erik2A3 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I know some of you will find this fascinating. Look very carefully at some of the audio components -- these stores were filled with tubes, transmitters, receivers...and some now very highly regarded vintage hi- fi -- kits and finished amps, and horns galore! How I hated it as a kid when my dad dragged me to these places for capacitors, resistors, transformers, tubes (more tubes...ugh), and how I would love to go back. How times have changed, no? http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/catalogs_extra/history_stores/index_all.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik2A3 Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/catalogs_extra/history_stores/hindex_050_101-150.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Allied Radio/Knight Kits in Chicago had great catalogs. I was distressed when Radio Shack took control of Allied. Now the Shack is the best local source for quick access to retail electronic parts. I hope it survives. Without it, there's no way to get a terminal, switch, etc. without going online and then watching for the mail. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_Radio http://www.radiomuseum.org/dsp_hersteller_detail.cfm?company_id=1865 Radio Shack link http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/catalogs_extra/history_stores/hindex_050_101-150.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.H.E. Droid Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Ah, I'm an old enough geezer to remember it as Allied Radio, and also the Heathkit store here in the Detroit area, the Lafayette Electronics stores (actually worked there one summer selling stereos) and building some heath electronics kits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 The college where I work tossed a bunch of old equipment. I picked up two Heathkit bench power supplies and freq. generator. All tubed! I pulled a Mullard 6x4 out of one of them to put in my Merlin preamp. I also picked up a Lafayette EL84 integrated. It still needs some work. Not sure if it's worth the trouble, as it has rather wimpy output iron. I loved all that stuff when I was younger. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik2A3 Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Our house was full of electronics when I was growing up -- I got sick to death of it, but was often the only way I got to spend time with my dad. Least I learned to solder about the time I learned to tie my shoes. Tying shoes was harder by a long shot. Of course that old amp is worth fixing up, Bruce! If you don't want it I'd be interested -- I love that old gear regardless of the size of its OPTs, which by the way, I have learned, can be quite misleading as a sign of performance. Fixing up an old amp like that is worth it for its own sake (for me at least). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tube fanatic Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Our house was full of electronics when I was growing up -- I got sick to death of it, but was often the only way I got to spend time with my dad. Least I learned to solder about the time I learned to tie my shoes. Tying shoes was harder by a long shot. Of course that old amp is worth fixing up, Bruce! If you don't want it I'd be interested -- I love that old gear regardless of the size of its OPTs, which by the way, I have learned, can be quite misleading as a sign of performance. Fixing up an old amp like that is worth it for its own sake (for me at least). Lafayette Radio turned out some of the best sounding tube equipment that was made during the 50s and early 60s. In fact their KT600 preamp, which was designed by a friend of mine who was their chief engineer at the time, is still known for being an amazing piece of equipment. And Erik is absolutely correct in saying that the size of the OPTs has no bearing on the resultant sound. Definitely restore it Bruce, and if you decide to get rid of it, and Erik doesn't want it, I may be interested myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I was sooo unhappy when Rat Shack swallowed Allied. Allied was cool, as were Heathkit and Lafayette. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Who remembers McGee Electronics in Kansas City? Lafayette and Olson were also great. Now we have Parts Express, Madisound and a few boutique Internet/mail order sources of electronic stuff. My father (with token assitance from yours truly) built two Heathkit color TVs in the 60's. I got to visit the Heathkit headquarters in Benton Harbor, MI when TV #2 needed repairs. My father, a mechanical engineer, was foolish enough to power it on after he'd dropped it trying to return to its hole in the wall. The fireworks and smoke were exciting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Who remembers McGee Electronics in Kansas City? Wanna get seriously obscure? Lavender Electronics in Texarkana. Off the main drag and across from the Miller County Courthouse. Bought my first serious piece of gear from them in 1967, a Concord 727 4 track R2R with wing speakers. 217.00, and I could have bought a car for that. But when you are into music a car radio of the 60s just isn't a good deal, donchaknow. Heck, I didn't get a car until my junior year of college after I'd purchased a Garrard, Shure cartridge, a Dyna SCA-35, and Frazier Super Monte Carlos. Priorties, fer shure. So, while it's hard to get a date on the weekend without a car, what are you going to do the rest of the week with a car??? The audio made the weekend just fine, and there were adequate left over girls for a walk around campus and "Roman hands at the Greek Theatre." I still have a couple of recordings done with it and they sound quite respectable after all these years. Lavenders had all the cool stuff, Cathedral Sound reverbs for your car, walkie talkies, very much the gadget store of the day. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tube fanatic Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Who remembers McGee Electronics in Kansas City? Since we're getting a bit nostalgic here, don't forget Burstein-Applebee: http://www.daveswebshop.com/bursteinapplebee.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik2A3 Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Memory is a little foggy on this one, but I think I recall a Vacuum Tube Valley (for thosenof you familiarmwith that publication) issue that included an interview with Paul W. K. He (Mr. K.), I believe, mentioned working with Radio Shack on....what was it..... A kit version of the Klipschorn, I think. Something like that, anyway. I obviously remember it less clearly than I thought! I can go dig it out of my very slightly organized stacks of Glass Audio, Speaker Builder, Positive Feedback, etc., etc. There are one or two small REAL electronics stores here -- they're quckly going over the horizon, unfortunately. I enjoy the way those places smell (nothing like the fragrance of vintage electronics) as much as hunting old bins for parts. That's the part I hated when I was a little kid. God, my dad poked around for hours..........and it all came back to haunt me as a bigger kid. He still has the soldering he used as a ten or twelve year old building tube radios. Giant soldering that was as big as a torch, and still works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik2A3 Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Did any of you find the McIntosh, H.H. Scott, and Marantz amps and tuners in those pictures of the stores? Wouldn't it be amazing if one could do that right now -- make a short trip down the road, stop off at Starbucks, and then pop into Radio Shack....wait, sorry...THE SHACK, for an 8B or a couple of MC 30s? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Here ya go Eric: http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 He still has the soldering he used as a ten or twelve year old building tube radios. Giant soldering that was as big as a torch, and still works! I still have, and use, the huge "gun" iron my mother got me for a birthday in the early 60s. Bit over the top for PCBs, but great for bigger stuff. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 "Paul W. K. He (Mr. K.), I believe, mentioned working with Radio Shack on....what was it..... A kit version of the Klipschorn" I've told this before, but that's never stopped me in the past. The only time I met PWK he mentioned the Radio Shack experiment. He indicated that such licensing deals were doomed by the inability of Klipsch to control the quality. In the middle of the coversation about kits, licenses, etc., PWK asked me, "Do you know what a Patrician is?" Before I could respond that it's an EV speaker he said, "Someone who steps out of the shower to take a leak." I could tell by the expressions on the faces of his entourage (2 guys) it wasn't the first time they'd heard the joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik2A3 Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 He was a very clever and colorful personality. Thanks for sharing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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