I'm a fan of tube-type cabinet stereos. I've been one since learning of them in my late teens. Hey--why else would I have a functional mid-60s Motorola in storage, awaiting restoration? Or buy a replacement tube for a Harmon Kardon receiver [that technically belonged to my brother] just to hear how my Pioneer PL-300 sounds through it with a pair of second-hand "white van" speakers? Anyway, this led me to appreciate what an older system could do when modern peripherals are attached... and the time I helped an old lady save money on updating her system. In the early-90s, a friend helped me get a job as a "grunt" with a small upholstery shop. Our job was simple: Ride in the van with the owner's brother, Al, to deliver & pick-up customer orders. This led to many interesting places, including the home of a local Chevy dealer... "Where you always save more money!" One job took us to a fairly wealthy neighborhood, where we were to deliver one item and pick-up the cushions to a pair of black naugahyde armchairs from an elderly lady. On the way into the room where the chairs were set, we passed a large parlor room with what I would say was classical/vintage music (Old easy-listening, big-band stuff and the like) playing within it... on a old Knightsburg stereo kit built into a custom cabinet, with a matching cabinet containIng the speaker to one channel with the other built into the lower panel of the opposite wall. Noting to the lady how wonderful the system sounded, she asked me if I thought I would like to have it, as she was looking to get into CDs and was told by the dealer she'd need an all-new system. "What!? That's ridiculous!" I replied, assuring her that if her current system had the inputs for it, all she'd really need was the CD-player. A quick look at the backside of the receiver confirmed it did, and I promised her that I'd demonstrate exactly what I meant when we returned. Weeks went by until we were to return with the re-upholstered cushions, and I never asked when we'd revisit the nice old lady... so it was coincidental that the one night I remembered to bring my Citizen CBM-777 with, we were to deliver them. Greeted her daughter, we made quick work of the delivery, and got to moving the Knightsburg receiver's cabinet away from the wall to allow hook-up of my portable CD-player. Once done, I put on Wishing by ELO, figuring it would fit her tastes in music well-enough to demonstrate what I explained before... And it did! A grateful expression came to her face as the opening notes gently sang out through the speakers, helping her realize that she not only need not replace her beloved system, but could also save money on updating what she had! During the ride back to the shop, Al seemed to both scold & praise me for what I did... being how my intentions were understandable, it wasn't the acceptable norm for workers to do as such. I never learned what became of the lady, or that old Knightsburg stereo after that... but I like to believe that her ancestry, which was tied to someone important in history, was glad to see that even amongst the "commoners" that chivalry isn't dead.
Nice job, sometimes I get the other story where they replaced some 70's Pioneer Stack with this really nice and very compact all-in-one system that does everything, of course they always add how the Pioneer got tossed out cuz nobody liked it.
You just reminded me of how a late friend used to speak of how a Pioneer receiver, along with Sansui speakers, was top stuff in the day... and how I later found such an arrangement at a remote Goodwill store. Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough to buy it... or the portable VHS VCR w/camera input that had a elonged case, very-much like that of a boombox.
