Curtis Mathes Combo Find

[jstout66]

I purchased a newer (1989) Curtis Mathes Combo unit off Craigslist last night. I was surprised anyone was making Combo units this late.
It's an interesting set-up but CHEAP build quality. The set is only 43" wide (so not too huge considering it's a combo) It has a 25" cable-ready tv to the right, and a glass door on the left front, which when opened, features a 2 speed belt drive turntable, Am/Fm radio with presets, a graphic equalizer, and dual cassette deck with high speed dubbing.
My comments concerning build quality:
1) Nice cabinet design and no plastic
2) Stereo is CHEAP. It looks like one of those cheesy all in one units trying to pass off a component look. As a matter of fact, you can see the rubber feet on the bottom of it. Curtis Mathes must have taken a cheaper than cheap stereo unit and built it into this cabinet As a matter of fact, this set has 2 plug in's. One for the TV and one for the stereo.
3) TV does have a great picture, but TINNY mono sound. It also has the CHEAPEST user controls for picture I have EVER seen on a TV.

I was wondering, who made this for them? I don't think they were building their own in the 80's. I think in the 70's, NEC was building sets for them.
Remember the late 70's ad campaign "Curtis Mathes... Expensive, and darn well worth it" Great ad, but total lie.
Then in the 80's Curtis Mathes was known for rental center sets, which is probably the era this one is.
Oh well... it was an interesting novelty set. I probably should have gotten a "true" combo that I passed on a few weeks ago at an estate sale. There was a 60's WORKING Maggie Combo for $15.00. I passed on it because at 73" long it would have been a chore to shoehorn it in my Pathfinder, and when I lifted a corner of it, I nearly had a stroke. Those were HEAVY suckers!

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by jstout66

I purchased a newer (1989) Curtis Mathes Combo unit off Craigslist last night. I was surprised anyone was making Combo units this late.
It's an interesting set-up but CHEAP build quality. The set is only 43" wide (so not too huge considering it's a combo) It has a 25" cable-ready tv to the right, and a glass door on the left front, which when opened, features a 2 speed belt drive turntable, Am/Fm radio with presets, a graphic equalizer, and dual cassette deck with high speed dubbing.
My comments concerning build quality:
1) Nice cabinet design and no plastic
2) Stereo is CHEAP. It looks like one of those cheesy all in one units trying to pass off a component look. As a matter of fact, you can see the rubber feet on the bottom of it. Curtis Mathes must have taken a cheaper than cheap stereo unit and built it into this cabinet As a matter of fact, this set has 2 plug in's. One for the TV and one for the stereo.
3) TV does have a great picture, but TINNY mono sound. It also has the CHEAPEST user controls for picture I have EVER seen on a TV.

I was wondering, who made this for them? I don't think they were building their own in the 80's. I think in the 70's, NEC was building sets for them.
Remember the late 70's ad campaign "Curtis Mathes... Expensive, and darn well worth it" Great ad, but total lie.
Then in the 80's Curtis Mathes was known for rental center sets, which is probably the era this one is.
Oh well... it was an interesting novelty set. I probably should have gotten a "true" combo that I passed on a few weeks ago at an estate sale. There was a 60's WORKING Maggie Combo for $15.00. I passed on it because at 73" long it would have been a chore to shoehorn it in my Pathfinder, and when I lifted a corner of it, I nearly had a stroke. Those were HEAVY suckers!

I found a 20" version of that combo unit several years ago & I think it had a GoldStar chassis in it. I remember seeing those CM sets from the late '70's with the NEC chassis. I also remember seeing some TG&Y sets with the NEC chassis; but, they were a lot cheaper than the CM sets. You paid for that CM name! About the Magnavox you passed on: I bought one of those Magnavox combo units in about '93 for $20. Mine was all tube, had a 24" B&W TV as well as a stereo. I used that thing until around '99 when I ran out of room to keep it. I sold it to my neighbor for $20 and then they moved to Texas. I hate to think what happened to it after that. Now, all I find around here is cheap throw away garbage.

[kx250rider]

Curtis Mathes was killed in a plane crash in (I think) 1986. That was the abrupt end to the decent quality Curtis Mathes sets. I saved the newspaper article. Most of his 60s & early 70s color sets had variations of an RCA CTC-16-ish chassis. The portables of the same time looked like Canadian chassis with modules. I don't remember working on more than a couple of them since they were never sold in California.

Charles