Department Store brand stereo equipment

[timsclips]

It has been generally agreed that the MCS line of stereo equipment sold by Penney's was as good as any of the Japanese equipment sold in the 70's.
The Sears line was made by Fisher, not discussed much and not perceived as nice as the Studio Standard line made in Japan and sold as Fisher.
I see next to nothing on the line marketed by Montgomery Wards, made in Japan but I never had heard anyone speak to the quality of the line.

I am discussing the separate component line and not the all in ones.

There is plenty of discussion on the MCS brand, just wanted to see if anyone had the components sold by Sears or Wards and wanted to comment on them, comparing them to the Pioneer, Kenwood, Technics or other Japanese brands.

 

[Binkman]

By then I think Fisher had been bought. My understanding is there is a lot of equipment components made by NEC. or have NEC parts identifiable inside. I have a 3722 tuner and 3522 tape matching player set. Pretty damned good tuner in my area, had to make a belt and clean the tape player mechanics. The player has single chromed over copper core head. After cleaning/light lubing/belt motor timing adjustment (back of drive motor). Good led readouts (eye candy) tuner has a strength meter. I don't use them.. but I don't know what to ask for them either in my area.

I got them for free after selling the speakers the owner bought, I don't remember the number nor could get a match? had to patch them. Not bad tonally, had technics crossovers in them but labeled MCS.. A tad on the bass side like the couple I sold them to like 'beach music' with that deeper juke box sound? japanese speakers.. no mfg. codes to trace. The woofer frames were thin so I had to make gaskets for them so I could set them without moving the voice coil off center. Once repaired sounded clean, just too bassy for me.

 

[waggs098]

I'm running sears audio by fisher X7000 tower speakers with my sansui 8080 receiver till I find some really good vintage speakers. The sound isn't that bad. I had to refoam the 15" subs when I got them. There lacking on treble due to the paper tweeters. The bass is very good and clear in my opinion.

 

[4Play]

I'm running sears audio by fisher X7000 tower speakers with my sansui 8080 receiver till I find some really good vintage speakers. The sound isn't that bad. I had to refoam the 15" subs when I got them. There lacking on treble due to the paper tweeters. The bass is very good and clear in my opinion.

For vintage speakers, I would recommend you to check out Advent or Acoustic Research. I can personally vouch for Advents as they were the first pair of speakers I had in my first audio system. It would also determine what size you are looking for as well.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

Most of the Store brand audio was decent, but not the same models as the main source brand's equivalent in the lineup. The best MCS Series was very good, but there is also a lot of the lower end which was only mediocre quality. Sears Audio by Fisher did have at least one real Fisher receiver very early on pre merger.

 

[bobaloniny]

Not all Sears stuff was Fisher. Some LXI stuff was Sherwood like the AM4004 power amp and the AM4023 integrated with its matching tuner. Both good sounding very heavy substantial units, the AM 4004 being better documented I think.
The pre and cass deck that matched the 4004 were built by Sanyo. the tuner I am not sure, never delved into the tuner. The pre is nice, and very quiet. The cass deck is also well built and heavier than alot of normal cass decks, more or less a Plus series deck.

 

[swechsler]

I had to refoam the 15" subs when I got them. There lacking on treble due to the paper tweeters. The bass is very good and clear in my opinion.

Sorry to be pedantic, but they're not subs, just woofers.

</petpeeve>

 

[coonmanx]

Some of the MCS stuff was NEC, some was Matsushita (Technics). I have also spotted some Curtis Mathes stuff on the Bay that appeared to be 100% Matsushita.

 

[jhtstone]

Montgomery Wards had Airline branded consoles. Apparently, they where made by either Wells-Gardner or Hoffman Electronics, neither of which I am familiar.

 

[ggregg]

I believe Warwick also made quite a few for them. WG probably made most of the rest. Wells Gardner was a private label manufacturer based out of Chicago that made sets for many companies. They were in business until the mid 70's as I recall, possibly longer. They were considered a quality manufacturer but would build to whatever spec a company requested. Many classic Airline, Truetone, and Coronado radios were made by either Wells Gardner or Belmont, another Chicago company.

Airline or MW made decent radios and record players through the mid fifties. They sold a few outstanding console radios in the very late thirties, again Wells Gardner made. After the mid fifties, much of their stuff slipped down somewhat in my opinion. TV's were the same way. Many made by Warwick and Wells Gardner. OK sets but not of the caliber of RCA or Zenith.

