Valve power amps in The Twilight Zone

[rigger67]

I've been watching the entire run of The Twilight Zone over the last couple of months and as the series nears its end for me, I find myself wading through the patchy material of season 5, which definitely seems to have more quirky and deliberately humorous episodes than the classic first three series.

In the show I watched this morning, the subject was a loud man .. a very loud man (The Twilight Zone season 5, episode 27 : Sounds And Silences).
He was obsessed with the navy and all things nautical and annoyed everyone around him by playing recordings of actual sea battles from WWII, like the battleship Missouri pounding Okinawa.

To make the whole thing plausible, they had one hell of a hifi for the time - the episode was first aired in 1964 - complete with twin valve power amps, two turntables and a reel to reel machine.
I have no idea what any of the gear is apart from there clearly being a Garrard turntable of some kind, but I thought it looked pretty cool so I made a few screengrabs for the forum. I know there's plenty of audio-porn aficionado in here - enjoy !

https://s17.postimg.org/ban7u8tpr/tw0.jpg
https://s17.postimg.org/4o55et1f3/tw1.jpg
https://s17.postimg.org/6rfkmh17z/tw2.jpg
https://s17.postimg.org/h03gejzvz/tw3.jpg

[Macca]

speakers look a bit poxy, seems to have a centre channel too.

[User211]

It is a good episode.

McIntosh tuner/receiver no less.

Best Twilight Zone episode in my book was this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_When_the_Sky_Was_Opened

They were all on YouTube at one stage. Not now apart from in useless quality designed to bypass the YT copyright detection bots. You can rent them on Amazon but they want £2.49 an episode. Try a P2P program and get them for nowt if yer feeling brave.

[nthall]

The receiver is definitely a McIntosh. It's hard to tell but the mono blocks look like Marantz Model 2s.

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[Firebottle]

The cloth on the speaker below the R2R and TT makes me think Leak, so maybe the valve amps are as well?

[Gordon Steadman]

I can't see the pics!!

[struth]

Garrard turntable on left. Not sure of the other..its got a spinde. R2r looks rubbish lol but at least it stands up. Dare say it all cost a few bob and may have been the guy operating its.. forgot his name

[nthall]

I think the table on the right is a Stromberg Carlson. I've got one at home that I pulled out of a portable. The arm and switches look the same. I can post a picture when I get home.

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[nthall]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170118/544677317ed25e1b3aed3d5f9daea038.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170118/fe28ed0d53bb9c50cd116a5ddf4c7857.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170118/34b7412b9dc0a607215d1d5f68116fb8.jpg

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[Light Dependant Resistor]

Hi
A bit of a classic, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stromberg-Carlson

What is interesting to me is the description of FM stations in the above Wikipedia page - avoiding mentioning Major Edwin Howard Armstrong
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Howard_Armstrong
Armstrong along with Lucien Levy being responsible for the super heterodyne circuit making AM possible for the public
and very much where Stromberg Carlson had huge success with selling radio sets in the mid 1920's

But FM being Armstrongs main invention which he holds patents for, known as a concept but was thought to be unachievable ( Carson 1922 ). Armstongs station
in New Jersey at Alpine being the first to broadcast FM on a regular basis. Slightly earlier equipment was moved into the Empire State building
by Armstong to test FM and very much where the controversy commenced ending in Armstrongs suicide in 1954.

In a nutshell the American government did not want a successor to AM because of vested interest in propaganda they
were using AM for. A bit like one country today trying to own the internet for their own causes.

Essential reading are two books "Armstrongs Fight for FM broadcasting" Don Erikson and "Man of High Fidelity" Lawrence Lessing

A real piece of history the Stromberg Carlson turntable probably dating to late 1940's, earlier versions of the turntable were available on large sets that had radios built in
I used to have one.

Cheers / Chris

[nthall]

I'll have to check those books out.

I'm planning on restoring the portable it came out of. It had a mono block and 8 inch woofer in it. I'm considering just putting legs on it because it's barely portable. It's built very solidly.

I knew quite a bit about their radios, and their history in telecommunications. That's the first turntable I've ever came across.

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[Light Dependant Resistor]

I'll have to check those books out.

I'm planning on restoring the portable it came out of. It had a mono block and 8 inch woofer in it. I'm considering just putting legs on it because it's barely portable. It's built very solidly.

I knew quite a bit about their radios, and their history in telecommunications. That's the first turntable I've ever came across.

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Hi Nathan
Due to the books scarcity you will find them in reference libraries, your local library may be able to assist.
when I read both I did so at the reference library, so you might be able to do the same.

But now online, Wow !
Alternatively at cost they are available as Electronic Books, here is a link to Don Eriksons book
https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=S4etU5b7DZIC&pg=PA183&lpg=PA183&dq=Don+Erikson+Armstrongs+Fight+for+FM+Broadcastin g&source=bl&ots=MWf8H0IWpf&sig=jxzSzjqKfxwrljE9TkLn3fqL8ls&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjDsJ-Y68zRAhXCi5QKHYNGC-EQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=Don%20Erikson%20Armstrongs%20Fight%20for%20FM%20 Broadcasting&f=false

and the complete book of Lawrence Lessings here without cost http://www.njarc.org/books/man-of-high-fidelity.pdf
but has a disclaimer advised as:
Pratt DISCLAIMER
DISCLAIMER TO THIS SCANNED AND OCR PROCESSED COPY
This PDF COPY is for use at Pratt Institute for Educational Purposes Only
I affirm that sufficient print copies of the original Bantam Book Paperback are in stock in
ARC E-08 that would more than adequately cover a full class use of the text.
HOWEVER, due to the fact that the 1969 text is no longer in publication, complicated by the
fact that these copies are forty-four (44) years old and in a very fragile condition, this PDF
version of the text was created for student use in the Department of Mathematics and Science.

[nthall]

Thank you! I'll definitely be reading both of those. It's good that these types of books are being preserved digitally. I'd like to have hard copies of both, but not many people would. They would probably get lost to time otherwise.

The obscure antique gear that nobody else wants is my favorite stuff to find. I still use an HP700CD oscillator regularly. It can broadcast 10 watts on the AM band too in a pinch.

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[nthall]

The amps are MC 60s.

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[09mike69]

re; the speaker laid on its side under the TT and R2R. my initial thought was it looks a bit like acoustic research,
it might tell you in the end credits.

[nthall]

The speaker has me stumped. I thought AR at first too, but the grill looks too big.

I think the R2R is a Presto, but I'm not positive. I need to watch the episode.

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[walpurgis]

The speaker has me stumped. I thought AR at first too, but the grill looks too big.

KLH? Bozak?

[nthall]

KLH? Bozak?
I'm not sure. In 1964 with this guy's budget the AR3 would have been the choice, but that doesn't look like one. It could be a Dynaco too.

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[alphaGT]

The small speaker on the upper right, looks like ones I had back in the 60's. notice the little metal clips on the left edge of the speaker. It was part of a portable all in one unit. A suitcase sized box that had a fold down record player, and the small speakers were attached to each end, swivel out and lift to take them off and spread them out. Nothing more than a single paper cone in a wooden box. But it was stereo! And that was something back then. The evidence of the metal clips, and their size and shape, I'm almost positive that's what they are. I can't recall the brand, probably from Sears and Robuck?


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