I grew up with the Jumbo Jet as our home stereo and, unbelievably, an Accutrac turntable as well. Dad was an engineer and loved bizarro audio stuff. I played a Matsumoku Les Paul into the reciever, it was my first amp. Good times!
My dad bought a Jumbo Jet new in Thailand. It was the stereo I was raised with, and still works but one channel is sorta iffy. It still sits on the top shelf of his audio stand. They sound just fine, but he uses a simple little Yamaha CR something now. As a kid, I’d use it to make hiphop beats in the 80s and me and the cousins would rap over them, like karaoke. It was such a cool thing for kids. Dad never had an issue with us playing with it. It started my love of audio gear. Thanks for covering this unit - it’s a great memory machine.
It wasn’t just there for product placement, though. The Accutrac’s ability to program and repeat tracks was a key clue that helped Columbo solve the murder case in that episode. (Oops! Spoiler alert, too late.) The Accutrac name was also very close to a the name of a certain small electric appliance, designed for male pleasure, that was introduced in the 1970s. It may have inspired the name of that appliance… or its name may have BEEN inspired by it.😜
Just started the video and I wanted to say the I just bought a Harmon Kardon 730 Twin! Luckily a kid from my area has one and offered it to me! Can’t wait to pick it up! Thanks Skylabs!!!
There was a lot of strange hifi gear in the late 60's & 70's. L-Cassette comes to mind. Quad headphones and albums. The BIC Beam Box antenna. The "Hiss Assassin," the B&O Beomaster 8000 I had one of those for a while. There were lot's of other oddities as well. Fun video my friend, took me down memory lane. Thx. On the Zenith Allegro speakers that thing in the upper right corner is a port for the box. The Zenith logo also rotates so if you place them on their side you can rotate the logo so it is correct. Like the center caps on a Rolls Royce's wheels.
You guys are great!! Every time I watch your vids it brings me back in time!! All the equipment I had and my friends had back in the 70's and 80's! I wish I still had my good ole stuff!! Keep it up!! I may one day show up in your store to get something!!
My sister owned a Magnavox console in the later 70's early 80's, 8 track, receiver, turntable sparklers all in one box, that thing had to wrigh 500 lbs, lol. Great video.
Two words. Technics Sl-ql15. I just fixed one and it's sitting in my living room right now. Has the track programming and is direct drive, full auto and a linear tracker. Great table but 5-10 years after the 4000. The programme feature is super cool. Happily the problems with mine were mechanical. Seemingly in that Columbo episode the killer programmed the table to play the cannons of the 1812 overture to cover up a gunshot. As for vertical linear trackers, I also own a Technics SL7 which usually sits on its stands at 45 degrees, but can play vertically and even, I'm told, upside down. I'm not brave enough to try that. It is also just the size of a record and built like a tank. Even heavier than it's sibling the SL-10. I've become kinda obsessed with these 80s linear trackers and now have three. They are great tables. Vinyl without the pissing about.
I have the SL-7 and currently is the record player that I'm using. It's fitted with a Stanton L747S (681 EEES P-MOUNT) with the brush . It's truly a close"n"play. It is heavy ,,,sitting on top of a stack and 4 feet from the subs with no feedback problems . Seems to be we'll designed. Got it out of a dumpster. It does play that last track better as I noticed when comparing it with my SL-D2 with the exact same stylus and the 681. Thinking about it it did play upside down with the Ortofon tm14 after seeing someone do that. Anyway it's a cute little thing and fun to use.
I have pretty wide margins for audio gear but when it has an 8-track player in it, I'm out. A buddy that I worked with heard that I was into retro electronics so he gave me his old Sears receiver (no 8 track...). He didn't use it any more, but he was really proud of it. It had script labels for all the many controls, kind of an equalizer setup and - a first for me - a reverb tank. I opened this thing up and was underwhelmed, talk about an empty box. There was a small circuit board in it with a pathetic little amplifier and I had never seen a reverb tank before, so it took me a minute to figure out what that was. It was also from the early 70s I suspect, when the printed circuit boards were phenolic and it smelled. Strong. Bad. Made for Sears by AGS, which, after some searching, stood for American General Supply. I disposed of it and when buddy asked about it I said my brother took a shine to it so I gave it to him. It was a hideous piece of gear, I posted it on Facebook with a caption "Liberace wants to know when his stereo is fixed".
Have you ever reviewed a Lafayette receiver, my first receiver was a Lafayette LR 1500 from 1970. I bought the receiver and a pair of Magnavox 8766 speakers I remember that big 15 inch woofer and horn tweeter. I thought the sound was incredible for the day.
Laugh all you want. I own them all and....my MCS 3125 is my favorite! It kinda ties into your video. For me it just pushes all the buttons. Great sound too.
Ahh the LT-5V! I had one for many years, purchased when they first came out. The tracking weight was adjustable. On the base end of the tone arm, the round dial with the black ring on it, that was the adjustment. You would turn it in or out to adjust, turn in to reduce and out to increase. I had an Ortofon MC-10 Mk 2 Cartridge and a battery powered pre-amp. Wish I still had it!
"...and they managed to get the prototype done before they sobered up." I fell off the sofa when I heard that. And that Accutrac 4000, always wished they made something like that. Can you change out the cartridge on that thing? Thievideo was a blast! You 3 should do this more often with other subjects.
