2008 Crosley CR49 = junk
 

I bought this for $5 at a flea market, just to play with. They said that the turntable would not turn and that's why they were selling it for $5. Really, it wasn't worth $5 when new. The reason the platter wouldn't turn is because the tonearm has to be pulled back to the right in order to activate the motor that drives a belt driven all plastic turntable. The turntable has an auto stop mechanism at the end of the record. It plays 33, 45, and 78 rpm; but, a special 3 mil stylus is needed for 78 rpm. There is no headphone jack for private listening; but, you really don't need one because the amplifier does not have enough power to bother anyone in the next room. The amp has a little tiny output IC that probably delivers 100 mw/channel. Oh yes, this thing is stereo; but, the tiny speakers are so close together that one can't tell much stereo seperation. And, either the motor is on it's way out or it was a poor running motor to begin with. The motor is noisy, I can detect some wow and flutter in the audio, and I can even feel the motor vibrations when I touch the tonearm lift. And, there's a lot of hot glue in this thing. And, you guessed it, it's made in China. It also runs off a 12 volt wall wart; which, is something else to lose in transit. Since this is a portable, you'd think they would have used a self contained power supply with a non-detachable power cord.

For these things to be so cheaply made, they sure cost enough when new. I think a '50's "one tube wonder" would be a better unit.

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/f...rosley0002.jpg

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/f...rosley0001.jpg

I had the exact same model come in today for repair! The owner had not had it three weeks before its first failure. This one was actually manufactured in 2009 - so it must have been sitting on the shelf before he bought it.

The failure was lack of support for the volume control / on off switch. The pot is mounted on a small PCB that is at a 90 degree angle from the mainboard. The only thing holding the small pcb to the mainboard is solder! After some jumpers and epoxy to keep the board still it ran again.

More cheap junk from china.....

OMG! I noticed the way the pots mounted to the chassis; but, I didn't look to see if there was anything holding them on besides the solder.

If I fixed something like that for someone, I'd tell them that it was working again for the moment; but, I couldn't guarantee how long it would last. I'd also advise them not to spend any more repair money on it.

The last "replica" that I attempted to fix was a late '90's-early 2000's era Thomas table model radio/phonograph/side mounted cassette player. The only thing that worked was the radio and it sounded worse than a cheap '60's pocket radio. the tape player and the turntable both had defective motors; which, were not available. I ended up giving the guy a '60's Newcomb tube type classroom record player and he was very happy after that. I ended up giving the Thomas to someone to use for a radio.

As far as the turntable in the Crosley, I've seen basically the same one in the cheapest of "all in one" stereo's from the late '80's and '90's. The only difference was that the older ones only had two speeds.

And, I got a good laugh out of all the online reviews from people who thought this thing was great. If these people ever heard a properly restored '50's hi-fi record player, they'd probably sing a different tune. However, if the buying public really wants this junk, that's fine with me as I'll be happy to take those old broken down, obsolete Webcor, Zenith, RCA, Motorola, VM, etc. phonographs off their hands.

I found a similar one at the thrift store one time, only it had a CD player too.
The CD didn't work, the Phono sounded terrible and the lack of quality was completely appalling, insulting really.

I gave it back to the thrift store.

My old $10 Califone School record player sounds far better and will last forever.

These pieces of junk are on ebay all the time. The ones in the oak veneered case say classic rerpro Crosley, made of the same quality materials as always.
Yep. I think so... GAR BAGE!!

I know someone who swears by this crap. I've heard it on the phone. Tinny, and, running about 10 percent fast.
Bill Cahill

These things are junk pure and simple.
It's hard to imagine someone shelled out $149+ for it when it was new!,especially when you consider they could have bought a nice vintage unit off eBay for less.

The sad part is my parents bought me one for $99 once. Was a Detrola or something like that, after two years the tape player sounded like was under water, the CD drawer wouldn't shut properly, the dial light burned out, and finally the switch gave out. Never bothered to fix it, though I do still have it. I was always curious why these "retro" record player reproduction things don't come with record changers, made it really annoying when I'd try to play 45's...

Actually, they do make some with record changers. Several years ago, Crosley came out with the "stack-o-matic" (or, "junk-o-matic" to us). I've never seen one in person; but, I think the record changer is belt driven and the design is based on some of the last run BSR changers. Of course, I'm sure these newer changers are built even cheaper than a BSR.

