Re: Gec2110 g8 a823 which is top
This is one where you have to be a little time (date) or model specific, I think.
For example, they all had disasters, even if some versions were good and could give good pictures...
The GEC was a later design than the others... by quite a way.
Even so, early GEC sets had line output tuning caps that went o/c causing sky high EHT, usually popped the protection zener, but also usually blew up the line o/p stage and other things as well. I've seen tubes with pin holes through the neck and no vacuum left due to this. Also, some had stupid touch tune selectors that had customers jumping in the air to get them to change channel. And intermittent joints that could defy finding.
Poor componets everywhere, but sometimes in places thay would cause mayhem, such as the voltage regulation components on the psu. There were a lot of variants here, looks like they did the product development in customers' houses.
G8... Generally good, but who remembers the early decoder with the sub-panel because the TBA530 wasn't ready yet? I still have one of those sub-boards. They weren't too good.
Later G8's had very different design here, a single panel, but LOPT's etc were not the best.
Rank A823.... (gets my vote) especially the "mid-life" versions with single chip decoder, later (silicon audio stage) i.f. board, no varicap tuner, and late version of the original scan drive panel.
The i.f. response on these was super, as was the sound, and the pictures were sharp stable and bright when set up properly. The old mechanical tuners were great, except for the tuning cams that fall to pieces, and the buttons that wear out... top tip, put a 2BA washer on the shaft so that it takes the brunt of channel changing, and the buttons get an easier life.
Why did they continue to use that stupid thermistor in the thyristor psu, a soft start system could have been added easily and would have saved a lot of grief... as used by GEC.
Full circle methinks !
Pete
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