As far as I can tell, and I'm no expert, but they didn't seem to co-brand like Sears did with Sanyo Fisher and Penny's with NEC. They also didn't seem to produce any separates with similar quality or specs. They were happy to go after the price shopper.

Pacific Stereo's Concept brand seems to be the private label that everyone wants these days, especially the higher end receivers. Although I'm a fan of the Sears Audio by Fisher when Fisher was still owned by Emerson. Japanese built but nicer than the stuff that followed.

 

[loopstick]

Montgomery Ward Model 250

This has a lot of things going for it. Black face meters (strength and centering). Pre-amp jumpers. Double-jointed loopstick. Goldenrod lettering on the back.

It "draws" max out of the wall 270 watts = approx 2.0 * (270.0 / 10.0) = 54.0 WPC. Uses an STK 463 which according to quick google search is max 30 WPC. I don't care I love it anyway.

________________

 

[custom1106]

Here's my Wards rig:





Not the best quality. Has RCA plugs even for the speakers and some sort of quasi surround called "matrix" that powers a rear set of speakers. It's "ok", had it open to spray out the pots and it uses an STK pack & lots of Hitachi parts. Probably 20 wpc at most. The whole thing is held together by wood screws. It's a conversation piece though!

 

[musichal]

Here's my Wards rig:





Not the best quality. Has RCA plugs even for the speakers and some sort of quasi surround called "matrix" that powers a rear set of speakers. It's "ok", had it open to spray out the pots and it uses an STK pack & lots of Hitachi parts. Probably 20 wpc at most. The whole thing is held together by wood screws. It's a conversation piece though!

Matrix is likely the old Hafler ambience scheme, as later also popularized by the Dynaco Quad box, a web-search of either will provide plenty of info about how it works. Easy to build one yourself but don't try it with a Class D amp which warns against tying the L&R speaker grounds together. In that way lies madness.

That receiver has a Kenwood look to it.

 

[brokenbodyma]

After seeing a Vector Research receiver that had some heft to it I had to find out who made the thing. It was made in mid '70s in Chatsworth California and parts were all Jaoanese and depending on who you asked the consensous varied from a great receiver to a boat anchor. Further on I later saw at the same GoodWill store a MCS receiver w/ an amazing array of knobs and switches going for $55. This receiver also being very heavy might have been their totl model. Again never hearing of this brand Mhardy a member here informed me as others that it was the house brand of J.C. Penny and many considered these to be of better quality more than likely 2nd tier receiver and a yes to pick up at a thrift if in good enough condition. If I didn't already have my Nikko 6065 for $40 on C/L I would have bought it after testing.

 

[markshan]

My first real receiver was a Vector Research.

 

[Killrocks]

Here's my Wards rig:





Not the best quality. Has RCA plugs even for the speakers and some sort of quasi surround called "matrix" that powers a rear set of speakers. It's "ok", had it open to spray out the pots and it uses an STK pack & lots of Hitachi parts. Probably 20 wpc at most. The whole thing is held together by wood screws. It's a conversation piece though!

I had this very same Stereo receiver as a teenager in 1982 on. Got it from a thrift store and got sooooo much use out of it, like any teenager and their music lol. I've been trying to find one of these pics and figure out what the heck it was for like a year now. Thanks for the great memories. It's a really nice sounding unit! The Matrix function sounds GOOD, and it's warm and clear. Listening to the radio late at night with the volume way down it still "filled" my room with a full range of frequencies with a decent pair of 8" two way bookshelf speakers.

 

[Pio1980]

Some of the MCS stuff was NEC, some was Matsushita (Technics). I have also spotted some Curtis Mathes stuff on the Bay that appeared to be 100% Matsushita.

Once fixed a botched C-M TV that was NEC. Nice build quality.

 

[Pio1980]

Watwick, a division of Thomas Organ, also did some Silvertone for Sears.

 

[quiet]

Montgomery Ward Air Line. From 1973. Made by Planet Research. 80 Watts RMSx2. 52 pounds. 19x7. It's ok.

 

[electronjohn]

Bought my first real receiver at a small independent chain called Sound Idea. Wanted a Sherwood 7100, but the budget said if I wanted the PE TT I had to go with something a bit less expensive...a DHC 220. DHC stood for Dayton-Hudson Corporation...which ditched the Dayton's name and went all the way with the name of their discount chain...Target. Pretty sure the 220 stood for 2X20W, and it survived many a party. I've also seen the exact unit as a Pilot 220, and it sure looked Rotelish. Good little box...still have it but it's non-functional. Might look around for a Pilot schematic since a DHC schem is unobtainium.