I had an Accurate 4000. I bought it at Goodwill in 1995 for 4.99. I didn't even think the thing worked when it was new. It was a spectacular turntable. Everything functioned well except the remote. I just quit using it. It found tracks like a charm. I had it for 14 years until I quit playing records. You could change the cartridge but you would need the exact cartridge to make the track function work. Loved that turntable.👍
never thought I'd see this beast on RUclips, I had one of these in the late 90s in PDX . had it patched into a whole half wall of component audio nightmare. still have a tape or two of the mylti-track-by-layering 'music' 😅
I sold Zenith Wedge stereos in the 70s/80s. That one has an 8 track recorder. It was fairly popular. You could get it with Allegro 1000, 2000, or 3000 speakers. I am currently working on a Mini Wedge. Zeniths smaller version.
One of the rarest things I've encountered was the Technics SA-R40, a receiver/cassette combo unit that was surprisingly advanced; the cassette actually used a Sendust Alloy head! I had acquired one years ago, but it was "lost" by movers. A wired remote was available, but I never found one of those.
I have an Accutrac 4000. Aside from the tracking head that never really worked all that well as turntables go it was really cheaply built. BSR built them for ADC. For a while you could get NOS cartridges but I think they're all gone now. As a side note there was a Heathkit version of the Accutrac 4000. I've kept mine because it was a purchase of pure curiosity off Ebay some 15 years ago when they were cheap. I have the original box, manual, all packing supplies and tools and the remote receiver and remote. The remote was an option. I always thought about the Accutrac 4000 as something a guy with a waterbed and a Playboy club key would own.
You could've at leased brought in a clip of the Dominator MX10 from Ruthless People !!! I mean com'on man! When you die they can bury you in it LOL!!!! Great video Kevin as always love the channel.
I think the Accutrac "silver base that was the IR sensor for the remote control" looks more like an ultrasound receiver for a pre-IR ultrasound remote (that has been used also on some TV sets in the 70's).
Bought the Accutrac 4000 at Goodwill in 1995 for 4.99. I didn't think the thing worked when it was new. It functioned great. To audiophiles I'm sure the sound would be lackluster but for me it sounded fine. Getting an eye for dead space on albums and adjusting the sensor knob it almost never missed a track. I had it for 14 years.
Aloha Guys ,I had a local chap bring me an Accuphase turntable for me to try & get it working after I repaired his Wintec R1120 , what a nightmare that thing was , I too gave up when I couldn't even get the turntable to move !! I do the repairs for myself as an amateur , that Accuphase was way above my pay grade. Nice , fun video Kevin .
Back in the late 70's i owned an HK 75+ a 4 channel receiver. It had a joy stick balance control, I think it was 15 watts in 4 channel and 35 watts 2 channel. I haven't seen one since. Sounded great but plagued with problems. Still found memories.
I immediately recognized the voice on the video of the Kenwood drum machine. I watch that guy for his Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge repair videos. He is a subscriber of mine. I had no idea he also reviewed stereos.
Back in 1981 I had an Optonica turntable similar to the Accutrac. The OPTONICA RP-7705 Quartz-Lock Direct Drive Turntable was beautifully designed and solid as a rock, but the infrared track selector function never had much utility for me and was seldom used, and if memory serves, it didn't work all the time anyhow. But the unit looked cool and I kept it until the late 90s. The dust cover was a single pane of thick polished glass that seemed extra classy.
Greetings form Sydney Aust! Here in the very early 70s our High School was redecking out thier projector/media room with new hi fi and this unit was at the heart of it. I was into Hi Fi even then and so admired this "piece of Beast!"
I remember as a kid seeing ads in the back of comic books for Heathkit build your own electronics. Have you ever come across one of these? Would be cool to see something like that included in such a list.
I had the Accutrak +6 torntable. That is a changer version of the 4000. Not only can you select the track to play, but also the disk. Want the 3rd track on disk 2 in the stack, then track 7 on the 5th disk? it will raise and lower the disks as you program it. I sold it a year ago for $200. It was still working. ADC was somehow affiliated or part of BSR.
I had a Rabco parallel tracking arm with a Stanton (681E ?) on a Thorens TD125 turntable a couple of centuries ago, a very odd arm. I was using it with a Quad amp and electrostatic speakers.
Awesome video as always 👌 I remember these fireplace with a stereo/record player in them, and they were awful. I remember that sears had these mitsubishi turntables, but they were branded differently.
I've always believed the number of times "Hugo Montenegro's Greatest Hits" is heard through a pair of Allegros directly correlates with a person's propensity towards becoming a serial killer.
I loved my LT-5V but...here's the thing...they can tip over. A friend of mine accidentally stumbled into mine and off the shelf it went! Trashed. I was devastated! It took me so long to find one!
That Kenwood Jumbo looked hilarious. The weirdest audio system I ever saw was in 86 and it was a Mitsubishi "home stereo" that had a "7 cassette" cassette deck that you could literally load in 7 audio cassettes in a slide out drawer where they were sat in the drawer vertically like a card catalogue drawer. We got one in the store I worked and I loaded it with a selection of audio cassettes we kept for audio demos and hit play. It ate the first tape and jammed the drawer to the point I had to take it to our repair shop to get the music out of it to send it back to Mitsubishi. The turntable and CD player were separate components and the speakers were utterly awful. The entire system sold for about $500Cdn at the time.
Oh boy! I bought one of those exact stacks of Mitsubishi components 3 years ago on eBay for $600. The whole set up was optimized for hands off operation. The 7 cassette changer, 5 cd changer, and a turntable that could individually select tracks like the ADC. Also included an integrated amp, EQ and an AM/FM tuner. In my case everything worked perfectly. The cassette player even included a second single transport for recording. I didn’t own any cassettes, so I bought blanks and dubbed a bunch of CD’s. I found the whole setup quite fascinating, truly remarkable for its time. But, honestly, the audio quality was just meh. And it bugged me that all controls were buttons and sliders, nothing rotary. Had kind of a Miami Vice aesthetic. I ended up giving it away.