You guys should have seen the high end Shure wireless microphone I just repaired. The volume pot was soldered to the circuit board, which was mounted to the chassis. The pot also was mounted to the chassis with its nut and bushing. So any flexing of the chassis (thin sheet metal with a right angle bend between) or a shock stressed the solder joints. You guessed it, resoldering restored proper operation.

I told the owner if it happens again I will solder little wires from the pot so the solder doesn't have to be stressed.

I have a Magnavox turntable from a cheap stereo that is so minimalistic it rivals that Crosley. I should post a pic and you can see if you want it. It's even belt driven.

I hate to say this, but this unit is not stereo, and to make matters worse, the build and (from what I have read in these posts) the sound quality besmirches the name of Powel Crosley (founder of the TV and radio manufacturing firm of the 1950s which bore his name) several hundred times over. (My folks' second TV was a 1955 Crosley "Super V" that was built much, much better and more solidly, and even sounded better due to the large speaker in the base of the cabinet, than the "Crosley" phonograph we are discussing here.) Take a look at the photo of the innards. It has two speakers, but one of those speakers is simply connected directly to the other via two unshielded leads, with nothing in between. There is no stereo balance control, either, another tipoff that this is just mono with two speakers. I think this unit is one of those cheap things that is advertised as "stereo" just to be impressive, and to raise the price insanely high. Even if this were a true stereo phonograph, the speakers, as has been noted, are not spaced nearly far enough apart from each other to achieve any degree of separation. It was probably intended for children or teenagers with tin ears, who do not care beans about sound quality -- all they care about is that the unit will play their favorite records (this was obviously marketed some time before CDs made vinyl all but obsolete). With a tiny IC amplifier putting out 100mW at most, I'm sure this will not satisfy anyone who likes listening to music at eardrum busting volume; however, again, there is probably more than enough distortion at maximum volume to make any teenager happy, as most rock is just noise anyway -- the more distortion, the better.

I wonder myself why this phonograph was built without an internal hard-wired power supply, but I guess I shouldn't, considering how cheaply made the unit is. I doubt if it could run on batteries (I did not see a battery compartment anywhere inside the cabinet), as the phono motor itself (let alone the amplifier) probably draws enough current to sap a set of batteries after just one or two records. If this were a quality-built system, it would have been designed, as noted, among other things, with an internal power supply -- not a 12-volt detachable wall wart which, also as noted, is all too easily misplaced or even lost. The phono motor in the one we are discussing may well be a cheap Pacific Rim import as well, with soft metal bearings that will wear out after just a few plays (it may be no wonder there is so much pitch distortion in this one), and the plastic turntable -- oh, please! Don't try to play expensive records on this thing unless you want to see them ruined in a hurry. It's bad enough the electronics are little better than a cheap transistor radio, but to put an uncovered hard plastic turntable in this ... I can't see it. However, you get what you pay for. This phono probably isn't worth much more than the $5 the OP originally paid for it, and it certainly isn't worth the price it probably sold for when it was new, three years ago.

It looks to me that the unit is indeed stereo.... there are enough wires in the bundle running to a point between the two speakers, where the split occurs. The volume control and tone control both appear to be dual section pots. Cheap, but IMHO it is stereo.

My guess is this is made for the "nostalgia crowd" no teenager would give this item a second look, in this day of iPods. :D

The use of the "wall wart" is really a cheap trick, since when UL approved wall warts are used to supply power, I believe it is unnecessary to test the entire unit.

This piece of junk is still being sold on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Crosley-CR49-T...97890197&sr=8-

Not Affiliated,
jr

It is a stereo unit; but, like has already been said, the speakers are so small and so close together that there's not much seperation. I'll take the sound quality of my early '60's Newcomb MONO TUBE TYPE classroom record player any day of the week over this modern "STEREO" player.

Believe it or not, I still see these (and other similar) players on ebay and some people still are paying what I'd consider to be an obscene price for such a POS. Obviously, these people are not aware of what they're getting. Otherwise, they wouldn't give two cents for one of these.

Yes, the Newcomb slays it handily. Lousy way to honor the memory of Powel Crosley, a fine innovator.

