the ticking noise the whole time it's moving. Other than that noise it's still working well.

Thanks for any ideas y'all may have.

Merry Christmas,
Charles and Shelly