I think a lot of people have either forgotten how good these things can sound or they have never heard one that worked properly. I've fixed plenty of vintage electronic pieces for people, who were amazed with the results.
I’ve loved them my whole life and finally acquired my own Astro-Sonic ST686 TODAY prior to my 40th bday. I have all original paperwork, certificates, and sales catalogues that came with the console but very nervous to do anything that’d cause damage or disrepair. Any advice on dos and donts for dusting and maintenance?
I know this is an old video. I must have watched this one 20 times. There is just something so quintessential how you learn, troubleshoot and repair this unit. Thank You!
Very entertaining. Thanks. I just finished with a magnavox console and a couple of record changers for a local shop and I feel your pain through some of this repair. We also share a similar sense of humor so I've watched lots of your videos or at least listened while working.
I have a 1964 Magnavox console with AM-FM Stereo, 4-speed record changer, and a Sony open reel tape deck. Has not used it in over ten years. I want to restore it. Please advise. Thanks -Ray
I used to have one of those. I was sitting here shouting at the screen telling you that you have to load the record to the top of the spindle in order for the arm to sense the record there to start playing. It is designed to check for the next record at the end of the one played. If there is no next record it is designed to automatically shut off when done. This is why you couldn't get it to work automatically with the record already on the table. It is also designed to determine the size of the record to be played. You can put 12" records on first then 10" or 7" consecutively and it will drop the needle right at the beginning of the record. It is a much more sophisticated system than the newer ones which asked you to pick a record size before hand.
I always wondered how to test caps. That was awesome, And what a wonderful stereo. killer music all the way thru. I used to design,install and maintain House systems at bars and high end restaurants where they need the stuff for big weddings. My favorite professional speaker amp setups are the Yorkville Elite Series.
I will be honest here...I was about to click this video off about 3 minutes into view...But so glad I watched the whole thing! What a talent you are bringing this old "Maggie" back to life! I have subscribed to your channel and look forward to more of these super informative videos! :--)
indubitably Shango066 is the best for seeing how much work and/or parts an old or new set is worth. I even love to watch his abandoned mine hike vids. learn about stuff from the best professor, here it is.
Man thanks for sharing the DJ story. Most of those same records are in my DJ crate. Sad so many DJs and bartenders passed. Being a Chicago DJ since 1985 I have seen a lot, I am lucky to still be here. Anyway, suprised the DJ records don't skip without anti skating on that ceramic cartridge. They sure would skip on a Webcor. Thanks for the video. Kept my attention!
It's cool how the tone arm reaches up and senses for the next record to be dropped....it senses whether there is a record there and also what size the record is and places the stylus accordingly. :-)
Get a look at some of the Perpetum Ebner (pardon my spelling) or the Voice of Music professional series changers. They lower each record halfway, the arm touches it, then the record is lowered the rest of the way and the platter starts turning. Unlike the Phillips/Magnavox/Collaro changers, they can mix sizes in any order. Amazing machines.
I've got one of these! My Dad bought it back in 1964 and I wasn't allowed to touch it. It's the British version and differs insofar as it has a slide on/off switch at the top of the console which houses the AM/ Stereo FM tuner. Also, the Balance is controlled by removing the Bass control knob and inserting a slim screwdriver down the shaft of the bass control and adjusting accordingly. Also, it has a step down transformer to reduce the U.K. 240 volts down to the U.S 110 volts. There is also a red Pilot light on the front underneath the “Magnavox” sign. Sadly, it doesn't work at the moment as the main transformer on the amplification board needs a rewind.
Thank you for this video. It has a lot of good information. I can put that to use on my own unit. I didn't realize Magnavox had a low end cabinet with just a record changer. I still like that cabinet though. Typical 1960s affordable stuff....
By 43:00 onwards it was really rocking! I think they use the cartridge's variable frequency impedance to make that bass control work. Good to see it go again...
Germanium transistors have the bad habit of forming whiskers which short out after many years. Interesting to see the point to point wiring. Must have been built not far after the tube amps were phased out mid to late 60's. I love your set up for testing the Caps.
This amplifier implements the "bass" tone control by loading down the ceramic phono cartridge. Lowering the impedance cuts the bass response. C10 (the 50 uF emitter bootstrap capacitor) is important because it causes the phono cartridge to see a high impedance. If C10 and its counterpart on the other channel are open, you will get a tinny sound, regardless of where you set the bass control.
klafong1 Indeed, and also Magnavox did blend the bass to mono on most of their consoles. That way with their limited power, especially the lower models, why not have both woofers working together with the bass? Made sense to me.
