Next Up: This massive machine arrived today from Germany!! I simply can't resist these early 80's generic stereo's, they are never killer beasts but at the time they offered poor people (Like Me in the 80's) the chance to own something a bit different (& large!!) This one goes under the moniker of the 'Maximal 3040' & arrived here FILTHY & I mean dirty, crud & yellow staining all over the main unit & both speakers! Also sellotape on the tuning dial Perspex & the silver frontage Why would you????? This had been stuck there for years & was a pig to remove!! Now I am familiar with these silver monsters, they also sold under the Bush/Binatone badges, not this one specifically but you get the gist................ Always a slightly dated at the time but a pressed steel tape deck built like a tank surrounded by passable electronics & with this one - a very sensitive & stable tuner Not a great deal to do internally really, took so many pictures & they were so helpful on reassembly as there a lot of wires inside & not all pluggable as per bloody usual Replaced the single belt after lifting the deck electronics board out of the way - This was childs play to replace the only thing I wasn't happy about was the motor...........it's mounted upside down as opposed to most mechanisms meaning: No access to the speed adjustment pot inside the motor Next came a thorough switch clean throughout before starting to put it all back!! Big Tits was busy cleaning all the switches (& knobs ) while I got to work on cleaning heads pinch roller etc The cleaning took us longer than servicing it was so yucky!! The tape deck came back to life & all functions were just fine very pleasing when that happens - But of course, the speed needs adjusting as it is slow & the azimuth was way out & I mean way out, no treble & very muffled..........3 full turns of the adjustment screw resulted in really nice treble & so that was now sorted......... Just got take the deck out & try to run it while all apart to adjust the speed pot - So annoying Here's a condensed down selection of images from start to finish Oh & it sounds Ace!! It's a powerful beast & I love it & so large As you would expect, there is plenty of bass & a sweet treble - I know how good these things can be - I didn't expect to be this bloody big but, of course I am not complaining - This is a keeper for sure which is why I bought it!!
Nice new addition looks good, nice uncluttered clean design, these generic boxes can sometimes be very surprising
Hey, Nick Eccles, that's a (finally) clean-looking three-piece stereo that you have there: the Maximal 3040. I've never handled one and I doubt that I've laid eyes on one -- or heard one in action -- before tonight. Yes, I would like it to have been a German-built and not just an apparently German-designed boombox. But its "Made In Taiwan" status does not detract from the appeal, visual or otherwise, of this big, dignified-looking machine. It's obviously a good bit more of a turntable-less home stereo. Its overall format aside, it's hardly a boombox that (dare I say) a non-affluent adolescent could expect to receive for his or her fourteenth or fifteenth birthday. As mrp32dave states in his message, it has a "nice uncluttered clean design." Perhaps I can say this: that "uncluttered" elegance is what some boombox collectors -- yesteryear and today -- would probably desire, if not actually buy, when they start to feel overwhelmed by the "knobiness" and the relatively intense design of the speaker grilles of other (typically smaller and decidedly less costly) portable stereos. Speaking of pricing and prestige, to me there is hardly anything "generic" about this big, 90-watts-of-beef unit. But that's just me. I have nowhere near the collecting "chops" that so many Stereo2Go or BoomBoxery members have (or the funds to start doing so, I shrug). So I suppose you would know which portable units are brand-name quality and which are AKAs, good-looking and fine-sounding though they are. I found the two-minute-odd YouTube video clip that you uploaded of this stereo yesterday, Mr Eccles. It was a bit tricky finding it even with a Google search based on the captioning of the video seen in the YouTube clip's small window here on Stereo2Go (to watch it in more engaging, full-screen mode). But a check of the "Images" portion of the Google search results yielded the thumbnail along with the link to the video when it had been viewed eight times. It was certainly stirring to hear those Seventies and early-Eighties rap and non-rap jams (like a Blondie classic or two) playing from that mixtape of yours. You and your lady certainly did a fine job cleaning what you describe as an initially rather filthy stereo when it first arrived (in separate, same-carton packaging, I see). I always respect the skill and the nerve many of you collectors have to open these frequently well-made audio electronics. You risk everything from breaking something vital and irreplaceable to simply panicking and not having the nerve to re-seal the stereo on seeing that veritable maze of wires, circuits, cog wheels, rubber belts, rheostats (a word I remembered tonight while gazing at images like photo' 18) and so on. Others might not have pampered or otherwise carefully handled such analog-era valuables "back in the day." But the diligence of "technically inclined" folks like you helps to give these yesteryear works renewed and continued relevance nowadays. Yes, indeed, a fine-looking find of yours, nine signal-strength LEDs per channel and all. (And suitably Kitty-inspected and even Kitty-guarded, it would seem.) And that word "sellotape" is one that I haven't come across in print in ages. Probably even forgot that it's apparently spelled that way ...
Looks great Nick lad, reminds me of the amstrad with detatchable walkman, can't remember the mn though love the chunky controlls and it's all silver ooohhh yea bet she rocks
Talking of that amstrad 8090, has anyone got a spare, more importantly,with the Walkman still with it?
On the one hand: you cue that 1967 Tom Jones jam: What's new, pussycat? / Whoaaa-whoa-whoaaa-whoaoo / What's new, pussycat? / Whoaaa-whoa-whoaaa-who -- Then again, with this sizeable, stately stereo, you mean What's vintage, pussycat? / This Maaximaal Thirrty-Foorrty ... (Though, of course, that won't work quite as smoothly ...)
First thing I thought of as well. Those knobs are almost a carbon copy of Marantz's style. Nice Nick and as always...great photos!!!
