After reading recently that the 1940 and 1941 Philharmonics were rated best of the pre-war radio-phonograph 'combinations', as they were referred to back then; it was reassuring to see that Fisher's bottom-of-the-line P-290 Philharmonic 'console' was still upholding Avery's tradition of quality 25 years later:
Most of the machines were wanting in one or more important aspects of FM and AM radio performance (see table). Only two machines, the Fisher P-290W and the Zenith MM2606, combined good reception on FM and AM with a fairly good tone quality. Either may give the console shopper substantially what he is looking for. A third machine, the Masterwork M5024, was judged about equal to the first two in tone quality; moreover, the tone quality of its phonograph could be improved by substituting, for about $11, a different stylus for the one supplied, a change the owner can make in a few seconds. However, the Masterwork was judged inadequate in FM selectivity, a weakness that may be important in locations where stations are spaced close together on the dial.
For the two top-rated machines we bought the extension speakers offered by the manufacturers - the WS-1 for the Fisher ($49.50 per pair); the MR-102W for the Zenith ($59.50 per pair). The Fisher speakers (3-3/4x11-1/4x4-1/2 inches, with 15-foot wires) were judged to improve the stereo effect, but they added some shrillness to the tone quality. These speakers can’t be turned off while they are plugged in; there is no switch for them. The Zenith speakers (11-1/2x14x3-1/2 inches, with 26-foot wires also enhanced the stereo, and they did not detract from the original tone quality (though they didn’t make it any better). They have individual on-off switches at their backs. Thus, for a price, you can get better stereo along with fairly good tone quality and good radio reception from at least one of the tested consoles.
Defects and Bungled Repairs:
But choice of a satisfactory model is not the only problem facing a console buyer. If the machines we bought for testing are at all typical, the buyer stands a big chance of getting a defective sample. And if our experience with manufacturers’ authorized service firms in the New York City area is typical of what one would find in the rest of the country, he is likely to face nearly endless frustration when he tries to get a defective machine fixed under the manufacturer’s warranty.
In the Philco N1763MB certain transistors were extremely susceptible to overload and became damaged under laboratory test conditions, first in one sample, then in a second. It took the authorized repair shop from three to five weeks to install replacement transistors. After two such breakdowns, there was no time left to test the model for inclusion in this test.
The Electro-Home TR18M185 arrived with the receiver chassis broken away from its internal mountings. In a second sample the AM section was not operating. The authorized service shop did not have the needed replacement parts, and failed to get them during 15 weeks of waiting. Again, testing time ran out.
The Symphonic T-4CS98 had excessive distortion on FM. A second sample was totally inoperative. Once more, by the time repairs were done, there was no time to test the model.
The GE RC7630A, judged Not Acceptable because of excessive hum and rumble, was given to an authorized repair shop. Meanwhile, a second sample was bought and proved as bad as the first. Repairs to the first sample reduced the hum slightly, but not enough to change the Not Acceptable Rating.
Four more of our test samples, a Westinghouse M 1330, a Sears Silvertone 5071, a V-M 954, and an RCA VFT 44W, had crippling defects as delivered. A second sample of each of these models was properly operative and could be tested. But the first sample of the Westinghouse added to the score on bungled repairs: sent to an authorized shop, it came back still defective. We returned it for further repairs, and were still awaiting results as we went to press.
Any buyer who gets one of the apparently numerous lemons in this product’s current crop is caught in a bad situation. He can’t just tote a five-foot wide, heavy console back to the dealer and demand an exchange. Even if he did, most dealers wouldn’t make an exchange (though some might be willing to cancel the whole deal and refund his money). The dealer expects his customer to have any defects that show up in the set corrected under the manufacturer’s warranty.
The Performance Tests
The performance test confirmed a point we’ve often made before: a consumer can draw no conclusion about quality of performance from the presence of transistors, rather than tubes, in a model. Transistors do, however, offer the advantages of longer life, immediate start-up, and low heat generation.
The changer tests brought good news compared with findings on changers in perviously tested console phonographs. Only negligible rumble was found in the Acceptable changers, and only two, as the table shows, had even moderate flutter. Moreover, the tracking force settings were far below the record-destroying 6 to 10 grams often found in earlier tests of changers. Settings of 5 grams or more will definitely cause accelerated wear and high distortion on stereo discs, and even 4 grams is considered marginal. Of the six machines that came with tracking force of 4 grams or more, three (see table) could be readjusted to 3.5 grams or less and still “track” properly, without skipping or jumping at loud passages or on the inside grooves of a record.
Controls and Indicators
The radio control panels of the tested consoles, with their rows of knobs, switches, and lights, look much like those of component-type tuners. Common to all are separate bass and treble controls, and all except the Magnavox have speaker balance controls on the radio panel. The Magnavox also has this control, but inside the console, inaccessible to the user. Although this model came with correct speaker balance, an accessible control is desirable if external speakers are used; in any case, the control should be handy for eventual readjustment to compensate for aging parts.
Seven of the sets have tuning indicators (either meter or eye tube) meant to give visual assurance that a station is tuned in precisely. In our tests, however, the peak point on the meter or narrowest shadow on the “eye” generally did not correspond to the point of least distortion; fine-tuning had to be done by ear after the indicator had shown approximately where the station was.
Every machine tested has a stereo indicator that lights up to tell you that a stereo FM program is tuned in. On some it operates only when the set is switched to FM stereo; on others it works on both FM mono and FM stereo settings. This difference did not seem to us to be important.
All but two set have automatic frequency control (AFC), which “locks” the FM radio on a station to prevent drifting as the radio warms. When you try to tune in a weak station very near a strong one on the dial, however, the AFC may pull the tuning over to the strong one. In order to listen to the weaker station, you need a switch that turns the AFC off. All the sets with AFC, except the V-M, have such a switch. The two sets without AFC, Fisher and Masterwork, did not drift.
Some Conveniences
Most sets provide auxiliary jacks for tape recorders, although among the two highest-ranked machines only the Fisher has output as well as input jacks. If you plug a tape recorder into an input jack, you can listen to tape recordings through the amplifier and speakers of the console. Plug it into an output jack, and you can make tape recordings of any program, from radio or disc, that you hear on the console. Besides tape recorder jacks, three models (Sears, Sylvania, and Clairtone) have jacks for plugging in stereo headphones, a convenience for private listening or for those who want the special stereo experience such phones can give.
Generally the jacks are at the rear and directly accessible, but the Wards Airline and V-M have jacks inside the console, accessible only when the back cover is taken off-hardly a convenient arrangement. However, a serviceman can fit these machines with external jacks. On the Zenith, Magnavox, and Sylvania, an optional kit to provide external jacks is available, but the kit must be installed by a serviceman.
Summary:
All in all, then these “packaged” consoles aren’t going to satisfy a demanding listener who wants the sound quality and stereo effect the ads promise. But, it should be added, neither will anything else in the same price range. Top-grade sound from a system made up of components we rated highly would list at about $600 - without a cabinet. So it is a straight case of paying more for more, less for less.
On the other hand, if the buyer is “upgrading” his listening to one of these machines from a table model radio plus a portable phonograph - sources that currently furnish sound in millions of American homes - he’s apt to consider the tone quality of the better consoles, by comparison, positively grand.
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