My aunt gives me a Crosley reproduction unit every year for Christmas. When I got the first one, I made the mistake of saying I liked it very much (what else was I supposed to say??). So every year since (almsot 20 years now), I get some Crosley product. I received the CR-49 a couple years ago, appears identical to the OP's. It took up square footage in the basement, unused, until a couple months ago, where I advertised it on Craig's List for $40. I got a response within 24 hours from a middle aged lady who wanted to show her kids "how records worked". She promptly showed up to buy it, and I felt bad for sellling her overpriced junk, so I told her I'd take only $20 for it, instead of the $40 she had in her hand. I don't know if I'm a nice guy or an idiot! :scratch2:

I've got a Philco branded turntable,cd and cassette all in one in the shop built like this. I'm regretting taking this thing in. I had no idea it was gonna be this piece of crap when the guy called the tv shop and said "Do you fix phonographs?" I was hoping it was gonna be something from the 50s or 60s.

The cd player drawer was giving him trouble. To take this piece of crap apart you remove the bottom panel. The back doesn't come off at all. Then there is a board right in the middle holding the cd player.Had to remove the escutchion and control panel screws and slide out as far as it would go with a right angle amp,function board in tow.It's hardwired to the cassette deck and seperately mounted so you can' slide it all the way out. To gain access to a couple of the cd player section connectors to unplug them you have to remove the plasic turntable. The cd player is held in with screws and you have to finagle it out the larger hole on the side of the center board.

The grease they used has turned to a honey like consistency so I had to degrease it and relube it. The belt was slipping before and covered with that grease which had migrated to it. These cheap players are extremely finicky about the belt. I use a slightly thicker belt only a tiny bit smaller than the original and the piece of crap doesn't have enough motor torque to close and load the cd without help.Thinking of trying the original degreased belt with the new lube to see if that works after disassembling it for the 3rd time.:rant:

This guy says he plays a lot of records. Poor records.:sigh:

Just today I was playing some Beatles records on my KLH30 I paid all of $2 for at an auction and a pair of Technics 10" woofer 3 ways($5 at a yard sale) at the shop while I was working on this "thing" and thinking if that guy heard that playing next to his his he would be shocked.

KLH used a cheap version Garrard changer in their units but it's worlds better quality than that Philco.

You guys decry the Chinese made junk but the Americans are no slouches when it comes to manufacturing crap. Sometimes I think they only do it to prove they can make it for almost nothing.

In the 50s and 60s you could buy a piece of furniture called a stereo that had the lousiest electronics they could put in. Very unserviceable with sloppy wires connecting various chassis units. Packard Bell, Magnavox, many others. The audio fans avoided those things and opted for separates with plugs and jacks and power transformers and sealed speakers and magnetic cartridges.

Probably the worst were units like Morse Electrophonic and Lloyds and a few other brands that are best forgotten. Mostly Japanese assembled because they worked cheaper than Americans could.

Money rules. It's the bottom line on everything sold.

Now, try to repair that stuff. Even if repair were straightforward, the cost of parts is ridiculous. You can buy another unit for the cost of two or three parts. I have had to toss coffee pots in the trash because the replacement carafe cost more than a new one. Look at the price of a replacement bowl for a Mixmaster.

But the answer is simple. Just blame the repair man for gouging.

Hmmm...never had quality problems with Magnavox and PB stereos...

I agree with what you say about Morse/Electrophonic and Lloyds. However, even those pieces of junk are better than a modern Crosley. Actually, my first real stereo was an Electrophonic "all-in-one" 8-track/radio/BSR record changer combo with the matching "air suspension" speakers. I paid $2 for it at a church rummage sale and it sounded much better than the tinny sounding late '60's Westinghouse record player that I had been using. It had a round, green backlit dial and the BSR changer was one of those with a plastic platter and a tetrad ceramic cartridge.

The only '50's/'60's tube console stereo and hi-fi units that really irritate me are the ones that use a hot chassis with a 50C5 based output stage. Often, these are in larger cabinets that would make one think that there would be a power transformer driven chassis inside.

I've got a small Packard-Bell tube console from the early '60's that I want to fix. It's nothing special; but, PB stereo's never show up around here. This one has a single "tone" control, instead of seperate bass and treble controls. However, the amp uses a power transformer and I think it uses a 6BM8 output tube for each channel. The record changer is a typical VM built unit with a ceramic cartridge.

I've got a wonderful Pilot "Portable " hi-fi. Large, and, weighs a ton!
Power transformer driving two 6V6 tubes, 2 12AX7 and, a 5Y3 rectifier...
It has bass, treble, selector, RIAA , etc... You can plug a radio into it.
Has a Garard 4 spd. changer with a GE VR cartridge.
Bill Cahill

I'll bet that Pilot sounds amazing.

