Back in 1959 or so

Posted by DavidLD (A) on April 3, 2015 at 17:13:31

In Reply to: What is the most complicated stereo you ever had or saw posted by airtime on April 2, 2015 at 07:49:11:

Stereo was just coming out. My parents had a console Airline (Montgomery Ward) AM-FM radio with a mono record changer dating from 1948. I somehow discovered that the only thing that made a stereo record player different from mono was the stereo cartridge, which was able to pick up both channels of the stereo record groove, and of course, the vinyl stereo recording. I did, however, need a right channel, both the amp and speaker.

I ordered up a high-output crystal stereo cartridge (I think about $4 at Allied Radio). These were even higher output than ceramic cartridges. The right channel was a kid-style portable manual tone arm record player, from which I disconnected the cartridge wires from the portable's cartridge. I hooked two of the four terminals on the stereo cartridge to the tone-arm wires on the Wards console. I took a long pair of wires and connected them on one end to the other two terminals on the stereo cartridge, and the other ends to the two tone-arm wires on the little portable, which I placed about 8 ft from the console and its speaker.

There was an 8-inch full-range speaker in the Wards console, but just a little horizontal 4-incher built into the portable.

Obviously, my speakers were mis-matched, with most of the bass coming from the left channel console with the bigger 8-inch full range speaker, but surprisingly, this all worked, sort of.

The crystal cartridge fit into the tone arm of the 1948 console and had enough output so I was able to get a decent signal from it to the portable tone-arm wires for the right channel. Balance, of course, was handled simply by adjusting the volume on each unit. The fact that the little 4-inch speaker on the portable produced mainly the higher notes was not as big an issue as it might first seem, as the higher frequencies are mostly responsible for the directional effect in stereo (though I did not fully appreciate that at age 12). This was all-tube amplification, and the little amplifier in the portable was a two-tube unit, I think.

Even way back, I was able to come up with creative ideas within a very tight budget! :-)

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - What is the most complicated stereo you ever had or saw - airtime 07:49:11 04/02/15 (22)

they all pale in the glare of the Superscope-era Marantz receivers - mhardy6647 08:11:25 04/05/15 (2)

... and the quad Marantzes take the prize - mhardy6647 06:38:23 04/06/15 (1)

RE: ... and the quad Marantzes take the prize - airtime 06:47:43 04/06/15 (0)

RE: What is the most complicated stereo you ever had or saw - audiogatorjim 20:01:38 04/03/15 (0)

Back in 1959 or so - DavidLD 17:13:31 04/03/15 (0)

This one blew me away when I first saw it! - Crazy Dave 08:53:42 04/03/15 (2)

One for sale here ... - reelsmith. 13:11:24 04/03/15 (1)

RE: One for sale here ... - Crazy Dave 09:40:20 04/06/15 (0)

My cousin had one of these... - musetap 19:33:45 04/02/15 (0)

I could never figure out the 5.1 part of this system - Byrd69 15:26:15 04/02/15 (0)

NOT necessarily complicated - unclestu 15:13:30 04/02/15 (0)

If you're going by total button/switch/control count... - E-Stat 13:24:16 04/02/15 (2)

Ahh, Nixie tubes! )MT( - J. S. Bach 20:00:16 04/04/15 (0)

RE: If you're going by total button/switch/control count... - Crazy Dave 08:40:15 04/03/15 (0)

On a more serious note ... - reelsmith. 12:07:24 04/02/15 (2)

RE: On a more serious note ... - Brian Levy 17:40:08 04/03/15 (0)

RE: On a more serious note ... - Crazy Dave 08:50:26 04/03/15 (0)

This looks intimidating ... - reelsmith. 11:33:05 04/02/15 (2)

My Wife thinks it should be just the opposite... nt() - drummerwill 07:15:18 04/03/15 (0)

RE: This looks intimidating ... - Crazy Dave 11:57:33 04/02/15 (0)

a pioneer vsx d1s - cloudwalker 10:30:48 04/02/15 (0)

RE: What is the most complicated stereo you ever had or saw - PakProtector 09:38:15 04/02/15 (0)

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Back in 1959 or so - DavidLD 17:13:31 04/03/15 (0)

Back in 1959 or so

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