I passed on an Admiral 30A1
 

Dang it, I found an Admiral 30A1 in an antique store today, $150.
It was all there except for the back but the wood cabinet needed some serious work.

It was pretty solid and the undamaged areas actually looked nice but it had seen some moisture at some point because the right side was delaminated top and bottom and would have to be glued and re veneered, the left side was much better but both sides were pulling away from the center at the bottom and would have to be glued and clamped, probably not difficult because I was able to pull them together by hand pretty well.
There was also a large chunk out of the left front bottom area, again patchable but more work.

I got them to offer it for $125 and agreed if the CRT tested good, well, it didn't, I even cooked it at 8 volts for a couple minutes but it dropped right back down to bad.
If the cabinet had been in good shape I might have still bought it but that and a bad CRT was just too much wrong for $125.

After seeing one of these in person though I now really want one, very nice little sets!

Sorry, to hear that. Was it like the set in front or back right ?

I'm in a similar boat with this set. The cabinet is falling apart and needs reveneering. CRT is good though.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3515/5...1f70d215_z.jpg

It was like the front one, dual chassis, it actually looked better than yours overall but the delaminating was pretty bad on the side, I could see the rear bracing needed regluing too.

If the CRT was good I wouldn't mind fixing the cabinet, and the opposite, if the cabinet was good I'd wait to find a CRT for it but at that price I wouldn't do both. :no: If it was $75 then maybe, if it's still there in a month or two maybe she'll come down more.

I have the blond version of this set. Is there a good link on restoration of the blond out there somewhere?
Or I could part with it without too much sadness. The cabinet has a little bug damage on the bottom of the feet but otherewise it's in good shape. Theres no back on it. The missing little strip on the cabinet face was replaced. The CRT is in the set and if I remember right it's good but not great. PM me if your interested.

Eric: Here's a photo of my 30B1. I think there's not a tremendous difference between it and the 30A1.

The most obvious difference is in the center and orientation of the center square in the speaker grill, and the cabinet finish.

Just a little clarification. 30A1 / 30B1 are just the chassis. There are a dozen or so models that use those chassis ranging from big combos to TV only models.

Restoring the blond finish or the TV chassis inside ? I don't know of anyone who has done a complete refinishing of a limed oak cabinet.
I have some damage on mine I hope to just touch up with artist paint then spray on a few new coats of lacquer.