Hi All,
I may regret this, but here are my last pair of "holey basket" Coral FE103a (alnico) variants dropped in to Minimus 8 Rat Shack cabinets. As you know if you are interested, these are not the original boxes. These are sealed, solid, and have real wood (walnut?) veneer! (I just googled Minimus 8 and found a single on Ebay that is vinyl and not nearly so pretty. The original drivers were less renowned but similarly-sized 103 variants.)
$80 +shipping.
Paul
I may regret this, but here are my last pair of "holey basket" Coral FE103a (alnico) variants dropped in to Minimus 8 Rat Shack cabinets. As you know if you are interested, these are not the original boxes. These are sealed, solid, and have real wood (walnut?) veneer! (I just googled Minimus 8 and found a single on Ebay that is vinyl and not nearly so pretty. The original drivers were less renowned but similarly-sized 103 variants.)
$80 +shipping.
Paul
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Hi folks,
I've had a couple of requests for shipping quotes. FedEx's calculator is misbehaving for me right now and I don't want to run a dozen quotes anyway.
Looks like USPS priority will be about $40 to the first zip code I ran. So, I'll say $120 shipped to CONUS. If you are farther away, I'll eat the difference.
I'm not going to disassemble for more pics or drive them 1,000 miles.
Paul
I've had a couple of requests for shipping quotes. FedEx's calculator is misbehaving for me right now and I don't want to run a dozen quotes anyway.
Looks like USPS priority will be about $40 to the first zip code I ran. So, I'll say $120 shipped to CONUS. If you are farther away, I'll eat the difference.
I'm not going to disassemble for more pics or drive them 1,000 miles.
Paul
No worries guys. I did live in MN, but that was a long time ago! Even my current profile is not current, as it shows Boulder.
They are sold.
For folks who really want these Corals, keep an eye out for the Sony TC-500s! There are two local to me on fb marketplace right now. Both are a bit over-priced at $150 and $160, but folks still love those opts and the NEC 12ad7s! (These Minimus 8 boxes, though, are the only pair I've ever seen.)
Paul
They are sold.
For folks who really want these Corals, keep an eye out for the Sony TC-500s! There are two local to me on fb marketplace right now. Both are a bit over-priced at $150 and $160, but folks still love those opts and the NEC 12ad7s! (These Minimus 8 boxes, though, are the only pair I've ever seen.)
Paul
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Hi there,
I found a free TC-500 Sony RtR, in near perfect condition. I notice it has multiple tubes on the board, including 12AD7 (two) 12BH7, and 4 others that seem to be in the amp circuit and rectifier. I know very little about tubes, but these seem to all work normally, but the record / play head I think is shot. I’m wondering could a person turn this preamp portion into something useful for HiFi? Should I just pull the tubes and hold on to them? I was thinking of using one as a replacement for a Chinese Bluetooth tube preamp- or is that just sinful? Anyway I was wondering if you had any thoughts or advice since you mentioned this Sony RtR specifically.
It has 6AQ5 which is an EL84 class tube. The OPTs (TamRadio. ie cheap Tamuras) can be used for EL84/6V6/ECL82/ECL86 and more. 6AU6 are half a 12AX7(?). There is a nice shock mount for a pair of 8 pin tubes (if you ar ebuilding an amp from the bits you only need one. The power transformer isvery versatile and used just for a power amp more than sufficient. Makes a nice little SE84 amp.
dave
dave
There isn't much in these for a preamp. The power transformer is way overkill for that. I'm not sure why tube preamps are so popular anyway. They are usually redundant at best, and many are downright poor at driving the solid state amps people like to pair with them.
These TC500s are excellent donors for a RH84 amplifier, though. Those are a great first time DIY tube project, and if you REALLY want a tube preamp, maybe you could use the 600 ohm taps of these transformers for that purpose? I'm currently running a little RH84 amp with these output transformers while my 845 amp is awaiting a conversion into monoblocks. It sounds wonderful! Makes me wonder if I really need such enormous, hot, dangerous, power hungry things!
Paul
These TC500s are excellent donors for a RH84 amplifier, though. Those are a great first time DIY tube project, and if you REALLY want a tube preamp, maybe you could use the 600 ohm taps of these transformers for that purpose? I'm currently running a little RH84 amp with these output transformers while my 845 amp is awaiting a conversion into monoblocks. It sounds wonderful! Makes me wonder if I really need such enormous, hot, dangerous, power hungry things!
Paul