Early 80's Curtis Mathis

[sealforvr]

Anyone know anything about this model?

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/clt/898291931.html

Looks top of the line or close to and was built before George Curtis Mathes jr died.

TIA

Brock

[freakaftr8]

There's one for sale here in California San Fransisco Craigslist that pops up from time to time as well. Friggin tank man! The one out here is stated that the TV doesn't work. All 100% solid state. Nice set if you have the room.

[radiotvnut]

Probably made by NEC. That's who made the chassis for most CM sets during the solid state era. I wonder if that cabinet is real wood or particleboard. IMHO, the CM sets from the late '70's and early '80's were not the best quality, given what they cost. This TV may be an exception.

[zenith2134]

My vote goes to Particleboard. Think about the amount of raw materials that wood be needed for that size cabinet! But, it could be solid wood I suppose.

In any event, the SS Curtis Mathes aren't too special.....and it wasn't long before they sold out to some other manufacturer at this point.

[Chad Hauris]

I think it would have an NEC chassis. We had one almost exactly like this at our shop but the CRT neck accidentally got broken so we salvaged the parts and discarded the cabinet. It is incredibly heavy dense particleboard and plastic moldings, not real wood.

[peverett]

I used to have a late 1950s version of this Curtis Mathis with B&W TV. It was real wood and weighed so much that it took 4 people to move it.

[freakaftr8]

This is much like everything else in the world, at one time it was about the pride in a product. Now it's about the mass production and cutting costs..

Sad... Truely sad....

Originally Posted by peverett

I used to have a late 1950s version of this Curtis Mathis with B&W TV. It was real wood and weighed so much that it took 4 people to move it.

[Eric H]

My 1960-ish CM B&W combo is made of heavy particle board with real wood veneer over it, I'd still say it was a good quality cabinet compared to modern P-Board furniture.

[kx250rider]

The Curtis Mathes cabinets went to pot in the 70s, sadly. All the sets after that, even the big combos, had particle board frames with veneered paneling, and lots of fake carving (moulded plastic). The high-end ones from the late 50s (or whenever they got going), up to the late 60s, were very elegant, real wood cabinets. I had to cut one apart to fit it in the trash, and the top panel was a real solid wood plank; not even plywood! (That was in the early 80s, and the set was junk due to abuse by previous owner).

Charles

[Sandy G]

"The most expensive TV in America-And darn well worth it !!" Ho-Kay.....

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by kx250rider

The Curtis Mathes cabinets went to pot in the 70s, sadly. All the sets after that, even the big combos, had particle board frames with veneered paneling, and lots of fake carving (moulded plastic). The high-end ones from the late 50s (or whenever they got going), up to the late 60s, were very elegant, real wood cabinets. I had to cut one apart to fit it in the trash, and the top panel was a real solid wood plank; not even plywood! (That was in the early 80s, and the set was junk due to abuse by previous owner).

Charles

I junked a '74 CM solid state combo that was in one of those cheap particleboard and plastic cabinets. Weighed a ton! The chassis was modular and was built by NEC. The CRT was a 23" delta gun Westinghouse tube (which was toast). The record changer was some cheap plastic BSR. Nothing on this unit worked. I saved the el cheapo speakers for use in old radios and I saved the TV chassis just in case a part was needed off of it.

BTW, does anyone know when CM discontinued tube-chassis TV's? Years ago, I had a CM tube type color console in a real wood cabinet. The chassis was an RCA clone.

[sealforvr]

OK, sounds like a good one to pass on then, Thanks everyone!

Brock

[Chad Hauris]

I just got a 1971 CM tube type color set, so they were making them at least through then. It is an RCA CTC-25 type chassis with some upgrades...it has cooling fins on the power transformer, a 6BQ5 audio output tube, and an IC audio demodulator. It has a 25V rectangular type picture tube but the cabinet is made of particle board, masonite and plastic.

Here is a video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqsW7MwFcqI

[kx250rider]

I think Chad's is probably the newest tube set I've seen from CM... I had one of those a long time ago. Definitely an RCA clone.

Charles

[Carmine]

Originally Posted by sealforvr

Looks top of the line or close to and was built before George Curtis Mathes jr died.

I thought it was "jr" who didn't really care about the product and let the company go to hell? But I knew a lot of people who fell for that idea of CM "superiority". Zenith should have just shown a picture of a circuit board burned to a crisp by tube heat, and called it a day!