View Full Version : Best picture on a tube color tv?
freakaftr8 12-15-2009, 09:05 PM Hey all,
Out of all my tube console 23" tv's I have found my 23" RCA CTC-17's have the best picture and the best DC restore per all my sets. The worst of mine would probably have to be my Heathkit GR 295. The Zenith's I have have a great picture but alot of DC loss, like a bright raster with a face would be almost black.. I have fussed with alot of adjustments and complete alignment. Still the 17 superceedes every aspect. Whats your guys thoughts?
DaveWM 12-15-2009, 10:17 PM I will let you know when I get my CTC 17 fired up, still sitting patiently waiting for me to give it some attention. I love the CTC 16 color, just wish the cataract was not so bad. Still thinking cabinet ideas. For now I am leaning on a simple rectangle with the speaker mounted on the front left (facing tv) to balance out the controls on the right. Not a thing done on the 17 but for the CRT test. I will of course check its B+ and do the reg startup routine hope by new years (work is kicking up, bean counter season if full swing).
jpdylon 12-16-2009, 01:07 AM I had a 70' magnavox 23" that had a fairly good picture. I still haven't had a set that out does the picture on my CTC-11c (Thank you shawn!)
The 67 Zenith I had (which I traded shawn in part for the 11) gave a very good picture as well. However Nothing I've owned yes has outdone the 11 - especially in pastels. It has the sulfide tube (greenish phosphors) i think. I wonder how much better it would get with the earth phosphor tube :scratch2:
freakaftr8 12-16-2009, 01:15 AM Sweet! That 11 put out a really good picture, I bet it's twice as good now that you have worked on her and tweaked the fine tuning.
Sandy G 12-16-2009, 01:22 AM I remember the 1965 Zenith roundie my grandaddy had-& that I have now-had a very good picture, especially when it was fed a good signal to work with....I've GOT to get it to Terry's sometime....
zenithfan1 12-16-2009, 11:22 AM I have to agree with you Sandy, I have a '65 with the 25MC33 chassis and it's hard to beat the picture on that set.
sampson159 12-16-2009, 11:41 AM my ctc15 with the vdc tube is killer.also i have a zenith rectangular with a rebuilt crt that really puts out a fine picture.never heard of the tube rebuilder though.got it in a trade with bob (ampicokid).the best picture i ever saw on a tube tv-in a furniture store around 1974.zenith hybrid,absolutly flawless.to this day,i remember that zenith.saw some pretty good d-16 sylvanias,but that zenith was hands down the best picture i ever saw.
ctc17 12-16-2009, 04:56 PM Out of my collection the RCAs are better. The Zenith sets have a good picture, it just seems more noisy than the RCAs. My Zenith 25mc36 comes pretty close but the RCA still has an edge. Its not a crt thing, its more like static or to much sharpening/peak picture
The only complaint I have about the RCA sets is they all seem to require some V Hold adjustment as they warm up.
truetone36 12-16-2009, 06:02 PM My Zenith 20CC50 has a great picture, but my CTC-15 looks best to me.
bgadow 12-16-2009, 10:42 PM The 4-tube Zenith 19" CC I used to have was very impressive to me-overall it might take the cake for tube color sets. Among sets I have now, the CTC-15 does a very nice job, the best of my roundies I'd say. My '70 DuMont doesn't do too bad, probably because it has so few hours.
freakaftr8 12-17-2009, 12:40 AM Yeah, im sure hours on the set have something to do with picture quality too, component drift can cause problems.
bgadow 12-17-2009, 10:01 PM One of the nicest pictures I've ever seen, bar none, was on the NOS XL100 that sampson159 has. I remember that he was talking to me, but all I was doing was staring at that great picture!
kx250rider 12-18-2009, 10:09 AM 19" Zenith 4-tube hybrid! (#2 any 19" Zenith Chromacolor II with delta gun tube)
Charles
compucat 12-18-2009, 11:05 AM I have to agree with you Sandy, I have a '65 with the 25MC33 chassis and it's hard to beat the picture on that set.
Same here. My Zenith with the 25MC33 chassis is my favorite color TV in the house. It has great build quality, stunning picture. It is hard to beat.
jstout66 12-18-2009, 11:23 AM Same for me (19" Zenith 4 tube hybrid) Zenith must have had it "going on" when they cranked those out.
Zenith26kc20 12-18-2009, 12:17 PM When I had my Motorola with the TS-905 chassis running (way long time ago) I really enjoyed the color on the 21axp22. It was a cantankerous beast but color was good!
Would love to see another one. Mine was finally given up on when i got a Zenith 26KC20 in the late 60's.
We all regret getting rid of that "special" one....
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