The only bad news with it is even though the speakes have been proffessionally rebuilt, on the deepest notes, the woofer likes to honk.
External speakers, which you can connect to it, don't honk.
The sound is FANTASTICK!
Deep, resonant bass, and, great high frequencies.
Great scratch filter in this set.
According to sams, it puts out 15 watts of audio.
I consider this to be among the best in portable hi-fi sets.
Bill Cahill

There's ALWAYS been "Bottom Dwellers", its just a shame the "Big Boys" finally succumbed to it. And it ultimately DIDN'T save them. Too bad they didn't have the attitude of Atwater-Kent, just shut down while they were on top, rather than spew out crap.

I restored one of those for a customer. PT-105 I think is the model number. It was an amazing sounding piece for its size. I think the only thing the owner didn't have was the legs to have it be a floor standing piece.

Come on.Magnavox ain't that bad. I've got one of those big cabinets you describe and a so called "portable" suitcase Magnavox phono from the 60s and they're lots better than this crap.

Granted they weren't state of the art but at least the masses got a lots better unit than this when they went for a combo or portable.The bass and sound output of either of my Magnavoxes put this thing to shame.

As I suspected after I fixed the cd player when i tried the phono it sounded like crap. I had to put the same record on the KLH to recover from listening to that. My Mickey Mouse kiddie phono sounds better.

I'm glad I stripped it. It's toast. Interesting. The mannufacture date was Aug., 2005. Shows the quality of this carp....
I love Magnavox. My 1946 Maggy is only a 30 watt, no seperate chassis. But, it performs very well, with deep, resonnent bass.
But, the Pilot, "OH, you kid!".
My pilot is portable. Yeh, sure, right! It weighs a ton!
Black case. Leather carry handle.
Plastic grill in front.
To keep the woofer magnet from interfering, they placed an aluminum tube shield over one of the 6V6 tubes, which is right next to the speaker.
Alot of caps in this set.
When I find the pictures, I'll post the restoration of it for you.
Bill Cahill

Yeah.My Maggie suitcase w/detachable speakers is supposed to be portable. It's portable alright. Heavy as lead and it has a nice sound to it and good bass response. No tubes though,all solid state since it's from the mid 60s.

I'd love to see the pictures of your Pilot restoration. My Maggie suitcase basically worked as is and havent done a thing except replace the needle.I had to clean out all the old grease and relube my 1960 console Imperial changer but this Micromatic from the mid 60s just worked.No idler slippage, no problems with the change cycle.I haven't used it for a while and it's in the closet but I bet if I dug it out it would still work fine.

Phooey! They aren't in this computer. I'll have to look for them in old one.
Sorry. I'll get them as soon as I can.
Bill Cahill

stack o matic
 

There is a video on youtube of a stack o matic . The guy threw out the changer it came with and put a vintage 70's BSR changer in it. witch he says works much better. To my ears the vintage portables sound so much better. Ill take my magnavox and audiotronics players anyday over crosley.

I looked at Photobucket, and, found some of my early pictures of restoration of my Pilot. Here they are.....
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...othi-fi005.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...othi-fi001.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...othi-fi002.jpg
When I get a chance, I'll take updated pictures of it now. It's complete, and, playing.
I'm not happy with the spkr. system, though.
It will take external speakers.
Bill Cahill

Would you believe that shortly after getting it playing it started making a loud popping sound in the spkrs.? I looked, and one of the 12AX7's was flashing wildly. I tested it, and, one section had a plate to cathode short, intermittent. Nasty stuff.
Fidelity is excellent, and, I love RIAA scratch filter.
Sorry it took so long, guys.
Bill Cahill

you are correct. i would not take those in at my shop for repair. pure junk and some people were still paying on them. steve

The junk thats made is depressing, almost just wanna ay save the resources and build something worth while.....califone FTW, indestructable classroom turntables, people would be better off with one of those....or one of the fisher price players from the 80's...i wish i still had mine! pretty decent units, i was hard on mine and it never gave up

I still have one of those Fisher-Price record players with a broken cartridge holder. It has some type of oddball safety screws that hold the case together and I have no idea what kind of tool it takes to open it. If I could get it open, I could probably fix the tonearm.

They make saftey screw bit sets, all those off ball screw bits in one box...and i think you can still get the needle on the interwebs

Yeah, it takes the single-tipped version of the Astatic 89T plug-in power point cartridge. It has a spring loaded cartridge holder that's supposed to retract if the tonearm is dropped on a record.