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Sylvania Console?

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I have a line on an old Sylvania console. The owner says it is from the 50's and has a tube amp. It is only for LP's; no tuner. Can anyone tell me anything about this? Is it worth getting to pull the amp and recap?
Thanks,
Mike
 

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It's stereo. So, an overhaul rates to be worthwhile, as something to work with is usually present.

The record changer almost certainly employs a piezoelectric cartridge. That thing should not be allowed near irreplaceable LPs. HF info. can literally be scrubbed out of the grooves. :(

At a minimum, post the model number. A link to the schematic or a direct upload is preferable.
 
It's stereo. So, an overhaul rates to be worthwhile, as something to work with is usually present.

The record changer almost certainly employs a piezoelectric cartridge. That thing should not be allowed near irreplaceable LPs. HF info. can literally be scrubbed out of the grooves. :(

At a minimum, post the model number. A link to the schematic or a direct upload is preferable.

Thanks for the advice Eli. I'll see if the seller can get the model number. The serial number is 408200-272-2008. I don't know if that helps, but that's all I've received so far. She's asking far too much for it at the moment, but I messaged her what an offer. We'll see where it goes from there.
Mike
 
The FM radios in competing consoles were typically fun, and often competent, but I could hear the cartridge destroying the beautiful Mercury Living Presence LP's my mother bought me the day after Christmas. Highs ripped right off. Pitch the turntable if ceramic cartridge or over 1.5 g arm. The amplifiers were typically 13 w/ ch. $80 of woodwork, a $20 turntable and $40 radio, a $20 amp, makes a $700 console, for some reason highly respected as the best thing in sound for 20 years. Until one got to college and discovered Dynaco and AR. That is what they had in the library LP listening rooms, hundreds of plays on those loaner LP's, scratch and dust damage only. The city library had Gerrard turntables, okay on the LP grooves but rumbled a bit.
 
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Some times they were PP 6BQ5s, but often times they were SE 6BQ5 in which case you would get about 4W per channel.

In addition to changing the main filter caps and cathode bypass caps, coupling caps are typically ceramic so film upgrade is inexpensive. CC resistors in some units were 10% and may be way out of tolerance by now. They are easy to measure and replacement is not difficult.

If it is a 1950s unit, they won't have switched to SS rectification yet.
 
The FM radios in competing consoles were typically fun, and often competent, but I could hear the cartridge destroying the beautiful Mercury Living Presence LP's my mother bought me the day after Christmas. Highs ripped right off. Pitch the turntable if ceramic cartridge or over 1.5 g arm. The amplifiers were typically 13 w/ ch. $80 of woodwork, a $20 turntable and $40 radio, a $20 amp, makes a $700 console, for some reason highly respected as the best thing in sound for 20 years. Until one got to college and discovered Dynaco and AR. That is what they had in the library LP listening rooms, hundreds of plays on those loaner LP's, scratch and dust damage only. The city library had Gerrard turntables, okay on the LP grooves but rumbled a bit.

I'm really only interested in the amp. I'm not a vinyl-guy, so the TT would go unless someone needs it for some other rebuild. This one has no radio, so that should simplfy re-purposing it. I'm waiting to hear whether the seller is OK with my offer.
I'm curious what type of speaker arrangement this console has. I have a solid state Zenith that has a speaker system that looks like it was actually thought out, rather than just stuck in the console. The Zenith speakers are enclosed in some sort of "cast" enclosure. I'm not sure what it's made of; kind of feels like hard egg-carton material. I have a feeling the Sylvania isn't the same though. Not having a tuner makes me think it might be more on the economy side.
Mike
 
Hey! Does the Zeneth have one 8" driver and two 4" drivers? The surround on the 8" is rubber and they actually sound ok. The paper egg carton material was spray on into a form. They used a 12" X 18" section of acoustic dampening material in the enclosure as well. The "glue" to hold the enclosure in place looks like it is asphaltic glue of some sort.
 
Hey! Does the Zeneth have one 8" driver and two 4" drivers? The surround on the 8" is rubber and they actually sound ok. The paper egg carton material was spray on into a form. They used a 12" X 18" section of acoustic dampening material in the enclosure as well. The "glue" to hold the enclosure in place looks like it is asphaltic glue of some sort.

I don't remember what size drivers it has, but it sounds better than most consoles. I'm not really a fan of consoles because of their size, and quite often they don't sound very good. The Zenith has been an exception for me though.
Mike
 
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