That’s funny. I actually owned that piece right now. The Accu track 4000 and it’s an excellent shape and it works perfectly although I have it in storage at the moment just because I’m in the middle of moving and taking care of some stuff but I do own that piece, I actually picked it up at a Stereo shop in Columbus Ohio because nobody else wanted it. I got it because it looked cool and it looks so vintage from the 70s ha ha ha ha I’m all weird looking stuff. I love that Kenwood to that one you were advertising I never owned one.
The Accutrac reminded me of a Technics turn table that I owned . People would make fun of it and call it a close and play. It had numerous push buttons along the front to select what tracks you wanted to hear or you could program your selections. It would mute the sound as it lifted or lowered and worked really well. It finally bit the dust so I turned it over to Jefferson College who were having a electronic recycling event.
Accutrack may have started the song-finding thing for turntables, but many Sony front-load models had the same feature - I have the PS-FL9 for myself - as did the Mitsubishi Z-20 and Z-40 combo stereos, which had song/track-finding for their VERTICAL turntable which was located BEHIND the "main front panel." I had the Z-40 for a while, which came with a pair of SS-Z40 speakers and it sounded very good for not having a sub.
I have 2 weird ones, my most recent find is the Hallicrafters cr3000, Hallicrafters the classic shortwave radio company made a stereo receiver from 1968 to 1970, the tuner uses a drum dial and has am fm and 3 shortwave bands and it has 2 phono inputs but one essentially just an extra aux cause a "ceramic phono" input, then there's an aux and tape. Along with your standard receiver controls there's also bfo and fine tuning controls. I might add also according to me it does pretty decent, not mind blowing by any means but decent enough compared to the other early transistor receivers of the time. The 2nd weird one I have is the HH Scott "Scottie" 2550w, a very tiny compact receiver from around the same time as the Halli, my theory is that it was designed as a small way to have a semi mobile proper stereo system, on the back it is a 12vdc input so you could prolly use in a camper or in a boat or something.
The Kenwood must have been geared towards budding musicians. I remember plugging into some of those old console units. There weren't a lot of effects pedals in the early seventies.
The BEST line -- "It wasn't enough". Yep, wet myself.... You loaded that thing in the back of your AMC Pacer, and hoisted it up those stairs !! Never did see the Kenwood Jumbo in any shop in Atlanta. Did see the Optonica, I think at Hi-Fi Buys in Buckhead (ritzy part of Atlanta). In its day and time, I would have to say it was cool. Thoroughly enjoyable !!
Fun video guys. I have an ADC 4000 works perfect with the demonstration record . With other records not as much. I bought from original owner , it’s in mint shape with silver brain and all . 😎
My Accurate 4000 worked great. I used it for 14 years. It had a sensor knob to adjust based on the dead space between tracks. Once you got an eye for looking at the album you were playing and setting it. It almost never missed. Great turntable
So did the Accutrac turntable play a big part in the solving of the murder in the Columbo episode? Because a lot of the murderers in Columbo use automation to establish their alibi.
I’ll go you one better on that Mitsubishi Vertical - they also made it into an all-in-one (The Mitsubishi X-10 Interplay System) with Am-Fm Stereo and a cassette deck. I bought one for college with a pair of Polk Monitor 5s back in the summer of 1982. It fit into a dorm really well and a definite conversation starter. Great video. Cheers
I've had just a Pioneer SX-434 for 45 years, and there are some buttons on it that I've **never** used. So what would I ever do with one of those Kenwood's? I guess I wouldn't really need a Wonkavator either.
Well, excellent and hilarious video so believe it or not I came across one of the 10 years ago of course it was in its. What should I say terminal stage but I actually saw one in the flesh lol keep up the great work.
I had a car stereo, I think it was made by Sharp, that had square buttons covering the entire face (and lots of them). No knobs at all. The buttons weren't organized very logically and the functions were printed on the buttons. The lettering wore off in the first six months. I wonder how many car wrecks it caused.
I had an Aiwa D80 turntable that ejected the turntable platter like a CD tray! It was super cool but sometimes it would take several tries of returning the platter before it finally stayed in place. It would go back in and the pop right out 4 or 5 times. This was before I knew anything about fixing gear (there’s still a ton I don’t know but if I had one now I’d at least be confident enough to take it apart and see what’s up)
Hi, I just picked up a Koronette fireplace stereo. My friend and I (two middle aged ladies) brought it down a flight of stairs and jammed it in to my little car. The bar lights up, the fireplace lights up (2 different plugs) but I can't find the plug for the radio, turn table. I see the on/off button but there is no power. Can you give me a heads up on what to look for. Thank you. ❤
Hey Guys I have 2 of the Mitsubishi lt-5 , both working. The secret is Gravity, You must level the unit in both directions Side to side, front to back using 2 levels, Never move the unit or you will have to relevel the unit. The arm needs to hang straight down. I set the tracking weight by ear , you can use a slightly warped record and it will tell you if you are light or heavy, then just dial it in. It is just a cable driven linear turntable with limit switches if I recall. Gravity is your friend.
I say this not to be nitpicky but because I think it's super cool. You mentioned that the Accutrac had an IR sensor. It was actually an ultrasonic receiver, which detected the sounds from the remote. Each button produced a slightly different noise. Cool for its day.
I often see the vertical model on market place. I've thought about purchasing one but it seems like a lot of stuff could go wrong and then be stuck with a huge ornament on my shelf.
