Estate Sale

Out about doing my thing today and as I was heading home, saw a sign that said Estate Sale.

I thought meh, been skunked forever it seems but I turned around, went back to see what they had and found this.

1970 Magnavox Astro-Sonic console stereo model #1P 3652 with a "don't laugh" Micro-Matic turntable.

As per the manual, the Micro-Matic thing means you can stack up to 10 albums at once.

Besides the maual, I got the original receipt something that looks like a quality control punch card??? and a few other small papers.

The receipt says LS Ayers & Co. Dated 02/06/1971 Total Price when purchased $306.00.

I also got 97 albums with it. Any fans of Sonny & Cher, Floyd Cramer?
I have not went through all the albums yet.

I did a pre clean, powered it up and everything works.

Sadly when they set up the sale, they had stacked some glassware on the cabinet and it now has a few scratches. See pics, if I can get them to load.

Oh, the price on it was $25.00. I mentioned that it was to bad on the scratches and the lady said "how about 20 bucks then".

I said ok.
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Comments

  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    Cool score, I was 10 years old when it was bought!

    Have you listened to the Floyd Cramer album? He had a very unique way of playing. I love his version of Last Date. His Grandson has taken after him and is just as talented.
    Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,922
    Unfortunately, the AstroSonic consoles are soiled state and pretty unremarkable -- from my perspective, that is.

    If you're happy with it for 20 smackers, that's the important thing.
    The records might include a few keepers -- nothin' wrong with Floyd Cramer ("Last Date") or Sonny & Cher! :)

  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,557
    Worth it for the records alone, assuming they are in decent condition.

    It's pretty cool looking as well. Think about the mods you could do. You could take out all the stuff and replace it with high end components. :)
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,474
    edited February 2018
    WOW nice find that would be 1872.77 in today's dollars.

    One of my relatives had a maggotbox just like it..... :p

    shut up jose

  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    As I was waiting for some help to load it up, I sent a pic of it to my wife who then sent it to my daughter.

    I got a text from my Daughter shortly after I got it home and apparently she has claimed it :o

    Kid loves that 70's looking stuff.

  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    Wish it had a tube amp in it.

    Actually was looking at it for Enders but I think it's too big for what was looking for if he's even still after these things so to the kids place it will go.
  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,557
    I was wondering if it was tube based? Because one piece of literature shown in your photo mentions tube replacements.
    oldrocker wrote: »
    Wish it had a tube amp in it.

    Actually was looking at it for Enders but I think it's too big for what was looking for if he's even still after these things so to the kids place it will go.

  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    I think the tube model was a different model. I'll did back inside it in a bit.

    It is a maple finish. The manual does show 3 different style tuners.

    Been playing a few hours now, kind of neat to tinker with...
  • Viking64
    Viking64 Posts: 6,646
    I used to think that a "Floyd Kramer" was a Kramer guitar with a Floyd Rose locking tremelo until I bought a CD instrumental compilation that included Floyd Cramer's song "Last Date". :p
  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    A bunch of Floyd Cramer.

    The people running the sale said the Gentleman who passed away and had a ton of vintage fishing equipment.

    In the basement was lots of pictures of some of the fish that the guy caught over the years.

    FYI, almost all the fishing stuff was sold in the first 30 minutes apparently...
  • In the photo with the turntable visible the square object on the upper left is a 45 changer adapter. It slips over the center spindle and lets the owner put on a stack of singles. The choice of which wooden cabinet to pick was pretty important to the distaff buyer.
  • aprazer402
    aprazer402 Posts: 3,087
    Nice looking old console, great price! Cool looking conversation piece of real wood, if nothing else. I have a 1959-61 something Pilot console (w/tubes) in beautiful condition, I'll post photos of it sometime. These old consoles are kind of neat and people seem to be snatching them up more recently. Many just went to the dumps in the past.
  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    Price was 300 on the receipt tax part says 6 bucks :D

    Yep it does have the original 45 adapter, been years since I've seen one.

    I did notice next to the stereo indicator light is a small signal strength meter, seems to be also working.
  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    cfrizz wrote: »
    Cool score, I was 10 years old when it was bought!

    Have you listened to the Floyd Cramer album? He had a very unique way of playing. I love his version of Last Date. His Grandson has taken after him and is just as talented.

    Have only played the Sonny & Cher for a brief moment.

    I think I saw a few albums with that song on it. If so you want one??

    I doubt I'll ever use the albums unless the Daughter or Wife would want some.

  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    Clipdat wrote: »
    I was wondering if it was tube based? Because one piece of literature shown in your photo mentions tube replacements.
    oldrocker wrote: »
    Wish it had a tube amp in it.

    Actually was looking at it for Enders but I think it's too big for what was looking for if he's even still after these things so to the kids place it will go.

    That literature seems to be about a tape player/upgrade??

