Hi;
Just came across an interesting looking Hoffman TV. The brand Hoffman is well off of my radar screen and I know very little about them, so I thought I'd poll some of the pros to see what the general consensus would be about the brand and this set in particular.

Here are the particulars that I know....it's a model BR-3873, black and white set that looks to be about late 1950's to early 1960's. It also happens to be a remote control set as well. Here's a photo of the front.

http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu143/ampico-kid/Hoffman.jpg

According to the owner the cabinet is in very good condition, all parts are intact, it hasn't been "tested", and so the condition (and the crt in particular) is unknown. The asking price is $25 which is more than reasonable if it's considered a worthwhile set. The only downside is the fact that it's located about 3 hours away.

So what do you all think?

Thanks.
Bob

Well, a remote Hoffman is like hen's teeth.

Hoffman was a west-coast manufacturer like Packard Bell. Some part of them is still in business. They shifted their focus away from consumer electronics sometime around 1970 give or take a few years.

I don't do B&W sets anymore (aside from something small like my VT-71), but I would spring for that one since it has a remote and I actually really like the cabinet design.

To me this is sort of an oddity in the fact that the cabinet does indeed look late fifties to very early sixties, but the viewing area screams late sixties or seventies with what I call a second generation rectangular crt. Nearly all CRTs in the mid and late fifties had the more rounded corners and most often a separate flat safety glass. Take a good look at the insides of this set before you buy it because honestly, to me it looks as if it could possibly be a "retro" retro-fit job. In other words it looks like someone in the seventies with a taste for the popularity of fifties nostalgia at the time might have decided to mount a solid state or hybrid color set up in a vintage cabinet. It would have been the thing to do back in those days rather than try to resurrect the old B&W chassis and tube which was just junk back then. Heck it could have been a young Harry Poster job! Who knows? I hope that I am completely off base and it is simply a set made by a company that was way ahead of its time. It could be exactly like the Edsel!

To me this is sort of an oddity in the fact that the cabinet does indeed look late fifties to very early sixties, but the viewing area screams late sixties or seventies with what I call a second generation rectangular crt. Nearly all CRTs in the mid and late fifties had the more rounded corners and most often a separate flat safety glass. Take a good look at the insides of this set before you buy it because honestly, to me it looks as if it could possibly be a "retro" retro-fit job. In other words it looks like someone in the seventies with a taste for the popularity of fifties nostalgia at the time might have decided to mount a solid state or hybrid color set up in a vintage cabinet. It would have been the thing to do back in those days rather than try to resurrect the old B&W chassis and tube which was just junk back then. Heck it could have been a young Harry Poster job! Who knows? I hope that I am completely off base and it is simply a set made by a company that was way ahead of its time. It could be exactly like the Edsel!


I think we may have an Edsel here....take a look at this picture of a 1959 Hoffman tv on the left with a model number of B3683 compared to the one I'm looking at on the right with a model number of BR3873. They both appear to have the same rectangular crt and a very similar cabinet and control layout. But you're right that the squareness of the corners on the crt does look out of place for the cabinet style.........Bob

http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu143/ampico-kid/RadioMuseumHoffman.jpg http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu143/ampico-kid/Hoffman.jpg

IIRC, by 1961 the old 17" and 21" tubes had mostly given way to the new squared corner 19" and 23" designs. Shell bonded implosion protection dates from 1959.
jr

I definitely know nothing about them, but it certainly strikes me as pretty unique. It's a fairly attractive cabinet and it's just antiquated enough to be interesting, but also demonstrates some forward-thinking. Does the owner actually have the original remote to go with it? I think early remote controls, especially the type that actuated some type of motor to turn the channel selector, are very cool. It all depends on your personal tastes but it might be worth the drive.

My vote: :yes:

If it's a remote that early, it must be a wired remote running a motorized tuner and perhaps motorized volume control. If so, and if missing, it would not be hard to make up a control box for it with some buttons and a long cord.

I did neglect to mention that the original remote is included with the sale. Bob

I did neglect to mention that the original remote is included with the sale. Bob

Well then, that clinches it. It's a "yea" from me, I really like it and the remote being with it along with the good cosmetic condition makes it worthwhile IMHO. AND it's an oddball, those are always fun to have.:yes:

If you only had a spot for a nice remote set... maybe a Sylvania...lol

I have several of the Hoffman "Easy Vision" TVs with the green tinted safety glass, but with the exception of a portable, none as new as this one. What I can say about the more expensive "Mark V" chassis with a true FM limiter in the sound system, is that they are less suceptable to buzz from the strong DTV converter box signal than other sets(including the cheaper Hoffman models). I am not sure how long Hoffman used the limiter circuit.

If it's a remote that early, it must be a wired remote running a motorized tuner and perhaps motorized volume control. If so, and if missing, it would not be hard to make up a control box for it with some buttons and a long cord.

Zenith was selling wireless remote (Space Command) sets as early as the mid fifties; maybe earlier. The tuner was indeed motorized and the volume was controlled in something like three steps through the use of relays as was power and mute. The signal was simply generated by tuning forks of various lengths in the remote control that would be struck whenever a button was pushed. The sets remote receiving unit would react to the different sound frequencies and perform the task.