The LT5V was definitely a cool turntable. There was an "all-in-one" built around it too. I opted out of the novelty of the vertical disc and bought the LT-30, which was Mitsubishi's top of the line. It remains my #1 turntable. It is a linear track. It never gave me a lick of trouble. I have read on some of the forums where there are some internal light/photo sensors that can cause some grief. Fortunately, it's tracking is conventional counterweight. If you watch the other parts of Flux-Condensor's videos, he does get into rebuilding the Kenwood Jumbo a bit. I was intrigued by the Accutrac, back in the day. I seem to recall that it was easily confused and not the most stable performer. This is just going by what I was told when I was shopping. As usual, money was a factor in my shopping decisions. Plus, nobody wants a repair-shop queen that lives there as much or more than being used. That's all I got on your "Oddities" video. As usual, I enjoy your assessments. In truth, if one is a good bench tech, particularly if they have schematics, they can attack most any receiver or turntable. They'll be able to cross parts over to what is currently available and make it perform as well or better. That can be a plus or minus to the "collector."
Way back in the day, I had an Accutrac 6 turntable. Not only was it programmable, with remote - it was also a record changer and you could program it to play X track on the Y record in the stack.... and it raised records back up on the umbrella spindle as needed. The system worked, but the unit had really high rumble from the belt drive system it used. I remember the Zenith Wedge well. It was basically a top end console chassis with 12 W/Ch true power and depending on the age, either a VM or BSR changer with either a 2 gram ceramic or Shure magnetic cartridge. You chose which Allegro bass reflex speakers you wanted and paid accordingly. They bridged the product grade between crappy console / compact stuff and entry component stereo. Some Allegro speakers were okay, some were horrible.
I sold a nice classic Zenith Allegro that wasn't a wedge on fb marketplace last year. It has paired with the original speakers I pulled it out of a dumpster. Only the radio and the aux inputs worked. I now have a proper Wedge in beautiful shape with the original speakers for sale. I actually paid 25 dollars for it. I just pulled out the BSR ttable this evening to get it going. If I make that happen, I'll raise the price. It's not audiophile by any stretch, but they do play loudly and with some fullness and clarity. I may take on the 8-track player also at this point.
Cool stuff! I desperately wanted one of those ADC turntables in the mid 1970’s. Couldn’t afford. As I recall there were a few later ADC models that used that track selection technology. There is a company out here in California called DAK that stocked ADC turntables up into the 1980’s, I got the impression they had bought up all the remaining stock. Also that Mitsubishi LT-5V. Those have become quite collectible going for $800-$1,000. I have a really nice set of the Mitsubishi DA separates from that era and I’ve come close to buying a LT-5V, it would be a perfect match. I settled on a Mitsubishi DVD player instead that cosmetically matches pretty well and even plays SACD’s. I definitely enjoy this kind of nostalgia.
Kenwood KR-44 receiver 1970 has a mono out I use for a powered subwoofer. Runs like a diesel engine! G.E. 8 track receiver with the joy stick is cool too!
I remember the ADC Accutrac 4000. I also remember the ZENITH WEDGE. It wasn’t bad, but speakers were its downfall. And that MITSUBISHI DIATONE LT-5V. That got me hooked on the linear tracking turntable idea. But, I didn’t ultimately go that route.
The Kenwood Jumbo is a Jack of all trades but master of none!!!!
I grew up with the Jumbo Jet as our home stereo and, unbelievably, an Accutrac turntable as well. Dad was an engineer and loved bizarro audio stuff. I played a Matsumoku Les Paul into the reciever, it was my first amp. Good times!
Head amps, loopers, drum machines and pedal samplers seem like they devolved from the Jumbo. Looks like a great all in one for a budding musician.
My dad bought a Jumbo Jet new in Thailand. It was the stereo I was raised with, and still works but one channel is sorta iffy. It still sits on the top shelf of his audio stand. They sound just fine, but he uses a simple little Yamaha CR something now.
As a kid, I’d use it to make hiphop beats in the 80s and me and the cousins would rap over them, like karaoke. It was such a cool thing for kids. Dad never had an issue with us playing with it. It started my love of audio gear. Thanks for covering this unit - it’s a great memory machine.
Try DeOxit on the controls. Probably all it is.
We didn't see where Columbo turned around before he left and said "one more thing....who's your audio guy?"
It wasn’t just there for product placement, though. The Accutrac’s ability to program and repeat tracks was a key clue that helped Columbo solve the murder case in that episode. (Oops! Spoiler alert, too late.) The Accutrac name was also very close to a the name of a certain small electric appliance, designed for male pleasure, that was introduced in the 1970s. It may have inspired the name of that appliance… or its name may have BEEN inspired by it.😜
That Kenwood Jumbo Jet is the only receiver I know of to have a drum machine built into it.
Just started the video and I wanted to say the I just bought a Harmon Kardon 730 Twin! Luckily a kid from my area has one and offered it to me! Can’t wait to pick it up! Thanks Skylabs!!!
That's a very cool receiver. Good for you. I'm sure you will like it a lot. These twin power are great.
I knew "Mother" would be on the list as soon as you mentioned certain songs needing to be skipped, ha! Great video - some wild pieces of gear here.
Very interesting and informative, gentlemen. Please keep up the great work.
Really enjoying this video with my coffee on Sunday morning. Great context and conversation.
There was a lot of strange hifi gear in the late 60's & 70's. L-Cassette comes to mind. Quad headphones and albums. The BIC Beam Box antenna. The "Hiss Assassin," the B&O Beomaster 8000 I had one of those for a while. There were lot's of other oddities as well. Fun video my friend, took me down memory lane. Thx. On the Zenith Allegro speakers that thing in the upper right corner is a port for the box. The Zenith logo also rotates so if you place them on their side you can rotate the logo so it is correct. Like the center caps on a Rolls Royce's wheels.
