"PrinzSound" and other forgotten brands

A couple of items (FM tuner and amplifier) with this brand name appeared at a charity where I do some volunteering. I think they were sold by Currys & Dixons back in the 1970s.
They were quite solid heavy items but I'm not familiar with this brand.

Also a rather nice cassette deck with Cro2 tape and Dolby made by Akai.

All items were made in Japan, the amplifier was marked "Mfg. by Monarch Electric Co", no idea who they were, an OEM? Both items used phono connectors only (no DIN sockets) the tuner had screw terminals for 240 ohm ribbon cable although that has never been the standard here.. Interestingly the power supplies for all items were 240 volt 50hz only, I do remember most equipment was sold without adjustable power supplies back then. They also had the very thick mains cables ("Hirakawa" brand") that would have powered an electric fire!
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  • grahamlthompsongrahamlthompson Posts: 18,486
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    The first transistor car radio I ever bought was a Prinzsound from Dixons heaven knows how long ago, got to be 40+ years.
  • Mike_1101Mike_1101 Posts: 8,012
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    The first transistor car radio I ever bought was a Prinzsound from Dixons heaven knows how long ago, got to be 40+ years.

    Did it have FM? Not many did back then.
  • grahamlthompsongrahamlthompson Posts: 18,486
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    Mike_1101 wrote: »
    Did it have FM? Not many did back then.

    Nope Medium Wave and Long Wave. I also had a stereo amplifier same make, coincidentally also the first transistor amp I had, before that I used a pair of mono valve amps with a stereo preamp (also valve).
  • leslie123leslie123 Posts: 2,431
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    Does anybody remember Binatone?
  • mac2708mac2708 Posts: 3,349
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    leslie123 wrote: »
    Does anybody remember Binatone?

    The brand name lives on http://www.binatonetelecom.com/products
    available in the UK at
    http://www.binatonetelecom.com/whereToBuy/UnitedKingdom
  • 2Bdecided2Bdecided Posts: 4,416
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  • Mike_1101Mike_1101 Posts: 8,012
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    Another make that was very well known for a long time - Dansette. I always thought they made cheap down market stuff but still seem to have a lot of fans.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezlvhgjalew

    I have a Dynatron record player (an earlier version of this one) and it still works reasonably well after almost 50 years and no new valves http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAvbJlS2O4M . It hasn't had heavy use though.
  • Fred SmithFred Smith Posts: 3,330
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    Our very first portable TV, a 12" B&W mains and 12V was a PrinzSound from Dixons. Actually made by Sharp in Japan. Brings back memories.
  • Nigel GoodwinNigel Goodwin Posts: 58,330
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    Mike_1101 wrote: »
    Another make that was very well known for a long time - Dansette. I always thought they made cheap down market stuff but still seem to have a lot of fans.

    Dansette was OK for what it was, similar sort of stuff to Fidelity.

    It's only in relatively recent times that Dansette has become ubiquitous with cheap mono record players - I've no idea why?, it's not like they were the most common make.
  • Mike_1101Mike_1101 Posts: 8,012
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    Anybody remember these "Auritone" clock radios sold by "Scotcade", around 1978-79?
    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Auritone-Clock-Radio-Launch-Original-Full-Page-Colour-Vintage-Advert-1978-/300663399104

    The radio was rubbish but it kept good time and lasted almost 20 years. I only threw it away as the cabinet started disintegrating and exposed live mains terminals.
  • leslie123leslie123 Posts: 2,431
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    Does anybody remember very cheap radios in the early seventies, many of which were made by Binatone? They would have Medium Wave , FM , Aircraft Band (108 Mhz - 136 Mhz ) PSB Band (136 Mhz - 175 Mhz) for reception of taxis, fire brigade, ambulances, even TV sound from Band 3.
  • leslie123leslie123 Posts: 2,431
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    TVs made by Pye, Stella, Philco, GEC Sobell. Also Saisho which was exclusive to Dixons and Matsui which was exclusive to Currys which I think is still available.
  • jjnejjne Posts: 6,580
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    Pye seems to regularly be resurrected by Philips for cheap stuff. Sometimes over the years the stuff has been quite a good deal -- the brand was used for satellite receivers which were stripped down versions of Philips/Grundig kit, but just over half the price.

