Magnavox Console Stereo Record Player Repair 

🤤

I bet somebody bridge that cartridge just to make it work on one channel.

I saw a story in the Daily Mail a few years back about people complaining that they couldn't see the picture on their flat panel TVs because the smoke resin built up in the gap , maybe between the LCD and the backlights, that's vented to the outside air for cooling. Maybe some outdoor sets wouldn't have that problem. The whole thing reminds me of when Ike Turner spent over 1 million on a new studio and, with his friends, proceeded to ruin all the equipment by spilling cocaine powder into the controls.

@@pcno2832 That's the most rock and roll thing ever. lol

I quit smoking three months ago. Best thing I've ever done! Just moving some posters & pictures on my walls showed the nicotine stains!!

That must be a guitar amp thing. I've never seen anything like that in radio or hifi equipment. It is bad engineering to have a low-level signal shield carrying DC current, as it can be induced as noise into the signal. In this case it could induce really nasty feedback.

@@lwilton , yup, a Danelectro guitar amp ---- they built most of the commonest Silvertone guitar amps, and so there may be other similar models with the same "shocking" design flaw; any amplifier with top mounted control panel, especially one with preamp tubes and active circuitry (like the Dan-o amp) and bottom mount amplifier should be assumed to be similarly in need of safety modification or at least some ground-loop removal by floating the shields. Interestingly, the shield-as-power-supply-ground scenario did not cause any major additional hum with the Danelectro, even though I had already added a grounded power cord to the amp chassis . On the other hand, I've worked on a rare Masco guitar/PA combo amp ( beloved by harp players) with bottom amp and top-mounted control panel (no tubes, no active circuitry) that hummed badly after upgrading to a grounded power cord. Adding a ground wire between the two chassis and floating the shields at one end cured it. (PS, any Silvertone amp with sn aluminum chassis is almost certainly a Danelectro product).

“Things where built better back then”

Some of them are actually quite good performers.

@@douro20 yes i would keep it the way it is and just repair/restore it

Once you get it restored properly its amazing how well they sound. I have just got a 64 yesterday for free. I had to wake it up. Needs to be gone through for regular maintenance. And some tlc. However..... its loud and unbelievably clear sounding for a middle of the road model. Better than alot of modern stuff.

Why? 70 years is a long time.

Yes! I absolutely can't stand that "bleached white" asthetic, great way to put it! If you go look at modern camp trailers it's the same thing... Looks like some modern apartment inside, not a nice relaxing back to nature "woody" vibe.

Totally agree

yes. it was

I've got a beautiful early 70s Magnavox turntable 8 track combo. The turn table need doesn't want to fall on to the record that's spinning though. Do you know why it would stop going into position It just hovers over the record.

I still have a can of what I used back in the 90's, here in UK, called Platenclene (made by AF) ... I also bought some liquid used for restoring Reel-to-Reel rubber parts, called RD700 (made by cleaners4hygiene) ... the Platenclene did actually last quite a while ...

It's camphor-based. It didn't work very well, usually because by the time the problem was addressed, the rubber had completely dried out.

ESD180, if that console was mine or whoever owned it wanted stereo FM I'd put an inexpensive FM tuners through an aux input or tape input if it had one. No way would I let my records, or records belongings to anyone I cared about, get played in that record changer!

@@goodun2974 I hate to tell you this,that Collaro changer tracks at three grams. I should now, because I have the same set I also have the service manual for the set and the correct specifications are listed for the changer .

@@johnalbanese30 , its not just about tracking force; friction, both side to side and up and down, has a lot to do with record wear.

@@goodun2974 A lot of turntables for those consoles were supplied by Garrard.

@@ostrich67 , the commonest record changers I saw in tube-type consoles were Motorola, but some had Voice of Music or Collaro record changers. BSR and Garrard came later, mostly in solid-state consoles; an improvement in terms of lighter tonearm and lower tracking force, but still pretty crummy. Although there are a bunch of audiophiles who have the hots for the Garrard 301 idler drive turntable, the only modern Garrard turntable I ever saw that was worth a darn was a model we sold in the audio store I was working in in the early eighties that was direct drive and fully automatic and actually pretty nicely built, but sourced from somewhere in Japan. At that point Garrard was probably just a name and not the same company at all.

Stay in the car Brad

Never seen one of these consoles with only two 6BQ5 outputs, they are usually two pair in push pull. Single ended is only 5.7 watts output at 250v plates and -17v grid. This one is only 165v plates, so I am guessing 3 watts per channel? With 15" woofers? That don't seem right, what do you think? (well actually 244v, 165v was when it was being dragged down by grid leakage, also the distortion at 5.7 watts is 10% THD and that would not be hifi, 1% THD in this era was considered acceptable)

@@zulumax1 appears to be the case - single ended stereo. 2-3 watts per channel. I've read some people like the sound of these amps. 3 watts can be quite loud, but naturally it's not going to be some .01% THD performer.

@@JulianA-tr6pt Yes, that is correct, I have 25 watt per channel mono block Heathkit amplifiers and Altec Lansing Horn Speakers. 5 watts per channel shakes the house. I also have a 1965 Magnavox Astrosonic console which is 6.25 watts per channel at onset of clipping, it is all about the efficiency of the speakers. I have a few videos posted on the Magnavox.

@@JulianA-tr6pt Looked like the output transformers are too large to be single ended 3 watt ones, that is why I was wondering if the engineer was using a simplex circuit that uses multiple tapped primary audio output transformers.

You have a lot of THC experience don’t u ?

@@thunderkunt5416 No, not at all. Well, I tried weed one time, but, I didn't inhale.

@@sonsofthunder915 🤣🤣🤣

Still available. Chemical cocktail in it includes; xylene, ethylbenzene, methyl salicylate

I was this, tryed to use it on rubber piece from tape deck. Tires .... I noticed some improvement ... on pinch rollers is a waste of time.

