Long story short, I am currently in New Zealand and will be returning to the States soon.  While walking around downtown I stepped into a used stereo shop and asked out of curiosity if there was any vintage tube gear for sale.  The gentleman pointed to an apparently very well cared for US spec "Stromberg-Carlson Stereo 24" integrated amp.  He says it plays wonderfully and needs absolutely nothing.  His inital asking price is about US$420, but I could probably get him down a bit. 

Now, to this point I have never heard of SC, and cant seem to find much of anything useful on the net.  Does anyone know if this is something worth picking up either for myself or to bring back to the States to sell?  I love my Fortes and have been wanting to try tubes before going all-out and getting started on my Scott 299C - based project.  Furthermore, getting the amp home safely is not an issue at all; I am not flying comercial.

Any thoughts or experience with the Stromberg-Carlson?

I am coming home soon so any advice you can provide is much appreciated.

Paul 

 I can give you part of the answer, SC was a high-end (for the time) mfr of home entertainment equipment from the 30s-50s. I am suprised they made it into the stereo era, because they have been out of biz (in the US at least) for a very long time. I cannot speak to this particular unit but their quality of design and construction was higher than the "big names" of the same era. Their competetion was other upscale brands like Capehart and DuMont, not Zenith and RCA. There is a following of their radios and TVs. I would ask these guys:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.antiques.radio+phono/topics?hl=en

and maybe Phil, a very helpful gentleman:

http://antiqueradio.org/

all the usual caveats and cautions about renovating old tube gear apply, there are others here who know that stuff by heart and can give detailed guidance.

 

 Here's a translated German page about it (you may have already seen).

 I'm not familiar with that amp, but $420 seems a bit high for a rather obscure (as opposed to "rare" ) piece.  Has a restoration been performed on it?  How reliable is the shop?  When you get it home (in the US), it'll be very difficult to exercise any warranty the shop gives you.  That being said, NOSValves has rejuvenated a fair number of SC pieces, so at least it can be repaired if need be.  Just not sure about the price.

 I posted a reply to this other thread: http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/108073.aspx with an attachment (zipped DejaVu format of the 1961 catalog.)

Looks like the  'Stereo 24' is actually tha ASR433 (described on Page 7 of the djvu file.)

Money is a little strong, but nice... One of the ones I've been looking for.

 I have had Scott and Ampex vintage tube amps before getting to my current configuration.

The only other 3 I would consider is SC, Pilot and Fisher.

 

400 usd for a nice condition SC amp is a market forces issue of supply and demand. I would do it but I make about 800 usd of audio experimental purchases a year. 

I went back and took a closer look, and had him hook it up for a listen.  Sounded great even on the crappy test speakers, and with zero hum or other other issues.  Walked out for $400US.  I cant wait to get her home next week and try her out with some more deserving speakers.  I'll post pics when I have some time to clean it up, but it really is a nice piece.  Thanks to all for the input!

Paul 

 I had one, it was a nice amp.  Money does indeed seem high for that amp.  The pre is the week point.  You will need to be able to do some work on it.  I had mine a year or two and had some trouble due to the age of the parts.  Needs new tube sockets, new can cap, etc...  I think if you can work on it yourself it will provide some interesting challenges (disconnect the pre, upgrade some parts, etc...).  But I wouldn't pay that much and I wouldn't bother unless your are pretty technical.

n2dablue:

I went back and took a closer look, and had him hook it up for a listen.  Sounded great even on the crappy test speakers, and with zero hum or other other issues.  Walked out for $400US.  I cant wait to get her home next week and try her out with some more deserving speakers.  I'll post pics when I have some time to clean it up, but it really is a nice piece.  Thanks to all for the input!

Paul 

 

You did not have to pay shipping and pakaging and it was in fine visual condition you could see for yourself in New Zeland. A good find. Nearly all vintage amps that sell for less than $ 350 have difficult to repair cosmetic issues. 

 Here are a couple of pics...

 Like I said, this unit appears to be working very well, but I will be sure to check it out before putting it into full time duty.  I agree that I wouldn't have paid as much as I did, but unlike an ebay purchase, I got to see and hear this firsthand.  I also get to hand carry this back to the States in a box that I packed- I dont have to trust anyone elses judgement attention to detail.  I feel this is a good deal even if I have to do some "work" to it.  I have been soldering and working with electronics since age 12, and while I am more qualified with aircraft avionics systems than HV AC circuits, I am pretty sure I can  read a  schematic  and swap out some caps and resistors if need be.  Anyway, I will be sure to keep this updated, and will let you know how it goes when I get home.

Thanks for reading!

Paul 

 

It really is a fun amp, and if you overpaid you certainly didn't over pay by much.  And tweaking is fun.  I have to say it looks beautiful and you got the cage.  And sometimes I really miss tone controls.  Good buy and enjoy.

It looks cool!  Very 60's, I gotta say.  Let us know how she works out. 

late saying this but yes stromberg made some of the finest stereo tube amps in its day!

i just bought [got for free!] a stromberg stereo 60 with the vertical output tubes hence a smaller cabinet. i believe it was their last stereo amp made. it is one fine sounding son of a gun! wow! too many knobs to set but really worth a great musical spin! i grew up on pacotronics aka precision apparatus company aka paco stereo intergrated amp sa-40. and tuner st-45 . 25 watts per and about the most musically pleasing amp i have ever heard! especially as a kit company when it came from the factory preassembled. makes a huge difference! looking for their 2 way speakers of which 2 models were made nut they are really hard to find as as i havent heard them yet maybe they should stay hard to find!! ?? best endangered