I think we may have an Edsel here....take a look at this picture of a 1959 Hoffman tv on the left with a model number of B3683 compared to the one I'm looking at on the right with a model number of BR3873. They both appear to have the same rectangular crt and a very similar cabinet and control layout. But you're right that the squareness of the corners on the crt does look out of place for the cabinet style.........Bob

http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu143/ampico-kid/RadioMuseumHoffman.jpg http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu143/ampico-kid/Hoffman.jpg

The one on the left, to me, looks like it has what I think of as a typical German/Euro crt look from the seventies and eighties. The glass sort of bulged out at you with very little or sometimes no mask. This is an interesting company! Perhaps they produced and sold world wide.:scratch2:

I say get it as well, any old tubed set with one of these old clickers is cool. I love my 61 RCA color set with remote, real complicated remote mechanicals that are almost like a car transmission with all the gears and reverse functions, and a large, separate remote amplifier. And the remote looks like a Star Trek weapon, I love it even more than the TV. This Hoffman is mighty pretty, I have a blonde Hoffman 600 (their first set I think) and the chassis is built like a tank. Can you post a pic of the remote if you pick the set up?

I say get it as well, any old tubed set with one of these old clickers is cool. I love my 61 RCA color set with remote, real complicated remote mechanicals that are almost like a car transmission with all the gears and reverse functions, and a large, separate remote amplifier. And the remote looks like a Star Trek weapon, I love it even more than the TV. This Hoffman is mighty pretty, I have a blonde Hoffman 600 (their first set I think) and the chassis is built like a tank. Can you post a pic of the remote if you pick the set up?

I've been in contact with the seller and made arrangements to pick up the set, probably within the next couple of weeks. I'll post some pictures of the TV and remote once it's back here in NJ.

Thanks for the comments and feedback.
Bob

I had a Zenith metal table top set in college many years ago that had the remote control chassis, but not the remote control. My dorm room was on the fourth floor of a dorm that had no elevator. It was hell carrying that set up four floors, but I was a poor college student at the time. (I am not sure why I did not at least remove the remote control chassis-an attack of supidness or something).

Last week we made the trip to Rhode Island to pick up the Hoffman set. It was a very long, but uneventful trip.

My only real disappointment is the fact that apparently there is a cover plate missing for the tuner assembly. It looks pretty ugly without it. I'm going to place a Want Ad in the Classified section. It's a longshot at best, but worth a try.

Other than that, the set and cabinet are in excellent condition. The crt tests like a new tube with emissions at the top of the scale and a cutoff point of over 16 seconds.

I haven't fired it up yet. I need to do some preliminary work on it before that can happen.

I haven't been able to find a listing for it in Sams, and it would also be nice to find some Hoffman literature containing some information about it. I'm not even sure of it's year of production, although I'd guess somewhere around 1960-61.

Here are a few pictures.......the Remote attaches to the front of the set just below the control panel.

It should be an interesting restoration.
Bob

http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu143/ampico-kid/DSC_0397.jpg


http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu143/ampico-kid/DSC_0399.jpg


http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu143/ampico-kid/DSC_0398.jpg


http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu143/ampico-kid/DSC_0400.jpg


http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu143/ampico-kid/DSC_0409.jpg


http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu143/ampico-kid/DSC_0406.jpg


http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu143/ampico-kid/DSC_0407.jpg


http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu143/ampico-kid/DSC_0403.jpg


http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu143/ampico-kid/DSC_0404.jpg


http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu143/ampico-kid/DSC_0405.jpg

Hey Bob, that picture is pretty sharp, but quite dim, especially on the bottom. And color too! LOL!

Hey Bob, that picture is pretty sharp, but quite dim, especially on the bottom. And color too! LOL!

Yes...that's one of the pitfalls of outdoor photography......at least I was smiling:thmbsp:

Bob,

Nice find. Looks like that remote is strictly on-off? The chassis #504 can be found in SAMS 500-1 which dates your set to 1960. I hope you can locate the missing cover plate for the tuner controls.

-Steve D.

Hi Bob, nice pictures of a set that looks like it may be low use, which can be a double edged sword depending on your expectations and repair capabilities. If a set was stored with NO use for several decades, I have found that they tend to need basically a complete re-cap from the get-go. In contrast, I have more than one set that has seen at least SOME use through the years and they work fine for the most part as is.

It's always worth a try to bring one up slow and see what happens. You never know! I'll tell ya again, that screen shape is pretty futuristic for 1960! Look it up; most models in 1960 still had the more rounded corners to the viewing area more like the 1950s. At fist sight I really thought that you might be getting ripped by someone who stuffed an old cabinet with a newer tube and chassis. Anyone can see from your pictures that it is all original. Those vertical mount chassis can be a bit of a pain. I have a mid-fifties Magnavox that has a very similar chassis. I like the way they mounted that LV rectifier in its own little nook standing straight up. Good engineering as I would say that heat dissipation would be the best at that location and the fact that it is above all other tubes makes it even better.

Nice set. It seems kind of rare for a set that age to have a "TV sound out" and external speaker jack, although lots of radios and TV's had phono inputs (most of which probably never got used.)

What's not to like here?? You have room for it? Buy it. Time from now you'll wish you would have bought it. This is a rare set.

What's not to like here?? You have room for it? Buy it. Time from now you'll wish you would have bought it. This is a rare set.

Hey Julian!!!

I did buy it..the posted pictures were taken in my garage after our trip home from Rhode Island.

Thanks to all for your input. I'll let you know how it goes when I bring it up on the Variac...
Bob

I started a thread about the missing part on this set as I just got a Hoffman parts TV with motorized tuning. However, my Hoffman is a few years older with a different cover. I will keep an eye out.

I started a thread about the missing part on this set as I just got a Hoffman parts TV with motorized tuning. However, my Hoffman is a few years older with a different cover. I will keep an eye out.
I use this set a lot and have been contemplating trying to fabricate some sort of a cover for it, but haven't been motivated enough to follow through with the idea.
Thanks...... I appreciate you keeping en eye out for me.