Alright already: it’s time to get away from the arch-obscuro-mixtapes, the pseudo-clever cultural commentary, and the puff pieces on electronic music ‘mavericks’ and get back to the core values of this website: time-consuming scans of ancient catalogs full of antique sound equipment of interest to 20, maybe 30, cranky retired men somewhere in the U.S.
Download a 25pp excerpt (I’ve omitted the telecommunications equipment) of the 1950 Stromberg Carlson Audio Equipment Catalog:
DOWNLOAD: StrombergCarlson_1950
Products covered, with text, specs, and photos, include: Stromberg-Carlson AU-29, AM-48, AM-49, AR-37, AU-32, AU-42, AU-33, AU-34, AM-43C, AP-25, AU-35, AU-36, AV-44, AV-45 amplifiers; AV-38, AV-39, AV-44, AV-45, and AV-46 preamps; Stromberg Carlson PS-29, PS-32, PS-33, PS-34, PS-37, PS-42 portable sound systems; plus a shit tonne of re-branded dynamic mics, speaker enclosures, drivers, including the RF-71, RC-13, RC-14, RC-15, RC-23, RC-25, RC-55, RC-57; Matching transformers, klaxons, and mic stands.
Above: The Stromberg-Carlson AU-35, the top of their mixing-amp range. Interesting piece: it has two separate 25-watt 6L6 output stages, each driven by the same mix. Also touts ‘resistor board’ construction, which I imagine indicates a turret-board rather than terminal strips; even the RCA PA amps of this period uses terminal strips so this is certainly a notable feature in PA sound equipment of the period.
The AR-37 ‘record amplifier,’ a ten-watt amp with a variety of frequency-compensation features intended to adapt it to the various record response-curves prior to RIAA standardization.
Above: the only Stromberg-Carlson piece that I have spent a (regrettable) span of time with, the AV-38 pre-amplifier. Loaded with shielded RCA input transformers and a very nice Triad (IICRC…) output, it worked fine out-of-the-box and it was certainly worth the $200 that I paid for it. But, despite replacing several of the 6SC7s, recapping, adding a choke, and removing some extraneous crap, I could never get it to be ‘studio-quiet.’ And it probably never was intended to be such. Anyhow…it’s gone to a better place now. The AV-39 lacked the input transformers and the meter; otherwise identical.
Above: the RF-71, SC’s top-end driver of the period. At some point they made some more sophisticated units, including these guys… good god that price!
Stromberg Carlson didn’t manufacture microphones that I am aware of, but you can find a huge variety of SC-branded Shures, EVs, and Turners on eBay to-this-day.
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S/C made some consoles that had "the good stuff" like these drivers and 2A3 amplifiers. There seems to be no limit to what South Korean, Chinese and Japanese buyers will pay for this stuff. There are conclusions to be reached from that.....
If you are going to go to the bother of doing this, scan the WHOLE catalog, even if phones aren't your thing. Phones definitely are some people's thing and it's best to have the whole thing as one.
Kevin Strom, who has commented here, has this nice link to a Western Electric video on YouTube. BTW you do know who Kevin Strom is, yes? (He was Dr. William Pierce's second in command at the National Alliance).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6IeuC8DSvg
The video is a WE film made before Kevin was born and has nothing to do with his beliefs or advocacies.
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!
I have been researching for years to find out what piece of equipment I have. Now I know. It is a PS-33 Portable. I knew the AU-33 part, but not that there was a name for the whole package.
Thank you so much for scanning this catalog and making it available.
Awesome info and I appreciate it. I'm not retired (yet) but the info is invaluable to us. In 2000 we replaced a push-to-talk amp in a school we service with an amplifier and IP solution. We used $2 European style junctions to splice in ALL the school's sound system wiring. The audio quality was unbelievable (Excellent) and we were amazed not to mention relieved. We are back again replacing what we installed as a voice solution and were asked to investigate a classroom that lost it's paging and we pulled a dead speaker from a classroom. 1955 installed Stromberg Carlson. One speaker out of about 50, not bad for 56 years of service. We have no plans to replace what works - only to augment what's there. The antiques are working, why replace them?
Could you possibly email me or post page 41? It has the list of input transformers and it might be my only hope of finding information I need to use one of my Carlson transformers to make a mic preamp
TM2: Primary 150 ohm, c/t at 37.5 ohm. Sec: 30k ohm. TM6:Primary 10k ohm, c/t at 2500 ohm. sec 60k ohm. No other tech info provided whatsoever.
Awesome site. My dad was one of those thirty retired, cranky, old men who would have loved this stuff. He was a huge Radio buff, enthusiast, proffessional, obsesive compulsive nut when it came to the impact and history of audio recording on society; he made it his life's work. I think he had about 4 friends he could call and really talk shop with about this kind of stuff, not because he was so much more educated than them, he only had about 4 friends and I think this is what they bonded over. It's a trip to see how in less than 10 years of him passing, the internet would be able to connect so many more people with similar interests. I guess its kind of obvious because that is what the internet does, but its still neat to stumble across a page that would have peaked his interest and sparked conversation for him.
Any way, I'm looking for information on a Stromberg Carlson microphone he had, but all I have is a picture and the description" SC 10," which isn't helping me find anything. Do you know how I can find out more information about this microphone?
hi bud. did you DL the catalog from the site? the info might be there. S/C did not make mikes, they re-branded existing models, so whatever you have, chances are it's a common model. send me a pic. c.
I grew up in the 50's around SC as well as Webster Teletalk and RCA. Stock barns to churches, hospitals to high schools. But Dad would never do clubs. Sometimes they'd get his number at home on a Saturday night. He responded over the phone in a manner that guaranteed they never called back. Thank you Chris for the memories.
I worked for 41 years for an audio Co. that was a franchised Stromberg Distributor and we had the complete line of industrial sound . I did repairs on all of the amplifier line and also the school sound consoles that were installed in the mid and later 1950's. They had a WONDERFUL LINE of products.
Newman Stare
Reman stare - any ideas on my question below? What on earth do the knobs mean? Thanks!
Autocorrect. NEWMAN! ;)
Hi
I'm looking for the schematic for a stromberg Carlson amp That is in a kodascope fs-10, 1940's. It has three 6v6 and a 1/4" plug set up. I've replaced the waxy caps and grounded with a three prong power cord. Plugged in my guitar, this has that early tone I'm loving. Need the schematics.
Any help would be appreciated.
Steve. 707-758-6028
There’s a pretty good schematic on radiomuseum. Shows two mic inputs and a phono.
Hi, I’m refurbishing a No. 20, but the front controls are “Volume” “Motor pitch” and “Rate of Fire”?!? Appears to have only one microphone input on the back. I hope I can figure out the controls from the schematic/tracing wires, but any insight to the history of these three controls would be welcome.