Anyone ever work on an old mid-century Grundig console cabinet system?
I have an opportunity to purchase one for a fair price. It’s a way to get hi-fi into my family room without complaints from the rest of the family.
I planned on a modification/restoration, including dropping in my Project turntable, substituting a Playstation 4 (my son’s) for the radio, and replacing the speakers with new wall speakers. It looks to have plenty of room for other electronics. Not sure exactly what will fit until I actually see it in person.
The big question is I am also considered trying to get the reel to reel working. It was made in Germany, so I figure it is of decent quality. Would a restoration be worth it?
I was gonna do a resto-mod on an old Koronette Console Stereo my Dad had. But it’s so Damn heavy to lift, I never grabbed it from him to do the work. My Mom’s since sold it.
Your Grundig looks like a fun project/headache to do.
I would imagine the tape deck would take a real lot of work / replacement parts etc. to get working - especially if replacement mechanical bits need to be manufactured from scratch, maybe do the rest of it (sounds like a cool idea!) and then the reel to reel can be a more long term project
I like that idea. Maybe I get the restrorod going with the reel to reel on the side. I like the idea of them because my dad’d friend had one, and it was my first experience with a true Hi-Fi system.
This could really look nice in the right room with some TLC.
Have fun if you pull the trigger.
SEE
[PS - If this is cleaned up and refinished, I would not be surprised if it would sell for a pretty penny to one of today’s Mid-century Modern fans - even if its just gutted.]
That’s a lovely console. I would have been jealous of that in my teens. It was truly high end with the tape player. If the tape player had low use it might be restorable. Most people wouldn’t use them them because of the labour intensive nature of tapes.
My girlfriend brought a very similar one home from her parent’s place a couple years ago.
The turntable was pretty much shot, so I mounted a Dual 1019 in the slot. (Copied the Dual’s original plinth opening and built a frame so it would drop right in.)
Then, we decided to modernize the playback capabilities, and not even use the existing internals. Sacrilege, perhaps, but functionality was more important for her. I pulled out the speakers (which were basically disintegrating) and put a pair of powered Klipsch speakers in the cavities. They have a phono stage for the Dual, and can do bluetooth as well, and the remote control works through the speaker fabric.)
So, the thing looks the part, but acts like a modern stereo.
That’s a cool looking rig whether you update it or not. It would certainly be neat with some modern electronics inside. Restomod is definitely the right vibe. Have fun.