  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    I just glad I didn't get skunked AGAIN :D

    Too bad there wasn't some old Macs in the basement, you know the ones that weigh a ton and got those Big Blue Meters B)B)
  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,517
    edited February 2018
    Looks good man! Your right, wouldn't work for what I want (but I think I got that covered, more later).

    The scratches will come out easy with a simple stain pen from Walmart. Personally I like that my Magnavox console has some wear and tear on it (I mean its from the 50's so cmon, it shoulda shown a little bit of love marks on it ya know).

    Some time with a stain pen and the scratches are there but not that bad. This picture is from before I did anything with the stain pen. Dont have any afters yet as I'm waiting to get the tube amp redone and add in the Chromecast Audio or Alexa to stream music through it :smile: .

    Click here for one you can zoom in one to look at the damage

    ck4vpcb4om5e.jpg


    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
  • agfrost
    agfrost Posts: 2,421
    In the photo with the turntable visible the square object on the upper left is a 45 changer adapter. It slips over the center spindle and lets the owner put on a stack of singles. The choice of which wooden cabinet to pick was pretty important to the distaff buyer.

    ...unless I'm interpreting this incorrectly, that's a much cooler way of saying "WAF." Like it.
    Jay
    SDA 2BTL * Musical Fidelity A5cr amp * Oppo BDP-93 * Modded Adcom GDA-600 DAC * Rythmik F8 (x2)
    Micro Seiki DQ-50 * Hagerman Cornet 2 Phono * A hodgepodge of cabling * Belkin PF60
    Preamp rotation: Krell KSL (SCompRacer recapped) * Manley Shrimp * PS Audio 5.0
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,922
    edited February 2018
    Clipdat wrote: »
    I was wondering if it was tube based? Because one piece of literature shown in your photo mentions tube replacements.
    oldrocker wrote: »
    Wish it had a tube amp in it.

    Actually was looking at it for Enders but I think it's too big for what was looking for if he's even still after these things so to the kids place it will go.

    AstroSonic was Maggotbox's nomenclature for their soiled umm, solid state stuff.

    Their vacuum tube consoles were pretty darned OK. I have previously recounted my surprise, in the second half of the 'seventies, to discover that Soundscape's John Dorsey (Polk's first dealer, AFAIK) had a tubed Maggotbox console in his home. Had a hifi store full of Quad, KEF, Rogers, Luxman, Yamaha, harman/kardon -- stuff like that... and a Maggotbox console.

    It was many, many years later that I understood that it wasn't an ironic statement on his part. :)

    The drivers in the titular Magnavox of this thread are more or less identical to the earlier, midline consoles -- the only real difference in the one I have here is AlNiCo magnets on the woofers vs. ceramic magnets on the one in this thread. The manufacturer of the treble horns varied over the years - earlier consoles had Jensen RP-109s, later one had clones made by Heppner (maybe others, too).

    The top-line Magnavoxes, particularly of the 1940s and 1950s, were pretty serious hifi hardware and not inexpensive. Magnificent Magnavox, as their sales literature (and sometimes their console's labels) themselves put it.

  • indyhawg
    indyhawg Posts: 1,633
    edited February 2018
    Nice find, Dave. I would not mind finding a console for my office. You and Dan should become console pickers.
  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    indyhawg wrote: »
    Nice find, Dave. I would not mind finding a console for my office. You and Dan should become console pickers.

    Thanks,

    Do you have a preferred make/model/size-dimensions?

    The company that did the estate sale have a few more sales coming up soon that I'll probably go to.



  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    Unfortunately, the AstroSonic consoles are soiled state and pretty unremarkable -- from my perspective, that is.

    If you're happy with it for 20 smackers, that's the important thing.
    The records might include a few keepers -- nothin' wrong with Floyd Cramer ("Last Date") or Sonny & Cher! :)

    Daughter just looked at it, told me she a spot all picked out that would work perfect.
    20 bucks well spent for her smile <3

    Ended up with 10 Cramer albums, don't look to terrible.

    Anyone want em??
  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2
  • oldrocker
    oldrocker Posts: 2,590
    35sylxhvevmi.jpg

    Ok one last pic.

    As I was going through the albums, found these.

    I also found some family pictures and an envelope in one of the album covers.
    Looks like I'll be heading back to the sale tomorrow.


  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited February 2018
    And his Grandson Jason Coleman, keeping his memory alive.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTo8k12DrU4
    Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2
  • smglbrth
    smglbrth Posts: 1,458
    I think you got good deal for $20. But, then again, I like old (wood) furniture in practically any form and I think what you have looks great. They definitely don't make things like they used to, unless you want (can) spend thousands, on one piece...
    Remember, when you're running from something, you're running to something...-me
  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 16,834
    It was/is worth more than $20 IMO!!!

    Nice score!!!