Getting back into diy thanks to some "free" turntable consoles.
I did a lot speaker building in high school and college, and not all of it was subs! LOL! Haven't done much in the electronics diy or audio in too many years, but it was a my local Freecycle group that caused my addiction to reoccur.
Through my local Freecycle group I came across (4) old tube amped turntable consoles. Well, I managed to secure the consoles and got them back to my garage. Two are twins. They're old Sears Silvertone units. My wife loved them all, but wanted a stereo unit and liked look of the Sears unit. So, they are being cleaned up and reworked into more modern components. My old receiver is running the OEM speakers right now until I can modify the cabinet to fit my Polk bookshelf speakers in it or build new speakers for the console.
The second console is a Magnavox and in the best shape, but the turntable is broken. It's a tube rectified PSU mono unit with (2) 12" woofers and a tuning eye tube for the FM receiver! I need to pull the audio and PSU sections to check them for blown caps, resistors, and dead shorts before I replace the power cable and plug it in.
The third console is in the worst shape, but it's definitely my favorite! It's a mono Westinghouse with a pretty neat design. I'll posting dimensions and asking for full range speaker design help for this console because I want to fit FR horns in the two sides behind the doors. A 6-1/2" woofer will fit were the old mono speaker was in the bottom. I haven't decided were I'll install the amps and what sources I'll try to use with it. It needs some repair and rework, but I'm planning to re-veneer the console to fix the damaged areas. It's new home will be in my home office and I want a small, integrated console stereo that will look and sound better than most bookshelf systems, but I realize I won't achieve audiophile sound do to the compromises I'm making to keep it in the original console.
I found diyAudio through Joe Rasmussen's Custom Analog Audio site when searching for tube amp info and subwoofer designs for a friend's HT. Then I saw his Elsinore speaker design and his hybrid gainclone amp. Uh Oh! Had to join diyAudio and send Joe a few emails with questions...
I'm now infected and my first build will be the Millett Hybrid MAX headphone amp before I attempt the hybrid gainclones. The FR folded horns and sub for the console will get me back into speaker building before I jump into the Elsinores.
I'm also planning to build my PSUs, preamps, and phono stages for at least two of the consoles (the Sears unit in the DR and the Westinghouse in my office). I'm still undecided about the Magnovox and it's fate is in limbo until I cn go through all the connections and components, but the design does not readily lend itself to conversion to stereo unless I build a matching second speaker in a new standalone cabinet.
Luckily I have a good friend who is an EE and does a lot of PCB design and soldering of surface mount components for engineering trial units before they are put into production in the robotics, military, and other applications that require a very high level of signal quality.
Oh, and I travel quite a bit for work throughout the US, so I'm hoping to be able to attend some of the local GTGs throughout the US and meet folks and learn even more.
- BMF
I did a lot speaker building in high school and college, and not all of it was subs! LOL! Haven't done much in the electronics diy or audio in too many years, but it was a my local Freecycle group that caused my addiction to reoccur.
Through my local Freecycle group I came across (4) old tube amped turntable consoles. Well, I managed to secure the consoles and got them back to my garage. Two are twins. They're old Sears Silvertone units. My wife loved them all, but wanted a stereo unit and liked look of the Sears unit. So, they are being cleaned up and reworked into more modern components. My old receiver is running the OEM speakers right now until I can modify the cabinet to fit my Polk bookshelf speakers in it or build new speakers for the console.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
The second console is a Magnavox and in the best shape, but the turntable is broken. It's a tube rectified PSU mono unit with (2) 12" woofers and a tuning eye tube for the FM receiver! I need to pull the audio and PSU sections to check them for blown caps, resistors, and dead shorts before I replace the power cable and plug it in.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
The third console is in the worst shape, but it's definitely my favorite! It's a mono Westinghouse with a pretty neat design. I'll posting dimensions and asking for full range speaker design help for this console because I want to fit FR horns in the two sides behind the doors. A 6-1/2" woofer will fit were the old mono speaker was in the bottom. I haven't decided were I'll install the amps and what sources I'll try to use with it. It needs some repair and rework, but I'm planning to re-veneer the console to fix the damaged areas. It's new home will be in my home office and I want a small, integrated console stereo that will look and sound better than most bookshelf systems, but I realize I won't achieve audiophile sound do to the compromises I'm making to keep it in the original console.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
I found diyAudio through Joe Rasmussen's Custom Analog Audio site when searching for tube amp info and subwoofer designs for a friend's HT. Then I saw his Elsinore speaker design and his hybrid gainclone amp. Uh Oh! Had to join diyAudio and send Joe a few emails with questions...
I'm now infected and my first build will be the Millett Hybrid MAX headphone amp before I attempt the hybrid gainclones. The FR folded horns and sub for the console will get me back into speaker building before I jump into the Elsinores.
I'm also planning to build my PSUs, preamps, and phono stages for at least two of the consoles (the Sears unit in the DR and the Westinghouse in my office). I'm still undecided about the Magnovox and it's fate is in limbo until I cn go through all the connections and components, but the design does not readily lend itself to conversion to stereo unless I build a matching second speaker in a new standalone cabinet.
Luckily I have a good friend who is an EE and does a lot of PCB design and soldering of surface mount components for engineering trial units before they are put into production in the robotics, military, and other applications that require a very high level of signal quality.
Oh, and I travel quite a bit for work throughout the US, so I'm hoping to be able to attend some of the local GTGs throughout the US and meet folks and learn even more.
- BMF
Thanks. I'm digging in and doing my research right now...
My wife said that she would like the Westinghouse console for our bedroom if it turns out like I plan. I laughed a little because I'm planning to build it with an integrated 6-1/2" sub fed by a 75w amp and the FR horns will be fed by Joe's Hybrid Gainclone design. I think she'll be surprised how much it rocks, but I've already lost my office system before I've even had a chance to start on it! Looks like the Magnavox will now be updated to be my office system with a pair of separate FR loaded horns or stand-mounted MTMs.
My wife said that she would like the Westinghouse console for our bedroom if it turns out like I plan. I laughed a little because I'm planning to build it with an integrated 6-1/2" sub fed by a 75w amp and the FR horns will be fed by Joe's Hybrid Gainclone design. I think she'll be surprised how much it rocks, but I've already lost my office system before I've even had a chance to start on it! Looks like the Magnavox will now be updated to be my office system with a pair of separate FR loaded horns or stand-mounted MTMs.
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