Good ones!
You guys are great!! Every time I watch your vids it brings me back in time!! All the equipment I had and my friends had back in the 70's and 80's! I wish I still had my good ole stuff!! Keep it up!! I may one day show up in your store to get something!!
My sister owned a Magnavox console in the later 70's early 80's, 8 track, receiver, turntable sparklers all in one box, that thing had to wrigh 500 lbs, lol. Great video.
I had an ADC 4000 it was cool as hell to show off. I still have the demonstration record, currently for sale.
Two words. Technics Sl-ql15. I just fixed one and it's sitting in my living room right now. Has the track programming and is direct drive, full auto and a linear tracker. Great table but 5-10 years after the 4000. The programme feature is super cool. Happily the problems with mine were mechanical.
Seemingly in that Columbo episode the killer programmed the table to play the cannons of the 1812 overture to cover up a gunshot.
As for vertical linear trackers, I also own a Technics SL7 which usually sits on its stands at 45 degrees, but can play vertically and even, I'm told, upside down. I'm not brave enough to try that. It is also just the size of a record and built like a tank. Even heavier than it's sibling the SL-10. I've become kinda obsessed with these 80s linear trackers and now have three. They are great tables. Vinyl without the pissing about.
I have the SL-7 and currently is the record player that I'm using. It's fitted with a Stanton L747S (681 EEES P-MOUNT) with the brush . It's truly a close"n"play. It is heavy ,,,sitting on top of a stack and 4 feet from the subs with no feedback problems . Seems to be we'll designed. Got it out of a dumpster. It does play that last track better as I noticed when comparing it with my SL-D2 with the exact same stylus and the 681. Thinking about it it did play upside down with the Ortofon tm14 after seeing someone do that. Anyway it's a cute little thing and fun to use.
You are Awesome Man to post this; and I love it. God Bless you.
I have pretty wide margins for audio gear but when it has an 8-track player in it, I'm out.
A buddy that I worked with heard that I was into retro electronics so he gave me his old Sears receiver (no 8 track...). He didn't use it any more, but he was really proud of it. It had script labels for all the many controls, kind of an equalizer setup and - a first for me - a reverb tank. I opened this thing up and was underwhelmed, talk about an empty box. There was a small circuit board in it with a pathetic little amplifier and I had never seen a reverb tank before, so it took me a minute to figure out what that was. It was also from the early 70s I suspect, when the printed circuit boards were phenolic and it smelled. Strong. Bad. Made for Sears by AGS, which, after some searching, stood for American General Supply. I disposed of it and when buddy asked about it I said my brother took a shine to it so I gave it to him. It was a hideous piece of gear, I posted it on Facebook with a caption "Liberace wants to know when his stereo is fixed".
I really enjoyed this video. I like the aesthetic reaction parts but also your opinions from a servicing point of view. Great stuff!
Have you ever reviewed a Lafayette receiver, my first receiver was a Lafayette LR 1500 from 1970. I bought the receiver and a pair of Magnavox 8766 speakers I remember that big 15 inch woofer and horn tweeter. I thought the sound was incredible for the day.
Kevin, I miss the groovy cool intro outro music..... love this channel, thanks for doing this!! Nice to hear from Jon and Eric 😎
Laugh all you want. I own them all and....my MCS 3125 is my favorite! It kinda ties into your video. For me it just pushes all the buttons. Great sound too.
I love my 3125! Rare and cool.
Ahh the LT-5V! I had one for many years, purchased when they first came out. The tracking weight was adjustable. On the base end of the tone arm, the round dial with the black ring on it, that was the adjustment. You would turn it in or out to adjust, turn in to reduce and out to increase. I had an Ortofon MC-10 Mk 2 Cartridge and a battery powered pre-amp. Wish I still had it!
The Kenwood jumbo jet is giving me Fisher 904 quad vibes!
It just shows the level of innovation buy manufacturers in the 70's...lol
I own the MCS VTR Component. Love it. Had the monitor set up. I can send youtube into it. Mostly fun to watch the scope
I have one of those as well 👍🏼
Very cool!
"...and they managed to get the prototype done before they sobered up." I fell off the sofa when I heard that. And that Accutrac 4000, always wished they made something like that. Can you change out the cartridge on that thing? Thievideo was a blast! You 3 should do this more often with other subjects.
I had an Accurate 4000. I bought it at Goodwill in 1995 for 4.99. I didn't even think the thing worked when it was new. It was a spectacular turntable. Everything functioned well except the remote. I just quit using it. It found tracks like a charm. I had it for 14 years until I quit playing records. You could change the cartridge but you would need the exact cartridge to make the track function work. Loved that turntable.👍
never thought I'd see this beast on RUclips, I had one of these in the late 90s in PDX . had it patched into a whole half wall of component audio nightmare. still have a tape or two of the mylti-track-by-layering 'music' 😅
I sold Zenith Wedge stereos in the 70s/80s. That one has an 8 track recorder. It was fairly popular. You could get it with Allegro 1000, 2000, or 3000 speakers. I am currently working on a Mini Wedge. Zeniths smaller version.
The left side cabinet on the Koronette looks like the best turntable design ever!
One of the rarest things I've encountered was the Technics SA-R40, a receiver/cassette combo unit that was surprisingly advanced; the cassette actually used a Sendust Alloy head! I had acquired one years ago, but it was "lost" by movers. A wired remote was available, but I never found one of those.