People should really know what they are talking about before commenting. This is a Collaro record changer. The arm taps the side of the record to sense it's size and whether or not there actually is another record stacked. If there is no record, the arm will scan across to 7 inches and then shut off. You have come a long way with this I it but I would still change out the other capacitors as the unit is still not working to its potential. Also adjust the set down screw so that the arm lands where it should on the lead in groove and make sure the spindle is seated right so that records will drop consistently. Too much weight will also cause the ceramic cartridge elements to crack and become intermittent; additionally, over the years, the rubber yolk that receives the vibrations from the needle, will become less compliant, causing bass to suffer.
They hold an electrical charge... They only pass AC, not DC. They can be used to pass only certain frequencies. I suggest checking out Uncle Doug's videos on capacitors in audio circuits.
i love the v m place you used very helpful and good parts i always buy all my record player parts there they've helped me save a handful of players! good people there!!
Good fix,my friend in High School had a similar combo at his house,it had detachable speakers,Am/Fm,stereo, and a turntable.Tube powered ,it sounded great.Just another day at the fix it shop.Lol
Since bass is non-directional, the side placement of the bass speakers was a genius idea by Magnavox and they patented it. That way, it was easier to put the angled treble horns or speakers at the extreme front edges of the cabinet to give better stereo performance.
Man when I was growing up I wanted my folks to get something like that, but we had no money. Finally my two sisters, who were both in high school talked mom and dad into buying an old mono record player with auto changer from the Sears Catalog, it came with 100 FREE Records, most of them were real crap but there were a couple hits, all were 45 RPM single plays. The Lion Sleeps Tonight was in there, I remember that cause we three kids loved it, Dad hated it with a passion so we always wanted to play it. Another was My Little Grass Shake in Minneapolis Minnesota, Ya Sure. Many years later, my middle sister and her husband finally purchased a wonderful floor model stereo, man did it sound sweet, her husband was a senior Sergeant on a large County Sheriffs Department so they had money then. I wonder what happened to that unit, both my sister and her husband passed away last year, as did my other sister. It has been a tough year for me and my 93 year old mom. Neither of my sisters could kick the smokeing habit and cancer took both of them within 3 months of each other. I quit the damn things back in 1992, and fearing the same fate as my sisters, I had a chest X-ray done, doctor said my lungs looked like I have never smoked despite my 30 years as a 2 pack a day man smoking KOOLS!
Interesting 50minute video! Console sounds pretty good after your repair. The records are cool too! I like 80s(chicago house) and 90s house music very much!
there might be a third phantom channel and there might be a center speaker that might be able to be used and that might be what is needed great job and great video
The head shell is trying to feel the record before it drops so it can tell whether it's a 12", 10 " or a 7" (37:37). If it can't feel any records anymore it shuts off.
That’s a nice one! I have my Magnavox/Collaro Micromatic and it’s slightly different than the previous one, and mine is from 1967. Mine came out of a Magnavox Full Dimension portable stereo record player which was in horrible shape and the main cabinet was falling apart. I attempted to restored it and get it working, so I give up. I tried to plug it in, but no luck. So I ended up being EOL’ed and saved the Micromatic changer, and it works perfectly by connecting through my Realistic stereo receiver and thankfully it works perfectly.
That chassis still shows a tube design layout with those transistors on top like that. Never thought of using Mrs. Miler for signal tracing, will have to remember that.
older model changers on them.I'm glad to see other people play newer records on these old classics.I even play brand new records on mine.I have a few other consoles that need complete restoration.I wish I could find somebody to do it close to Albuquerque.
I never thought of using an music source, out -> put in-Series through a in-circuit capacitor, as a testing technique. Bloody Brilliant! My damed $400 LCR meter reflects all around the adjacent components, {yes even with one leg un-soldered} it LIES TO ME, and I have to totally pull the entire capacitor to get any idea of its health. THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! BY!
the green wires go to the common or c and the left goes to 1 and the right goes to 2 just for you to know in the future ok . I really enjoy all your videos and look forward to seeing more great videos in the future all the best
Dude you gotta let us know what the owner thought of it when he heard it like that, man probably thought it was suppsed to sound like crap. Loved the music btw really enjoyed the house music as well, i hope i can find those songs on youtube. Might be cool if you made a video about your past sound tech and other tech experiences.
hello, I am writing only to inform me that today with the technician we mounted the turntable platter. and I wanted to know why the sound is slightly slower when listening to vinyl. as if the turn of the plate is slightly slowed. what could it depend on? I accept advice ... I hope you can give me advice on how to solve it
Without that tone arm weight, it was probably tracking at about 2 tons! The lack of separation in the bass is probably in the cartridge, most have poor separation except in the mid-band, less at bass and high frequencies. The changer seems to work when the drop arm is up, not so much when down. The arm movement was spastic. Still, not bad for something its age.
