Late '80s TV sets seem to aim for good audio quality - Videokarma.org TV - Video

jedo1507r · #1 01-26-2007, 10:13 AM

I'm looking at an old issue of Popular Mechanics (Sept., 1989) and of course, kicking around this forums are the familiar Zenith/Bose partnership, but I did not know that Magnavox and JBL were partners, nor did Toshiba and Carver were - and the picture of a 32-inch Toshiba "Super Carver" console with the "stereo look", 40-watts.

Damn! What a console! But sorry, no scanner in sight in the school's library.

Anyone here have any of such sets that were built to sound great?

matt_s78mn · #2 01-26-2007, 11:33 AM

I knew someone who had one of the Zeniths with Bose speakers. I don't recall being all that impressed with the sound. But who knows, it probably wasn't adjusted correctly.

matt_s78mn · #3 01-27-2007, 02:07 PM

Here's one of the Zenith/Bose sets.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Zenith-25-Color-...em170073507537

jedo1507r · #4 01-27-2007, 02:33 PM

Not too bad looking of a set for its time. Almost seems like the offerings at the time were trying to aim higher than they are today, in terms of sound quality.

Probably I'll get photos of the Toshiba/Carver collaboration from that magazine on Monday - unless someone has an old copy and wants to post it.

John in MA · #5 01-27-2007, 02:37 PM

I've always been surprised by the sound quality in '80s TV sets, compared to earlier or later ones. Not ones "built to sound great" just normal TVs. I have a crica-1985 13" mono Trinitron in the kitchen that has much richer sound than the 1997 27" stereo Trin in the den.

jedo1507r · #6 01-27-2007, 03:53 PM

I had a 1983 Sony KV-1946R that had robust sound for a mono television - and same went for the 1986 RCA/Thomson 13-incher set I had also, the audio wasn't shrill. Heck, even a 1991 base 25-inch Sanyo television I came across at the GW sounded better than a 27-inch Funai-based television made in the past ten years. Unsurprisingly, a 13-inch Sanyo made six years ago sounds very shrill with that misdesigned down-firing speaker (it sits in my kitchen) - which oddly we had a 1994 27" Sony KV-27S15 in the kitchen which sounded okay, but moved it elsewhere - and loathe the sound quality of the smaller Sanyo.

The sets that were "built to sound great" were overbuilt (and probably weighed more than a typical "modern" console). Maybe that design touch began with that $10000 Sony console. Heh.

jedo1507r · #7 01-27-2007, 04:26 PM

By the way, for small televisions with audio overkill, I remember in 1997 that Samsung had a "gamer's" 13-inch television with over-engineered looks, retailed around $200 or so when it came out. It was a decent sounding set when one of the electronics chains (Electronic Express) had one on display; but the GXTV was definitely overkill in putting big sound in a small set. For the (then) recent restructuring of Samsung in 1997, this was a sign for things to come.

Link to what it looks like: http://cgi.ebay.com/Samsung-GXTV-Vid...QQcmdZViewItem

zenith2134 · #8 01-27-2007, 04:37 PM

Wow I remember that Samsung. I saw one in Funcoland game stores around 97. It's hard to believe it was the hot item for that time, it would be a laughing stock for gamers today-- Curved screen, not 5.1 surround, and WAIT--It doesn't do 1080i?? Blah. I still think its cool

jedo1507r · #9 01-27-2007, 05:02 PM

I wouldn't believe it being a hot seller either. The television set sat prominently on the sales counter for two years - with unfortunately, the same price, since it was too expensive for most gamers at the time. It's junk to the kids nowadays.

There was a PSM review article in '97 about the set, they compared it to a low-end Sony 13-incher - which its picture was much better to look at, but the sound wasn't like the GXTV.

That GXTV exudes cool along with too much design.

Chad Hauris · #10 01-27-2007, 05:13 PM

I have a late 1970's or early 80's Quasar with "Audio Spectrum Sound". Has speakers on both sides of the screen with separate woofers and tweeters and seems to have very good sound. Also the RCA Lyceum/Dimensia sets with the speakers at the sides and bass/treble controls have good sound too. Going back to the 50's these sets can often have good sound due to 10" or 12" drivers.

The 60's and 70's sets tend to be the worst on sound due to cheap small speakers. Some of these sound worse than a cheap AM radio with severely attenuated bass and highs. The 80's and later sets often use small speakers too, however the speaker technology seems to be better in providing a wider frequency response.

jedo1507r · #11 01-27-2007, 05:42 PM

Wow, that's nice. Large and obscene drivers in the '50s!

So it's the evolution or devolution of television sound over the past few decades. Now I'm thinking of that parody ad on classic SNL (1981?) with a Zenith System 3 console with sixteen speakers.

I have a friend with an older RCA Dimensia, a very fine series with all of the features that would have been unheard of until a decade later (trickling to the low-end).

Say Chad, show us some pics if you'd like on those models, if you'd like.

NowhereMan 1966 · #12 01-27-2007, 10:23 PM

My 1982 25 inch Zenith System 3 console has great sound for a mono only TV, much better than the stereo 1998 Zenith BPC 19 incher I have.

JohnAdams · #13 01-28-2007, 03:28 PM

While looking through some old boxes, I ran across a 1987 brochure for "Zenith Digital System 3 Color TV with sound my Bose",
I knew that Zenith pioneered FM stereo, but per this; Zenith pioneeered the MTS Stereo Sound System. Looks like for that year there were 4, 27" models including the black lacquered finish with oriental designs. Model SC2749Y. Anyone got one of those?? With the full doors, it looks like a beauty.
John

JCFitz · #14 01-28-2007, 06:08 PM

I have a 1985 System 3 27"console that was the first year of the Zeniths having built in MTS Stereo decoders. It's surprising the sound that comes out of that tv. It has 5x7 full range speakers and a separate audio amp board with what I think are supposed to be 5w per channel audio output chips. Sure sounds like it's more than 5 watts per channel and full rich sound.

I have one of the 27" console Bose sets waiting for me to repair.It's a light woodgrain cabinet with no doors.Still a nice looking set.

Some of the best tv audio systems come in the projection sets though some still try to use relatively small speakers for such a huge cabinet.I think the biggest speakers I've seen in projection tvs are usually on Pioneer sets.Some of the tiniest are on Sony projos.They still surprise you with bass you wouldn't think could come out of those little 4 inch speakers.

ha1156w · #15 01-30-2007, 10:58 PM

Wasn't it true that the FCC rules limited the frequency response of TV broadcasts in the late 60's/early 70's? I think it was 100Hz-5kHz? This would explain the cheezy audio on some of those higher end sets. If the FCC won't let it be broadcast, then why waste engineering and money to equip a set with "good" audio? Put the money into some other googaw for the set (not that there was a lack of gimmicks on sets back then to begin with). I haven't been able to determine of any reasoning behind the limitation, only that they did it.