| Jeffhs |
02-13-2010 01:51 PM |
"Working" radio and television? I don't think so. The CRT will definitely have to be replaced, and even then the TV may not work properly (or at all) if it has other problems (shorted and/or leaky capacitors, off-value or open resistors, et al.), which I'm sure it does after 48 years.
I agree that the stereo tuner/amplifier chassis is probably, even likely, a transplant from a cheaper console. (I couldn't see a brand name for the stereo unit on the front panel.) Doesn't look at all like an original Admiral stereo. My best guess is that the original tuner/amp developed some serious problem(s) at some point, and the owner decided not to have it repaired. He or she then got hold of whatever cheap brand of stereo this chassis is from, perhaps did a bit of modification to the opening in the TV cabinet where the old tuner/amp was, and installed the cheap unit in there.
I also agree 1000 percent that the seller will not get nearly enough money from the sale of this thing to pay for even one semester of college. He or she will be lucky to get $10 for it, IMHO, in its present condition. If the television were working and the original stereo tuner/amp was still in place in the cabinet, the seller might have a fighting chance at getting a good price for it, but in its present condition, no way. This unit may be good for parts only, as 23" black-and-white CRTs are becoming scarce, and as I said earlier, who knows what else may be wrong with the television chassis--bad flyback, open or shorted power transformer, etc.? If it were me, I'd sell it for parts and set the opening bid accordingly.
BTW, the cabinet is in very bad shape. It will have to be stripped and refinished at the very least, and even then it may never look as good as it probably did when the system was new. The seller says there are no problems with the cabinet except for minor wear due to age. I don't think so. This cabinet has probably been sitting in a damp basement, garage, etc. for decades and used as a storage area, where no one really cared if they scratched the living heck out of it or not; after all, it was out of sight and the TV wasn't working, so why worry about the looks of the cabinet? I have seen far too many old TVs in the trash (mostly in my old neighborhood; no one much throws out old sets where I live now) in what once were fine wood cabinets; however, these cabinets were in many cases scratched, spilled on, doodled on, name it, to the point where, once they reached the trash, they were good for not much more than firewood. :no: One of the saddest stories I've heard so far regarding destruction of old radio cabinets was a few years ago, when a VK member described having picked up a Zenith C-845 radio the front panel and cabinet of which had been doodled on by thoughtless children. I don't know if that radio was ever restored to its original good looks; by the description of the destruction, I seriously doubt it, especially if the doodling was done with a magic marker--these leave indelible marks on anything, so once something, anything, is marked (intentionally, accidentally or otherwise) with one of these, the mark will be there forever.
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