Quote:
Originally Posted by jstout66
I remember the ad, which I LOVED. "Ahhhh Sylvania beat Sony AGAIN?"
I DO have story when they were new. In the 79-81 time period, we sold Philco, which was a rebadged Sylvania. We were a Zenith dealer, and had to carry a secondary brand so as not to lose a sale (Zenith's were about the most expensive set at the time). We had carried a few other secondary brands over the years, and we would not fire them up next to a Zenith, because the Zenith picture would make the set look like crap, no matter how well adjusted it was. When we got those rebadged Sylvania's we discovered NOT to fire em up side by side, because that was the only set I ever saw that WOULD look as good, if not better than a CC2. It's because like the Sylvania's, they used that dark faced tube. However, as most have us have discovered, that tube was NOT long lasting. It averaged about a 5 year life span. A Trinitron tube you could get about 10 years. There are exceptions to the above, and I think people bag on Sony ( me included) because for the premium price you paid, one would think the tube would have lasted longer, but I agree with you somewhat... a Sony of that era out of the box looked fantastic, but I don't think the picture was any better than a Zenith Chromacolor out of the box.
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I will comment on the GT-Matics then Super Sets. Long time ago
so dont hold me to dates etc.
GT matics were abt 1974. There were 2 chassii a non modular E08 IIRC
& a 3 board job with delta guns for top of line 19" & 25". I believe they
were the first sets with a countdown ckt for hoz & vert thus eliminating
hoz & vert holds. You could get the "Dark Light" CRT in better models
from 13" - 25". The pix could be spectacular, if a scene was black its
WAS BLACK not grey. . Its all in the face coatings & I think how hard they drove them as said. The delta jugs didnt last as long as the in lines on the cheaper sets, I would guess because the deltas were old designs
being run at there limits. All & all a very good set & 10% less
than Zenith & RCA, 20% less than Sony, a break even......
Trade names like System 3, Colortrac, etc went on sets that had a
list of "musts" to get the name. IIRC the Super Set was an updated GT-Matic. It probably "needed" RAT tuning, comb filter, dark-light
CRT etc to earn the name.
As for pix quality its mostly personal taste then actual specs.
I have had folks that hated there new sets pix even though the
old set had a near dead CRT. We would have to back them way off
& make them look crappy.
73 Zeno
