What does it mean when the Picture Level controls must be set near max to get a good picture?

I am looking to buy an old Sony 10** series, and the one I inquired about, was described as such.

Thanks. :)

That's pretty normal for a set that is probably 20 years old. Tube emission has gone down, but even when new, the pix controls had to be pretty high for a punchy pix. You can tweak the internal screen and sub brightness/contrast controls to turn the external controls down, but at this point, you should be paying about $100 or less for a 10XX set, and even at that, it had better be in mint shape. I'm more or less giving away the last of my 10XX parts as there's simply no call for them. Email me at curtpalme@shaw.ca if you want spare parts, I got a big ol' box full of them that will keep some of these old sets going for a while.

Thanks Curt! You are the best!

When I was running my $20 1020 last year I had the contrast at about 90% and the brightness at about 60%. I don't think it's possible to burn the tubes because they just aren't that powerful. Looked really good for composite.

Maybe I can upgrade the tubes, as well, even change them to better tubes offered in the 10** series.

Which are better?

130
187
07MS

Are they interchangable?

The 07MS are the best, but also the hardest to find in good shape.