[Pokeeng]

Hi! I recently came into possession of this Philco System and I was wondering if anyone would be able to tell me more about it. I can't seem to find much about it other than that it may be from 1965. It's in amazing, working condition and I'm hoping someone may be able to help me appraise it.

[klondike98]

Welcome to the Phorum!


1965 sounds right. Others can chime in with their view of the value but I think selling those big old sets can be difficult. You have a piece of furniture along with the radio and turn table. My guess, a couple hundred at best unless you find someone who was looking for exactly that set. They are hard to ship so you are looking at local advertising such as Craigslist.

[Arran]

The last time I saw one of those it was in a different styled cabinet, and was at the side of the road with a free sign on it. I think a couple of hundred is VERY optimistic, unless you run into someone who is nostalgic about that exact model of unit, many of the thrift stores near me won't even accept them as a donation, only if they actually work, or if they do they will price them to sell at $30 or less. 
Regards
Arran

[klondike98]

Thanks for the add Arran, your assessment is likely better than mine as I've not seen any of them for sale lately. A quick look at craigslist in my area and folks have that style of big console stereo for anything from $10 to $2000. Who knows what they actually sell for or if they do.

[MrFixr55]

+1 on Arran's comments. Unless you are decorating a mid-century modern house, you are not going to get a lot of money. It is a nice looking set that probably performs decently, but if I had the room for something like that, I would have an RCA Roundie TV / HiFi or better yet, what a childhood neighbor had, a Fisher (the solid state one, though my choice would be the 800C that I have, because I don't have the solid state one), 12" University Coax speakers and one of the more upscale turntables (Dual, upscale Garrard, what was that other German one?, etc).

The problem with most stereo consoles is that the speaker systems did not evolve much. In other words, HiFi speakers usually have tuned port or acoustic suspension speakers with large magnets and a treated cone edge instead of merely the same paper as the cone. good HiFi tweeters are not paper, but phenolic, aluminum, beryllium, etc. The receiver is likely not much more than 15 W/channel, which is not too bad. The turntable is likely a V-M (Voice of Music). It is possible that the cartridge is a magnetic instead of the less desirable ceramic or crystal, but magnetic cartridges are not common in Philco, RCA GE, Sylvania, Panasonic, etc. (The 1940s Beam of Light was different. I have never heard one but I bet it sounded better than a crystal cartridge of the same time period.)

One possible cool thing is if the radio had both FM Multiplex (in use now) and FM A, AM B, aka AM and FM Stereo (used experimentally before Multiplex. These were made in the late 50s to very early 60s when they were first experimenting with stereo radio broadcasts. Prior to multiplex, some companies that owned an AM and an FM station in the same service area would broadcast one stereo channel on their FM station and the other stereo channel on their AM station. The FCC allowed a waiver to do this until compatible FM MPX (multiplex) Stereo was standardized. Ordinarily, The FCC required that a mono FM station broadcast both channels merged. The requirements for MPX to be accepted was that a mono radio receive the left and right info merged, while a stereo radio correctly decode the MPX signal.

Not trashing it, it is a nice set in what looks like in good condition. I do hope that either you find a home for it or that you keep it. The receiver is likely a USA built radio. The Cabinet and V-M Turntable are likely USA (if the turntable is a Garrard, those are British.