I have an Accutrac 4000. Aside from the tracking head that never really worked all that well as turntables go it was really cheaply built. BSR built them for ADC. For a while you could get NOS cartridges but I think they're all gone now. As a side note there was a Heathkit version of the Accutrac 4000. I've kept mine because it was a purchase of pure curiosity off Ebay some 15 years ago when they were cheap. I have the original box, manual, all packing supplies and tools and the remote receiver and remote. The remote was an option. I always thought about the Accutrac 4000 as something a guy with a waterbed and a Playboy club key would own.
A heart shaped, red waterbed.
I sooo agree with you on: Dark Side of the Moon ! I can't even listen to it... and I once loved it !
...Newk from Kentucky
You could've at leased brought in a clip of the Dominator MX10 from Ruthless People !!! I mean com'on man! When you die they can bury you in it LOL!!!! Great video Kevin as always love the channel.
I think the Accutrac "silver base that was the IR sensor for the remote control" looks more like an ultrasound receiver for a pre-IR ultrasound remote (that has been used also on some TV sets in the 70's).
I remember the drum machine on the Jumbo. Great amplifier, mostly full of fun factor.
I still have an SAE declinear
noise reduction unit. ie: tick and pop machine.
Bought the Accutrac 4000 at Goodwill in 1995 for 4.99. I didn't think the thing worked when it was new. It functioned great. To audiophiles I'm sure the sound would be lackluster but for me it sounded fine. Getting an eye for dead space on albums and adjusting the sensor knob it almost never missed a track. I had it for 14 years.
Aloha Guys ,I had a local chap bring me an Accuphase turntable for me to try & get it working after I repaired his Wintec R1120 , what a nightmare that thing was , I too gave up when I couldn't even get the turntable to move !! I do the repairs for myself as an amateur , that Accuphase was way above my pay grade. Nice , fun video Kevin .
Too funny! Good Sunday morning video. Kenwood made everything, sears craftsmans of electronics
Back in the late 70's i owned an HK 75+ a 4 channel receiver. It had a joy stick balance control, I think it was 15 watts in 4 channel and 35 watts 2 channel. I haven't seen one since. Sounded great but plagued with problems. Still found memories.
I have the wedge!!! still plays great on FM. The Allegro speakers typically had Rola Alnico woofers and a very nice Foster (Fostex) horn.
I immediately recognized the voice on the video of the Kenwood drum machine. I watch that guy for his Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge repair videos. He is a subscriber of mine. I had no idea he also reviewed stereos.
Back in 1981 I had an Optonica turntable similar to the Accutrac. The OPTONICA RP-7705 Quartz-Lock Direct Drive Turntable was beautifully designed and solid as a rock, but the infrared track selector function never had much utility for me and was seldom used, and if memory serves, it didn't work all the time anyhow. But the unit looked cool and I kept it until the late 90s. The dust cover was a single pane of thick polished glass that seemed extra classy.
Greetings form Sydney Aust! Here in the very early 70s our High School was redecking out thier projector/media room with new hi fi and this unit was at the heart of it. I was into Hi Fi even then and so admired this "piece of Beast!"
I remember as a kid seeing ads in the back of comic books for Heathkit build your own electronics.
Have you ever come across one of these?
Would be cool to see something like that included in such a list.
I had the Accutrak +6 torntable. That is a changer version of the 4000. Not only can you select the track to play, but also the disk. Want the 3rd track on disk 2 in the stack, then track 7 on the 5th disk? it will raise and lower the disks as you program it. I sold it a year ago for $200. It was still working. ADC was somehow affiliated or part of BSR.
Im on the hunt for a Kenwood KR-6170 for 4 years now Love it
I had a Rabco parallel tracking arm with a Stanton (681E ?) on a Thorens TD125 turntable a couple of centuries ago, a very odd arm. I was using it with a Quad amp and electrostatic speakers.
Awesome video as always 👌
I remember these fireplace with a stereo/record player in them, and they were awful.
I remember that sears had these mitsubishi turntables, but they were branded differently.
I've always believed the number of times "Hugo Montenegro's Greatest Hits" is heard through a pair of Allegros directly correlates with a person's propensity towards becoming a serial killer.
My good friend had the Accutrac, It worked some of the time. He just used it as a regular turntable most of the time.
props to Eric for the ND in the BG. ;) Would you look at that IR ball. Pure Coolness space age ❤ Cool video guys! 🛸
I loved my LT-5V but...here's the thing...they can tip over. A friend of mine accidentally stumbled into mine and off the shelf it went! Trashed. I was devastated! It took me so long to find one!
That Kenwood Jumbo looked hilarious. The weirdest audio system I ever saw was in 86 and it was a Mitsubishi "home stereo" that had a "7 cassette" cassette deck that you could literally load in 7 audio cassettes in a slide out drawer where they were sat in the drawer vertically like a card catalogue drawer.
We got one in the store I worked and I loaded it with a selection of audio cassettes we kept for audio demos and hit play. It ate the first tape and jammed the drawer to the point I had to take it to our repair shop to get the music out of it to send it back to Mitsubishi. The turntable and CD player were separate components and the speakers were utterly awful. The entire system sold for about $500Cdn at the time.
Weren't the sears branded sound system made by mitsubish ? I remember having to repair the whole control screen, "liquid cristal" on one of them.
Oh boy! I bought one of those exact stacks of Mitsubishi components 3 years ago on eBay for $600. The whole set up was optimized for hands off operation. The 7 cassette changer, 5 cd changer, and a turntable that could individually select tracks like the ADC. Also included an integrated amp, EQ and an AM/FM tuner. In my case everything worked perfectly. The cassette player even included a second single transport for recording. I didn’t own any cassettes, so I bought blanks and dubbed a bunch of CD’s. I found the whole setup quite fascinating, truly remarkable for its time. But, honestly, the audio quality was just meh. And it bugged me that all controls were buttons and sliders, nothing rotary. Had kind of a Miami Vice aesthetic. I ended up giving it away.
