Curtis Mathes circa 1980
 

Does anyone have or know of any circa 1980 Curtis Mathes sets? I saw this first one at a dealer when i was a kid of course my parents thought the two thousand dollar price tag was too high. But it had everything. You don't see warranties like that anymore. It's a monster but there has to be a few left.

They still turn up; but, these did not survive the test of time like RCA, Zenith, and other brands from the same era. Despite the impressive warranty and the high price tag, these sets were really no better than anything else out there. In some cases, they were not as good as cheaper sets from more common brands.

The CM stuff from the tube era was more impressive; but, by the time solid state TV's became popular, CM started using a cheap imported NEC-built chassis and the stereo and speakers were usually low end imported junk from either Taiwan or Korea. The cabinets were usually particleboard and plastic.

Some of their late '80's consoles were actually rebadged RCA's, with a higher price tag than one could have bought the same RCA badged set for.

By the mid '90's, they were plastering their name on Zenith sets with those horrible CRT's.

Those CM combination TV/stereo consoles were very popular among rent-to-own stores. I was seeing a lot of CM sets in the '90's and many of them had bad CRT's or other major problems. And, it was often hard to get service information or parts for these sets.

I remember a cheap 19" metal cased TG&Y brand color TV that used the same NEC chassis as a CM 19" set; but, the TG&Y set was much cheaper.

If you still want a CM set, they can still be found if you look hard enough; but, make sure it works before you bring it home. If it does not work, you may be in for a real headache.

I saw one of those big two-tier C-M's at a thrift several years ago. The CRT looked like puke. They were asking $225.00 for it. Someone actually bought it.
They probably lusted for it in the store, when it was new.
The rent to own stores had C-M sets badged as Colortyme and Rutherford.

I saw one of the big combos in a Thrift a couple years ago, it was dated mid 70's as I recall.

It was in good condition but it was also in a really nasty Particle board cabinet covered with really cheap looking contact paper type veneer, some of the edges were peeling, the TV has a plain looking tube mask and just looked bottom of the line, though I suspect it was marketed as "High End"

The Stereo Components like the Turntable & 8-Track were really cheap looking, like Yorx or Soundesign cheap looking.

I have an early 60's B&W CM and it's quite well made, it's still Particle board but it very dense PB and it has real wood veneer over it so it's quite strong.

It weighs a ton for a B&W set, mostly because of the thick, dense PB construction.

I worked on a Magnavox with a T995 chassis, that had a cabinet like that. A heavy beast of a particle board cabinet with walnut wall paper on it. If it had casters on it, I don't know. It sure moved hard on the rug.

when i was in the basement business,i was offered several of theses cm units.all were rent a centers and somehow they found there way into the basement.cabinets were ruined and they didnt work.at least a dozen in 3-4 years i can remember

A few years ago, someone gave me a '74 CM combo that came out of a house they were cleaning out. It had a particleboard and plastic cabinet and the whole thing weighed a ton. It used an NEC-built solid state modular chassis that had more wrong with it than I cared to fix. The 23V Westinghouse delta gun CRT was dead as a doornail. The fine stereo consisted of a plastic BSR record changer, a cheap imported receiver and 8-track tape player, and cheap imported speakers.

The problem: if its light Americas will think its cheaply built. if its too heavy it will cost to much to ship, need to keep cost down and profits up.

Answer: particle board base with plastic sides

That sounds exactly like the one I was talking about.

I serviced the NEC/CM/Colortyme sets. Don't sit anything wet on the cabinet! It will soak into the particle board fast.

The NEC sets were OK in their time. They managed to usually last the rental period OK. Those Zenith CRT's were always being replaced by my facility. I bought rebuilt tubes from a local electronics distributor at the time that are still looking good today.

I've got a customer today with one of the last Delta tube CM sets that weighs a TON and is misery to service. It had a blown fuse when I first looked at it... replaced it, and 10 years later, it's still running. About 7 years ago, I replaced the CRT in it. I'm really surprised at how good the ole thing still looks.