20:04 I've never seen a bass control like that: nothing but resistors and one potentiometer for both Left and Right channels; I'm guessing it takes advantage of some inherent characteristic of ceramic cartridges (they are said to de-emphasize the RIAA curve with no added circuitry). In today's internet jargon, that would be called a "weird trick".
ceramic/crystal cartridges are high impedance output as if fed via a low capacitance, so too low resistive loading drops bass sharply, so a cheap bass cut can be a variable resistor to vary loading, that why the modern 'crosley cruiser' type things are so poor bass, even with external speakers, they load the cartridge too heavily 😉
They also seem to become unstable and intermittent like the FM RF amp in radiotvphononut's Maggy. Older solid state did not perform as well in higher frequency applications either hence why RCA developed the Nuvistor tubes/valves for their TV tuners.
Learning allot from your videos, I have a 1975 (or 76) magnavox and a RCA console from 1965. I am working on repairing my Magnavox, which works fine shockingly. Tho I need to check capacitors and stuff at some point I’m certain. Do you think one day you can do a video on how you remove the turntable from the box if you haven’t already?
Where did you get the needle from? My mom has an old record player that needs one so she can play the records that she has. Thanks. BTW you did a terrific job fixing that. It sounds better than the one that my grandparents had in their house. Really admire somebody that values the older stuff and wants to fix it.
I thought at first it was similar to my '61 tubed Maggie.The style is unmistakeable.Mine may be a Concert Master,still not sure.My cabinet is Provincial,but it still looks very similar in style.I see mine is about a third again bigger though.Mine has both a tuner,and a multiplex.Magnavox obviously made consoles all across the price range,clearly this was an entry level model.Most of them you see from '63-'64 are the early Astro-Sonics,I don't think they were still using these
We really should say a rosary for Tom and his family. The fella was working on stereos 40+ years ago yet his sister rides a tricycle. Please pray for St. Dymphna's intercession to help this man and his family's affliction.
Hey, by any chance did you encounter any asbestos inside the unit? I ask because I have read that some older radios have asbestos for heat shield pads. I have a similar model, and never wore a mask. As far as I know, I didn't encounter any asbestos. I am just trying to get an idea of there was indeed asbestos in these.
I isn't unknown to find asbestos inside valve (tube) equipment - radios, TV's and so on. Often in the form of plates under the chassis so that if hot components were to drop off they would fall on the plate and not on the wooden cabinet. Source of many house fires back in the day. Asbestos was also used as insulating sleeving and some power resistors were coated in it. Shango does find asbestos and comments on it in some of his videos. Folks interested in vintage tube equipment do need to be aware and look out for it. This unit is early solid state so runs cooler and is less likely to have any asbestos.
It sounds like the output transistors aren't turning on. I sometimes saw that the ground for the common for the power resistors may have a cold solder joint. I would try the radio and see if that works, if it has a radio.
@shango066 You know I bet the turntable has dried grease in the automatic portion of it . I had a problem with my 1965 micromatic of a different style but she was not landing on the record right it also had dried up grease in it . I cleaned up the grease oiled the motor and oiled the turntable mechanisms and now she's working right after 8 years . don't ever lose the spring under the spindle or the records wont drop right .
I have an earlier tube version of this that sounds amazing with two SE 6bq5 amps onboard as well as an am fm/tube mpx fm as well as separate afc fm. Cartridge was upgraded in the past to an electro voice cart. Magnavox made some awesome consoles if the owner sees this and doesn't need the 45adapter I'm looking for one or if anybody has a source to those magnavox early 60's 45 changer spindles
28:23 Where the Down Boys Go by Warrant. Then Blondie's Rapture. Then Flock of Seagulls I Ran. I was running the video at double speed. I was still able to understand Shangoo. God Bless!
Hello,is it not good to let modern electronics set and not be used? I have a brand new in the box Realistic SCR 4500. Very nice set up. But I hate to leave it setting. I think my father purchased it new somewhere around 1985. I remember him paying $500.00 for it at that time. I would like to find someone who would use it and appreciate it. I know one thing. It is very heavy. I took it out and ran it a few hours the other day. And everything seems to work just fine. I thought the belts would have turned to mush by now. This thing is packed with a lot of features too.
the chassis is solid state but RCA only, The system is only Stereophonic so one channel is bass the other should be a reverberated mix. "simulated stereo" the reverberater does not have any adjustment system.
sounds a lot better then when you got it it sounds good before it broke yea right lol I have the same turntable in my Magnavox player from 59! I don't know if mine has been recapped but atm it seem to be running fine but may be dew for a recap soon!