@@roysonparsons3300 That sounds like the one. I'm glad someone got some joy from one of those systems lol
Some pretty wild stuff they had back in the day.
I purchased an Accutrak 4000 and still have it. It worked fairly well on clean records. It’s packed up in my garage someplace.
That’s funny. I actually owned that piece right now. The Accu track 4000 and it’s an excellent shape and it works perfectly although I have it in storage at the moment just because I’m in the middle of moving and taking care of some stuff but I do own that piece, I actually picked it up at a Stereo shop in Columbus Ohio because nobody else wanted it. I got it because it looked cool and it looks so vintage from the 70s ha ha ha ha I’m all weird looking stuff. I love that Kenwood to that one you were advertising I never owned one.
Thanks for the heads up of what not to buy no matter how quirky it is.
The Accutrac reminded me of a Technics turn table that I owned . People would make fun of it and call it a close and play. It had numerous push buttons along the front to select what tracks you wanted to hear or you could program your selections. It would mute the sound as it lifted or lowered and worked really well. It finally bit the dust so I turned it over to Jefferson College who were having a electronic recycling event.
SL-QL15 perhaps? Really nice sounding table. I think the SL-6 did the same thing but is smaller and chunkier.
Used to love the Grundig consoles back in the 70's
I’ve got a LT-5v, still works great, had to replace the belts only
A term I’ve used for years is “furniture that hurts the eyes” in reference to that all in one fireplace thingy!
Accutrack may have started the song-finding thing for turntables, but many Sony front-load models had the same feature - I have the PS-FL9 for myself - as did the Mitsubishi Z-20 and Z-40 combo stereos, which had song/track-finding for their VERTICAL turntable which was located BEHIND the "main front panel." I had the Z-40 for a while, which came with a pair of SS-Z40 speakers and it sounded very good for not having a sub.
I have 2 weird ones, my most recent find is the Hallicrafters cr3000, Hallicrafters the classic shortwave radio company made a stereo receiver from 1968 to 1970, the tuner uses a drum dial and has am fm and 3 shortwave bands and it has 2 phono inputs but one essentially just an extra aux cause a "ceramic phono" input, then there's an aux and tape. Along with your standard receiver controls there's also bfo and fine tuning controls. I might add also according to me it does pretty decent, not mind blowing by any means but decent enough compared to the other early transistor receivers of the time. The 2nd weird one I have is the HH Scott "Scottie" 2550w, a very tiny compact receiver from around the same time as the Halli, my theory is that it was designed as a small way to have a semi mobile proper stereo system, on the back it is a 12vdc input so you could prolly use in a camper or in a boat or something.
The Kenwood must have been geared towards budding musicians. I remember plugging into some of those old console units. There weren't a lot of effects pedals in the early seventies.
The BEST line -- "It wasn't enough". Yep, wet myself.... You loaded that thing in the back of your AMC Pacer, and hoisted it up those stairs !! Never did see the Kenwood Jumbo in any shop in Atlanta. Did see the Optonica, I think at Hi-Fi Buys in Buckhead (ritzy part of Atlanta). In its day and time, I would have to say it was cool. Thoroughly enjoyable !!
Fun video guys. I have an ADC 4000 works perfect with the demonstration record . With other records not as much. I bought from original owner , it’s in mint shape with silver brain and all . 😎
My Accurate 4000 worked great. I used it for 14 years. It had a sensor knob to adjust based on the dead space between tracks. Once you got an eye for looking at the album you were playing and setting it. It almost never missed. Great turntable
So did the Accutrac turntable play a big part in the solving of the murder in the Columbo episode? Because a lot of the murderers in Columbo use automation to establish their alibi.
I’ll go you one better on that Mitsubishi Vertical - they also made it into an all-in-one (The Mitsubishi X-10 Interplay System) with Am-Fm Stereo and a cassette deck.
I bought one for college with a pair of Polk Monitor 5s back in the summer of 1982.
It fit into a dorm really well and a definite conversation starter.
Great video.
Cheers
I recall that Sansui had a drum machine in some of its receivers
Woo hoo! Sunday funday
More of this content please ❤
Technics SL-V5 and Tandberg Fasett speakers are two oddities in my collection that I plan to hold onto forever.
I've had just a Pioneer SX-434 for 45 years, and there are some buttons on it that I've **never** used. So what would I ever do with one of those Kenwood's? I guess I wouldn't really need a Wonkavator either.
Well, excellent and hilarious video so believe it or not I came across one of the 10 years ago of course it was in its. What should I say terminal stage but I actually saw one in the flesh lol keep up the great work.
That programmable turntable reminds me of the jukebox idea.
The Zenith speakers were found at a goodwill here constantly, while it was still accepting electronics. They weren't good sounders at all.
I had a car stereo, I think it was made by Sharp, that had square buttons covering the entire face (and lots of them). No knobs at all. The buttons weren't organized very logically and the functions were printed on the buttons. The lettering wore off in the first six months. I wonder how many car wrecks it caused.
there was a Jumbo for sale in the Wichita area about 6 months ago... I considered it but didn't bite.
I grew up with the fireplace stereo cocktail bar at my grandma's house from the late 70s to the 2000s good times .