    I do recall the own-brand items from Comet, Dixons and Currys, which in the 1970s was often Japanese -- there have always been a collection of second-tier Japanese manufacturers whose kit was always a cut above the general Hong Kong/Taiwan and (later) Korean imports.

    This lives on, of course. Funai and Orion are both Japanese (although the latter now appears to be owned by a Thai group). These have always been associated with cheap imports, and the reputation is mostly deserved, but I have found their stuff to be consistently better than the Chinese and Turkish equipment.No better built, but the Japanese DNA in the design shines through, and the faults tend to be of the "simple, common and cheap-to-fix" variety rather than the "going to lunch on every other component in the box" type that plagues some Chinese hardware!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 16
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    I had a Harry Moss car radio in the '70s... no FM.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 16
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    "Pye seems to regularly be resurrected by Philips for cheap stuff."

    As a TV engineer working for Telstar Colourvision in 1973/75 we had Pye and Echo brand TVs and their poorer cousin, Invicta, which appeared to be always going wrong.

    I
  • AidanLunnAidanLunn Posts: 5,320
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    2Bdecided wrote: »

    You forget Logik, the Matsui "predecessor".
  • 1andrew11andrew1 Posts: 4,088
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    Logik brand is still going strong.

    What about Benkson radios?
  • Mike_1101Mike_1101 Posts: 8,012
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    1andrew1 wrote: »
    Logik brand is still going strong.

    What about Benkson radios?

    I remember them being sold cheaply on market stalls so assumed they were just cheap rubbish.
  • Nigel GoodwinNigel Goodwin Posts: 58,330
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    AidanLunn wrote: »
    You forget Logik, the Matsui "predecessor".

    I'm pleased you put predecessor in quotes - as far as I'm aware Matsui and Logik were pretty well concurrent - I've no idea which (if either) appeared first.
  • AidanLunnAidanLunn Posts: 5,320
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    I'm pleased you put predecessor in quotes - as far as I'm aware Matsui and Logik were pretty well concurrent - I've no idea which (if either) appeared first.

    AFAIK, Logik appeared sometime around 1986/87, Matsui was around 1991? I believe the first TVs to use the Logik name were Thorn TX100 chassis. I have one waiting in my "can't be arsed to fix it yet" pile - random line ripple/shaking problem (i.e. not smoothing caps in the PSU) -flywheel sync time constant capacitor? IIRC, these were the last sets to use this chassis.

    After it's fixed it'll be displayed with a period VCR - my 88 JVC HRD-320 should do nicely ;)
  • AidanLunnAidanLunn Posts: 5,320
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    1andrew1 wrote: »
    Logik brand is still going strong.

    What about Benkson radios?

    As far as I remember, they disposed of the Logik brand some considerable time after Matsui was introduced - then they brought it back.
  • AidanLunnAidanLunn Posts: 5,320
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    kovalitch wrote: »
    "Pye seems to regularly be resurrected by Philips for cheap stuff."

    As a TV engineer working for Telstar Colourvision in 1973/75 we had Pye and Echo brand TVs and their poorer cousin, Invicta, which appeared to be always going wrong.

    I

    But that was before Pye was bought out by Philips in 1976.
  • Nigel GoodwinNigel Goodwin Posts: 58,330
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    AidanLunn wrote: »
    I believe the first TVs to use the Logik name were Thorn TX100 chassis.

    I thought the TX100 was one of the later Logik sets?.
  • Nigel GoodwinNigel Goodwin Posts: 58,330
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    AidanLunn wrote: »
    But that was before Pye was bought out by Philips in 1976.

    That was when they fully bought them out, they had a majority holding ten years earlier and spares for Pye came from CES Ltd, Philips spares division.

    BTW, not you, but Echo is Ekco (E. K. Cole Ltd).
  • Rich_LRich_L Posts: 6,110
    Forum Member
    The Hinari Sunrise TV...
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