Hoffman didn't play around with their sound systems we had an old Hoffman TV set and it had a 10" woofer and a 3 inch tweeter.. It had excellent sound and serious bass..
Beautiflully restored, and I think that's the most fascinating console I've ever seen, with the speaker box, and most of all that frequency display. Worthy of being in a museum.
A friend of my wife had an antique store and some lady brought in a 1957 Hoffman console which has the exact same components as this one , including the “floating sound” speaker
I want a floating sound hoffman now ! Darn you ! Thanks for posting this video. What a great stereo system - I hope you restore it and keep it and enjoy it for many years. Do you have an mpx out on the tuner, so you could hook up an external mpx stereo adapter? Now look for period 'external stereo' speakers. Keep the old turntable, one day you might restore it and reinstall it.
What an awesome design inside and out! I see they even left two schematic sheets stapled inside. That should help in restoring her to greatness. Nice that it has an eyetube. No question about putting in a replacement stereo phonograph, and a good choice for sure. Results from all this work is you have really got one hell of a keeper Steve!
I have one of these that I don't have the heart to throw away. It has been with me since 1958 and has sentimental value but I am ready to give it away to a good home.
This is more a west coast product. Packard Bell such products may also have been 'unknown' in the east back then, too. i just looked up story (on Wikipedia oh well) of Les Hoffman and Hoffman Radio and Television and Hoffman Electronics in LA area of California. Of 1941-71 during founders life, and it went on for a few years after, oriented to military electronics and then sold. The page speaks about TV radio then TV production, in the consumer electronics area.
Really terrific styling. 5:25 I'm really interested in the "voicing" that was common in mono units moreso than stereo. It was also done in table radios. Different drivers complimenting each other and the overall sound. From a Hi-Fi perspective it's less desirable because of multipoint sound sources and interference, but I think for casual listening it can be highly advantageous. I'll continue to watch the video.
5:58 no stuffing or damping material in the box/cabinet? Common to preserve overall volume and efficiency. The curved back probably helps reduce standing wave resonances. The vertical dimension is shorter and so is likely in the mid-range frequency. I wish I could hear it in person.
Love these old resistors - all colour coding was easily readable. Not today's generic pale-blue resistors, where all colours looks like dark red or brown.
The Motorola styling looks like it belongs in that MCM cabinet. The Garrard motor needs to be taken apart and the old dried up grease removed as well as on the mechanism gears, and then it should work ok
What beautifully preserved piece. The sound is better than that of some of the later stereo consoles. I hope you are able to hold on to the original turntable; it's quite possible that someone, somewhere will offer a way to rebuild the motor. I've heard that the later Syncho-lab motors had a tendency to have the permanent magnet come unglued from the rotor, but I have no idea what kind of motor is in these RCs. Could it be a weak startup capacitor, or something like that?
I am a 59 year old Brazilian, passionate about your job and equipments. I have a few pieces of equipment from the 40's, 50's and 60's (including a 1931 Westinghouse radio), all working. But 2 of them are playing LPs poorly because of the cartridges. A HotPoint console (Concert Master, 1961) that uses a Sonotone 8TA and another GE (Robomatic, 1958) that uses a Sonotone 2T. Both use Garrad players. Do you have these cartridges?
What an absolutely beautiful console! the Motorola turntable you replaced actually looks far cooler than the original one. How much would you say it takes on average to do a full service like this?
