[Mike_1101]

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!

[grahamlthompson]

The first transistor car radio I ever bought was a Prinzsound from Dixons heaven knows how long ago, got to be 40+ years.

[Mike_1101]

Originally Posted by grahamlthompson

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.

[grahamlthompson]

Originally Posted by Mike_1101

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).

[leslie123]

Does anybody remember Binatone?

[mac2708]

Originally Posted by leslie123

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

[2Bdecided]

Saisho (Dixons)
Matsui (Currys)

both classic own-brands of DSG: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixons_Retail
http://www.thesoutheastecho.co.uk/Dixons.htm

[Mike_1101]

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 Smith]

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 Goodwin]

Originally Posted by Mike_1101

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_1101]

Anybody remember these "Auritone" clock radios sold by "Scotcade", around 1978-79?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Auritone-C...-/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.

[leslie123]

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.

[leslie123]

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.

[jjne]

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!

[kovalitch]

I had a Harry Moss car radio in the '70s... no FM.

[kovalitch]

"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

[AidanLunn]

Originally Posted by 2Bdecided

Saisho (Dixons)
Matsui (Currys)

both classic own-brands of DSG: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixons_Retail
http://www.thesoutheastecho.co.uk/Dixons.htm

You forget Logik, the Matsui "predecessor".

[1andrew1]

Logik brand is still going strong.

What about Benkson radios?

[Mike_1101]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

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 Goodwin]

Originally Posted by AidanLunn

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.

[AidanLunn]

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

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

[AidanLunn]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

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.

[AidanLunn]

Originally Posted by kovalitch

"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 Goodwin]

Originally Posted by AidanLunn

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 Goodwin]

Originally Posted by AidanLunn

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).