Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeffhs
BTW, the comment by RCA2000 about some 1979 Zenith TVs with stereo AM/FM radio and phono using cheap stereo components and chip-based amplifiers was interesting to me. What, if anything, is so bad about using an IC as a stereo power amplifier? After all, RCA used an integrated circuit in the sound sections of their better TVs as far back as the late '60s-early '70s, and made a point of such in the advertising for these sets. If anything, Zenith's chip-based stereo amplifiers should be even better than RCA's mono ones, in which the entire sound section (not just the amp, IIRC) is on the chip. Unless the chip used in 1979 Zenith combo sets was a dirt-cheap one that didn't put out more than a couple of watts into cheap speakers, their audio systems should, IMHO, run rings around RCA's first-generation IC-based audio circuits. Besides, the quality of Zenith TVs didn't start to go downhill until the late '80s; witness that this combo is housed in a heavy real wood cabinet. I don't think Zenith started using particle-board cabinets until at least 1990; the last two consoles they marketed, just after LG took them over and smashed their once-proud reputation to bits, were housed in PB cabinets with either cheap (ultra cheap) veneer or photo finish over the cheap wood.
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Well...the one I saw into in 2003 or so, was NOT very high power, maybe 5WPC or so, and the speakers were NOT very good either!! Maybe they were better than some others from that period, but I am comparing them to the "GOOD STUFF" Zenith stereo chassis like the ones from 1974 and before. Chassis # Like 6AT24, 6XT24 amp chassis, one--piece stereo chassis like 26X/YT20, 26YT21, the hybrid stereos like the 11LT825 and 8MT25 amp, and so on. ALL of them were hand-wired and LOOKED IMPRESSIVE!! Even the "cheaper" one-piece models then from say 1968, such as the 18YT20 and 20YT20, were STILL hand-wired and also looked and sounded nice. From about 1961--1974, Zenith made some nice-sounding AND nice LOOKING stereo chassis, SS and tube, both one-piece and some bigger ones with seperate amps. A LOT of people here know what I am talking about. I have one of the BIG Zenith stereos from 1971 with the 29AT24 tuner and 6AT24 amp, and a 15" 3-way speaker system. in a NICE, SOLID WOOD cabinet with the louvered speakers. I also have a 1968 Zenith console with the slightly lower priced-- and powered 26XT20 stereo chassis, but it still looks very nicely built.
But what I saw in that 79 model just disappointed me!! It DID look like a lloyds compact stereo or such, with a pair of TA7205-looking output chips, and not much of a power tranny either. Being used to the "nice" Zenith stereo chassis...I was deflated. I do believe that most of the " Allegro" type Zenith stereos were built much less heavy and were NOT "hand wired" "boilerplate" type construction--like the ones I love.
It is just my own opinion and what I like. The newer, plastic, chassis, tiny transformer and heat sink, compact stereo type chassis just don't interest me, at least not in a console stereo. That is why I am VERY selective abut the console stereos I seek. For every nice one--there are 9 JUNK ones out there, as far as I am concerned. I know others do not share my opinions--and that is fine--to each his own.