Good memories
I had an Aiwa D80 turntable that ejected the turntable platter like a CD tray! It was super cool but sometimes it would take several tries of returning the platter before it finally stayed in place. It would go back in and the pop right out 4 or 5 times. This was before I knew anything about fixing gear (there’s still a ton I don’t know but if I had one now I’d at least be confident enough to take it apart and see what’s up)
Hi, I just picked up a Koronette fireplace stereo. My friend and I (two middle aged ladies) brought it down a flight of stairs and jammed it in to my little car.
The bar lights up, the fireplace lights up (2 different plugs) but I can't find the plug for the radio, turn table. I see the on/off button but there is no power. Can you give me a heads up on what to look for.
Thank you.
❤
Hey Guys
I have 2 of the Mitsubishi lt-5 , both working. The secret is Gravity, You must level the unit in both directions Side to side, front to back using 2 levels, Never move the unit or you will have to relevel the unit. The arm needs to hang straight down. I set the tracking weight by ear , you can use a slightly warped record and it will tell you if you are light or heavy, then just dial it in. It is just a cable driven linear turntable with limit switches if I recall. Gravity is your friend.
Another oddity is the Luxman RX series. I purchased the 103 model several weeks ago and I’m getting laughs at its “Servo Suck Face” feature 😅
I just looked that model up. What a beast. My dad has a Panasonic micro system with a front panel that does that when it's switched on.
The LT5V adjusts the tracking force by moving the counterweight towards you to increase , and away from you to decrease.
Some similar features made their way into 80s boomboxes as well: music search, drum machines, etc.
Fun video. Thanks
I say this not to be nitpicky but because I think it's super cool. You mentioned that the Accutrac had an IR sensor. It was actually an ultrasonic receiver, which detected the sounds from the remote. Each button produced a slightly different noise. Cool for its day.
I think the cartridge has the ir sensor to read the tracks
I often see the vertical model on market place. I've thought about purchasing one but it seems like a lot of stuff could go wrong and then be stuck with a huge ornament on my shelf.
Panasonic Stereo Receiver, I remember it having a round FM/AM tuner dial. Black face as well. Any idea ?
The LT5V was definitely a cool turntable. There was an "all-in-one" built around it too. I opted out of the novelty of the vertical disc and bought the LT-30, which was Mitsubishi's top of the line. It remains my #1 turntable. It is a linear track. It never gave me a lick of trouble. I have read on some of the forums where there are some internal light/photo sensors that can cause some grief. Fortunately, it's tracking is conventional counterweight.
If you watch the other parts of Flux-Condensor's videos, he does get into rebuilding the Kenwood Jumbo a bit.
I was intrigued by the Accutrac, back in the day. I seem to recall that it was easily confused and not the most stable performer. This is just going by what I was told when I was shopping. As usual, money was a factor in my shopping decisions. Plus, nobody wants a repair-shop queen that lives there as much or more than being used.
That's all I got on your "Oddities" video. As usual, I enjoy your assessments.
In truth, if one is a good bench tech, particularly if they have schematics, they can attack most any receiver or turntable. They'll be able to cross parts over to what is currently available and make it perform as well or better. That can be a plus or minus to the "collector."
Way back in the day, I had an Accutrac 6 turntable. Not only was it programmable, with remote - it was also a record changer and you could program it to play X track on the Y record in the stack.... and it raised records back up on the umbrella spindle as needed. The system worked, but the unit had really high rumble from the belt drive system it used.
I remember the Zenith Wedge well. It was basically a top end console chassis with 12 W/Ch true power and depending on the age, either a VM or BSR changer with either a 2 gram ceramic or Shure magnetic cartridge. You chose which Allegro bass reflex speakers you wanted and paid accordingly. They bridged the product grade between crappy console / compact stuff and entry component stereo. Some Allegro speakers were okay, some were horrible.
I sold a nice classic Zenith Allegro that wasn't a wedge on fb marketplace last year. It has paired with the original speakers I pulled it out of a dumpster. Only the radio and the aux inputs worked. I now have a proper Wedge in beautiful shape with the original speakers for sale. I actually paid 25 dollars for it. I just pulled out the BSR ttable this evening to get it going. If I make that happen, I'll raise the price. It's not audiophile by any stretch, but they do play loudly and with some fullness and clarity. I may take on the 8-track player also at this point.
Cool stuff! I desperately wanted one of those ADC turntables in the mid 1970’s. Couldn’t afford. As I recall there were a few later ADC models that used that track selection technology. There is a company out here in California called DAK that stocked ADC turntables up into the 1980’s, I got the impression they had bought up all the remaining stock. Also that Mitsubishi LT-5V. Those have become quite collectible going for $800-$1,000. I have a really nice set of the Mitsubishi DA separates from that era and I’ve come close to buying a LT-5V, it would be a perfect match. I settled on a Mitsubishi DVD player instead that cosmetically matches pretty well and even plays SACD’s. I definitely enjoy this kind of nostalgia.
Speaking of spring reverb , there's a Sansui ra 500 reverberation amplifier for sale near me
Kenwood KR-44 receiver 1970 has a mono out I use for a powered subwoofer. Runs like a diesel engine! G.E. 8 track receiver with the joy stick is cool too!
Audio Reflex monster receiver had a spring reverb in it.
I just sold one in my small stereo store and it sold in less than 3 days. Go figure! Didn't think it would ever sell.
The Realistic STA-71 is an analog receiver from the early 70s where the font on the dial is early digital. It's an excellent example of retrofuturism.
The Kenwood is the everyman car designed by Homer Simpson.
I remember the ADC Accutrac 4000. I also remember the ZENITH WEDGE. It wasn’t bad, but speakers were its downfall. And that MITSUBISHI DIATONE LT-5V. That got me hooked on the linear tracking turntable idea. But, I didn’t ultimately go that route.
How much fun.