U’ve been thinking a lot about ur brother’s farts I see ! 🤣🤣

@@thunderkunt5416 He's dead, dude.

Me too, I once bought a soundesin cassette receiver that was covered with this sticky yellow stuff, when I used goo gone and alcohol to remove it all the rags and paper towels stank of old cigarettes. no longer have the stereo but I'll aways remember that lol.

@@robertgaines-tulsa Well shit ! Sorry to hear that ! Hope he's enjoying his menthols in heaven now ! :P

With cbd, d8, and legal weed i really find cigarettes redundant because it does so much damage to lungs while weed is a lot less

it may be possible for someone to rig up a stereo decoder using modern parts if the owner now wanted it fm stereo ..

I too inherited one just like this one except for slightly different styling but very close and the same electronics. I remember reading the owner's manual and it stating that the FCC had not quite yet approved FM Stereo broadcasts; so when it was approved, you could buy a "Multiplex Adapter" to listen to FM stereo. This had RCA inputs on the bottom of the tuner, along with the phono and tape ins/outs. I tried like crazy (around 1978) to try and find a Multiplex Adapter for my stereo and it was not to be found anywhere.

@@andygozzo72 I agree 100%.

@@JRobert111111 THE FCC had two broadcast formats and had to decide which one would be the best.You are right I read this in a book ,basic radio and tv, around 1962.I wish I still had that old book.

There was a guy on another channel restoring a Bush console (aka. "radiogram") from the early 1970s and it was the same deal; the decoder was an add-on. I think Canada and Australia also adopted stereo FM later than the USA, with Australia not getting it until the late 1970s.

Yep!

Yes, some Coleman camp stove fuel (white gas) works good to bring them back.

fresh lubrication on the record changer goes a long way!!!!!

Dot 3 brake fluid. I've soaked the wheel in a small container and wrapped the container in a heating pad for 2-3 days. It does work!

Yep I agree had good luck with the old magnapox

just proves that those that say first thing you do with old equipment is change all the caps are wrong! waxy tubulars, yes, if high voltage across them in use, and manytimes electrolytics, not always, though, but even so , first thing is to make sure no 'unobtanium' or expensive parts are failed or missing, such as mains transformers, coil packs, etc.

If I smoked, I'd probably have worked out some kind of system with tubes going to the nearest window that would let me inhale the smoke and exhale it to the outside. Also, I've never understood why people who smoke in an easy chair, or even worse, in bed, don't have some kind of cigarette holder with a screen section to contain the ashes and keep the tip away from anything flammable. Such a holder, with a tube to the nearest window, would be both safer and cleaner.

I smoked for years and my place and items never stunk. I always cracked a window somewhere or turned on an exhaust fan. No idea why people chain smoke inside with no ventilation. You have to be smoking quite a bit to get the tar build up on everything.

@@pcno2832 They used to sell smoke eater ashtrays. Worked fairly well as I recall.

Both my parents were heavy smokers. Can you imagine going on vacation and being stuck in the back seat for hours with them puffing away in front with the windows up? My dad was an accountant with his office in the basement. During tax season, it was worse than the worst dive bar---blue fog! Most smokers insist their house doesn't smell, but they are SO used to it. You have to be away from it for awhile. Now if someone who was smoking just walks by, I can tell. That's how non-smoker parents can tell if their kids have been smoking but smoker parents can't. It is hard to get rid of the nicotine stink. I had to wash the living room with TSP, put stain killer primer on and then three coats of paint to cover the brown (it used to be green) walls.

@@hotpuppy1 My wife doesn't smoke. She can't smell it, neither can her parents, my in-laws, who quit 3 years ago. Nothing worse than a reformed smoker. I pride myself on having my person, home, car, music room, man cave and so on being impeccably clean and not smelling of anything, smoke, pets, you name it. I grew up in the 'Blue Haze" my parents and grand parents were chain smokers and beer drinkers, which go hand in hand. Every night from 5pm to 11pm with a break from 7pm to 7:45pm for dinner, 7 days a week and they smoked starting at 9am every day. Growing up in that, I always smelled like smoke and other kids picked on me. So I swore to myself if I ever smoked, I would do everything in my power to be sure no one could smell it anywhere on me or in my home, car, clothes, whatever.

They're not old by anyone's measure, but modernist houses from the 50s and 60s fell out of fashion very quickly. By the 1980s, they were out of style and already being either torn down or renovated into something else - Eg Mediterranean Revival. Rising property values also meant that that little 3 bedroom 50s rancher got bulldozed for a mansion. Now that Mid Century Modern style has come back in vogue, the houses from that period that escaped alteration are desirable again, since they don't need as much work to put back into the right style

California was in boom times in the 40'5, 50's and 60's and the houses built were dramatic reflections of the styles of those eras. Here in the Midwest, there seemed to be more emphasis on practicality than stylishness. But those small practical houses are being torn to throw up hideous McMansions.

my ggg-grandparents lived in adobe's there in LA as did most of the original residents. My g-grandmother had an Adobe there also, maybe one of the last ones but they're all out of style, lol, also. Crazy place now, used to be a great town, & a real wild west town.

Sadly a young hipster bought it and she had no clue what she was getting into and I'm pretty sure it's gone to the landfill

Large companies move East for the tax and real estate benefits and bring many of the employees with them. They will eventually turn the whole country blue and I don't really know if there's going to be any benefit after the next few years in one state versus another

I feel sorry for you in South Dakota, with all those undesirables moving in and taking over.

It was powered on the whole cold war

It's probably worthwhile for someone to restore. Like installing a lcd behind the round aperture of the old TV.

@@cargo4441 Thanks for the reply.