Customers grandkids use it in their playroom, and it's got 2 videogame consoles connected to it, besides a satellite dish.

Last time I had a look at it, I touched up the convergence, and adjusted the purity for the first time since the tube replacement.

The only reason I'm still working on this set is the fact that I was willing to have a look at it for its owner in the first place, after the local CM dealer around here shut down years ago.

Apparently everyone here only appreciates a tv made after 1930.

Well, this is the rectangular TV forum...

I've seen a few 1940's sets, but none from 1930. I've got a couple of 1930 radios...

Today is Saturday night 7/21/12. It's 10:31pm. I'm going on Monday to have a look at the CM set mentioned in my previous post. This could be the end, as it was on when a particularly bad storm came thru the other night. It's not working... Maybe just a fuse....:thmbsp:

For real?

That would cover about 99.999999% of them

i am a sucker for 80's vintage console sets ... here is a link that shows 3 CM sets and an old Emerson ... gave away the console on the right side in picture but still have the 13" set and the set it is sitting on ... the little set works great, the console hasn't been powered on in forever


... and for what it's worth ... if I could magically transport either of the 2 remaining CM set to you(or anyone else who wants them) I would do it in a heartbeat ... the little set is shippable-although costly I would guess :-(

http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=247337

When I was selling used color sets in the 70's-1991, I bought used and usually non working CM's from a CM dealer. I actually liked them as they were easy fixer uppers and had plenty of parts for them. Chassis' were made by NEC and the most common problem beside weak CRT's was a shorted HO transistor in these trade ins. I also worked in a local picture tube rebuilding facility so I always got $30 rebuilt CRT's! At that time I would easily sell used CM's for around $200+ with a warranty. Many people still call me "The TV man"!

Because of the hype CM was advertising of "being darn well worth it" (5 year warranty), they were easy sells and probably sold several hundred over a 10 year period. I made good money on them back then on sales and repairs. They were very easy to fix.

I still have the factory TM's for the 51, 53 and the 58 chassis'. They were well written and had a wonderful easy flow chart to follow for problems.

Can you show us a picture of your magnavox ctc-4?

I remember reading about those warranties back when these devices were still being sold. As you can see if you read it, the warranty covers parts only, NOT any labor! :saywhat:

Magnavox CTC4
 

I rent an old storefront on Central St here in Knoxville that is about 1000 SF. It provides very dry storage and it is so full that a pathway down the center of it barely exists! The Maggie was one of the first items (in left rear) in 21 years ago, is somewhat visible and I have an RCA TK42 sitting on top of it of all things. (cabinet protected) When the temperature tones down a little I think I can move some stuff and get a picture of it. It is buried in there with many other TV's and there has to be at least 7-8 CTC5's in there of many cabinet styles found over the years. Zenith 29JC20 remote, Motorola first rectangular 23EGP22 set, other nice RCA's rescued from the dump and thrift stores. 1000's of RCA & Zenith NOS parts & at least 20,000 tubes NOS and used, chassis', 2 dozen Portacolors or so, Predictas, other studio cameras and you name it.

Oh the pain of it! I need to move it to a larger building and this is only one (the smallest) of 4 places I have stuff packed away not including my house & old house and present house where better stuff exists. I'm afraid I will have to build a place to display it all. Chuck Pharris came over one day and took pictures. Perhaps I can get him to post those pictures some way. The CTC4 is not forgotten, just difficult at the moment.

BTW, any volunteers care to come down and help me to organize it???

Beside pinball machines in there, there are 4 NOS video games in there--Space Invaders, Space Invaders Deluxe, Asteroids and Asteroids Deluxe. I think I need to have a clean out of non TV related stuff!!

When are we going to see the pictures of the magnavox? Can you not find some volunteers to help or hire someone. I live too far away or i would help.

Right!? Me too... :D