Hello all, I just aquired this Electorhome Circa 701 and thought I would show it off. It's fully functional, in fact I'm listening to a Beatles record as I write this post. Has anyone else owned one of these beauties? The not sure of the type of wood it is constructed of, I came across an old add for these and it says they were either made of walnut or oiled teak. 
<img class="wpforo-default
Gorgeous.
I'll hazard that it's walnut. The speaker panels (at least) are from the same bookmatched veneers -- judging by the figure that's visible. Nice . . .
Not to disparage the original design, but it would be possible to imagine this case, separated (temporarily) from its handsome base and placed atop a credenza box of matching size, to raise the turntable and controls to a more convenient (if less streamlined) height -- and provide record storage. Perhaps the same metal base could take the weight of the combined elements ?
Maybe that's the septuagenarian talking. In any event, an enviable acquisition !
701
I Purchased it from a MCM shop in Calgary Alberta, The sound this unit produces is truly amazing. it has 2 four inch "tweeters" on the front of the unit and 2 ten inch down-firing "woofers" on the underside of the unit. From what I have read the speaker enclosures are sealed units and this adds to the overall sound quality. At first it was just average sounding. I decided to take the turntable out to clean it up and underneath buried in a pile of wood shavings was a stylus in original packaging that was different from the one fitted when I bought the unit! After changing the stylus to the "new" (original) the sound quality went up tenfold! I listen to this unit every day and am extremely happy with the condition and quality of the unit, still cant pinpoint a date of manufacture but from what I have seen on the internet this seems to be one of the early models in this style and more than likely around 50 years old.
I did find a tag on the underside of the unit that says the unit is indeed made of walnut. I too noticed the matching veneer on the front panels, I feel like its a nice little attention to detail that adds to the character of the unit, The man who made this unit really cared and it shows, his name is signed on the underside of the unit as well. As for modifying the unit, I am very happy with the original intended design and will not be making any changes to it, when seated or kneeling the unit height really isn't a problem. There is talk about Clairtone on this site, the design of the Clairtone G series is unmatched, but as far as sound quality I believe the Electrohome could give it some real competition, it would be an interesting battle of two Canadian stereo design icons.
congratulations
trials4evr
Congratulations on your vintage audio console acquisition. Stunning is the only word that comes to mind when the tambour door is closed. The simple stainless steel legs are elegant. The sound you get is acceptable for a period piece.
The Achille and Pier Castiglioni RR126 for Brionvega in jesgord's collection is a design triumph in vintage audio.
The Electrohome looks great closed. The Brionvega RR126 has no equal.
circa 701
trials4evr bought the circa 701 from me....you should have seen it leveraged into his suv with baby in a carseat beside it;)
it looked and sounded awesome and am excited that it went to such an appreciative home...the hidden stylus is an awesome bonus!
I would never have let it go and it would be in my living room right now but I have this one to clean up and enjoy....c'est la vie;)
The Clairtone Project
This is a Clairtone G3, 1966 model. DC Hillier has a wonderful information website on these stellar rare innovative Canadian mid century stereos. It is found here:
http://www.clairtone.ca/projectg/
A snippet from this site:
'The Clairtone Project G stereo was produced by Clairtone from 1964-67. Costing 2000$ new (approximately the equivalent of $20,000 today) the high price kept it from becoming a huge success. Despite it sounding and looking incredible, fewer than 400 Project G's were made. It was promoted by Frank Sinatra, Hugh Hefner, Oscar Peterson and other celebrities and found a niche within Hollywood and other trendsetters popping up on the sets of such movies as The Graduate, The Party and Zabriskie Point...'
Or the main page under a revamp http://www.clairtone.ca
If you need any help, please contact us at – info@designaddict.com