Here's a 1965 Magnavox "Magnasonic" console record player that I recently picked up at the flea market. When I first saw it, I figured it was a tube unit because there is no outside indication of it being solid state. After I got it home, there were three major discoveries that I made. The first was that this is a solid state unit from '65. The second was that some idiot had stolen the speakers from this unit (except for one tweeter). The third was that one of the leg mounting brackets had ripped out of the particleboard cabinet bottom.
For the side firing woofers, I had a couple of 8" speakers that I'd saved from that Morse-Electrophonic console that I made a video of me destroying it a few months ago. For the tweeters, I had a '67 Magnavox "end table" stereo that I'd planned to fix; but, the cabinet was rough and the record changer turned out to have serious damage. So, I made the decision to part that one out and it happened to have the correct tweeters and crossover capacitors for my model. I hope to one day find the correct Magnavox woofers for this model; but, for now, the Electrophonic speakers will have to do. As far as the end table stereo, it's probably worth more in repair parts rather than me spending a bunch of money getting it going, only to get stuck with it.
I've made a temporary repair of the leg mounting bracket; but, I'll make a more permanent repair later (shouldn't be too difficult).
As far as the amplifier, I replaced the seven original Nichicon capacitors with modern capacitors. There were also two plastic cased paper capacitors that checked OK; but, I replaced them anyway. The original Nichicon caps measured anywhere between double and quadruple their rated capacitance value. The only electrolytic capacitor that I left alone was the dual section can style electrolytic filter capacitor in the power supply. Those multi-section can capacitors are usually relaible and given that we're dealing with low voltage, I decided to leave it alone. Had this been a tube set with HV involved, I would have replaced it.
I also had to replace the audio cables that connect the turntable to the chassis. The original cables had intermittent connections at the plugs; so, I just replaced the whole cable with a new one.
I'm currently waiting on a new stylus to arrive and when that happens, I'll make another video with a full demonstration and some minor details that I need to perform to help insure that the changer continues to work. At the present time, the 78 tip on the flip-over stylus is the only side that is close to being usable.
I have not fully decided; but, I may end up selling this stereo once it's fully functional; however, it's likely not to be cheap. If people will go out and spend anywhere between $100-$300 on those junky Crosley models; then, they should be willing to pay that much for a quality record player that's been restored.
8 сен 2024
