What I have I got here (estate sale find)?

I picked this up at an estate sale in my neighborhood this weekend for $50, just wondering if anyone knows anything about these cabinets or the components that are in there.

It looks to me like the cabinet dates to the 60's, like it was an all in one audio system that originally came with a turntable, receiver, and reel to reel but over the years the owner changed out the components. Were these common back then? One thing I can say is it weighs a ton.

So far I have just ordered a needle to go in the cartridge as the existing looks shot. The turntable is a Dual 1216 and works fine but was stuck spinning (would not stop). I loosened the gears and it seems to be working, still probably needs lubricating, anyone know what I use? The cartridge has a "R" on it but I believe it is a Shure RS7C and I ordered the replacement basic for $29.95 @ LPGear. The turntable was clearly retrofit in, looks like he removed it from its wooden case and put in into this cabinet.

The receiver is a Harman Kardon Five Twenty which seems to be working fine, sounds pretty clear. Not sure if this would have been original to the cabinet or not?

The tape deck is some sort of Realistic model, he clearly replaced the reel to reel with this (custom cut a piece of filler wood for the opening). I found a note written on the instruction inside that say he did this in 1988.

Questions:

1. This is not my main listening area, more of a cool piece in a room that was not serving a purpose anyway, is that TT and cartridge ok to play all of my records on or should I just play the ones that are not in the best condition? I don't want to ruin my collection.

2. Anyone know anything about the components? From what I have read they do not appear to be high end? Still kind of cool to me.

3. Opinions on the cabinet? Wife and I think its retro and cool.

4. Does anyone know if the hinges are adjustable? They do not slam if the access door falls but they do not hold the door upright very well at this point.

Thanks in advance.

 

Interesting find there. It is a custom job, each piece installed perhaps by the owner. The cabinet was likely from a complete system of another brand. There may be some sort of label on the back or inside that indicates who made it originally. Can you see what speakers are included by peering through the back panel with a flashlight. If it has a pair of big Tannoy drivers and crossover networks in there, you scored big time! Otherwise it's an interesting piece. The Dual table can be adjusted properly to play records without damage. You need to remove it for a full service. Getting a new stylus was a smart move, that'll help too. makes sure the tracking force is correct by rebalancing the arm and resetting the weight to be sure. I don't know if the hinges are adjustable easily. May have just been by mechanical pressure when made, so a a slight squeeze in the right place might make them tighter if they don't have some sort of screw adjustment. My guess is that they don't as that would have been expensive.
-Bill

 

In the sixties, my family had a Curtis Mathes console pretty similar to the cabinet you pictured. As I recall, that one had a slide out turntable and an AM/FM receiver. I think console units were pretty popular back then.

 

The Dual Reference site has some useful info on maintenance:
http://www.dual-reference.com/Troubles/maintgen.htm

Congrats - looks like a cool find!

 

I love those consoles and that looks like a partial custom job for sure. How does is sound? I generally find the speakers in those things are roached and don't sound very good compared to todays standards. If there is a way to plug in a different set of speakers and bypass the internals, that might help you decide if any further restoration is necessary.

The cabinet is the strength of the system. I have thought about retrofitting one of those with all new electronics. Bookshelf speakers, an amp and a new Pro-ject in that cabinet might be cheaper and sound much better than restoration.

I looks super cool and its a nice place to set a cocktail.

 

A few years ago I bought a custom hifi console off of Craigslist for $200. It is a Barzilay cabinet with a Harman Kardon A-500, a Dual 1019 and JBL speakers. I probably put more than $500 into refurbishing all of the components and a fair amount of effort into replacing the speaker grill clothes and lid hinges, but overall it has been totally worth it. It has turned out to be an interesting conversation piece and folks enjoy putting a record on the hifi at parties. I did also add an Airport Express so I can stream music to it from my computer. If the basic furniture looks nice and fits the environment, these pieces can really be fun to rebuild and use.

PS, I will post pictures when I get a chance. I know this post would be better with them.

 

Congrats on your find! About 15 years ago, I picked up a customized console system at a ham fest. It was filled with Eico and Hamon-Kardon tube gear (including a Eico R2R deck). All pretty cool stuff but so far, I haven't found a use for anything except the only components I didn't bother to check - the speakers. As I moved the console to storage and took out some components to remove the tubes for testing, I finally noticed the speaks. They were Altec 604e and I was delighted in that I had been looking for a pair. This was just a very fortuitous and happy coincidence so as Bill mentioned, definitely check out the speakers.

The TT shouldn't harm your records as long as you change out the stylus and set it up properly. The rest of your set up will work fine for what to is - after all, you're shouldn't expect the best sound quality from a console system, regardless of the components. The only other thing I can offer is that the hinges most likely utilize a spring and after years of being in the closed position, they may lost the ability to coil properly or the wire may no longer be engaged with the hinge. You can most likely repair the spring but it may be simpler to just replace the hinges.

Have fun with your new toy and let us know how it turns out.

 

Thanks guys. Yes I did remove the turntable, came out pretty easily. The gearing was a little hard to move but I have it working well now, doesn't seem to need servicing other than lubrication, anyone know what I should use for that? I found a service manual that shows what goes where but I am thinking there may be something better to use these days? I already balanced and adjusted the tonearm, everything sounds very good. I am curious about the speakers because they sound very good, but they are not easy to get to, I will make a point of opening up one and seeing what is in there.

It is very cool to throw on a Beatles album and imagine how this thing got used back in the day regardless of the audio quality, even told my wife we need to go to my least favorite record shop (they usually have very cheap but very used copies) and get some cheap records, almost need something with a little noise to it for the nostalgia.

I think my wife tracked down what it is, Sylvania SCT199W, too bad the reel to reel is gone, that would have been really cool?? -

 

Here are speakers, anyone know what these are? Came home to my wife playing pop radio and they are kind of bumping?? Those look added in though right? Best in mind the previous owner had to be in his 80's so this can't be recent, only was able to talk to his son who didn't really know much beyond that his father loved electronics and ham radio's.


image hosting no register

upload images free

uploading pictures

 

They look old and maybe alnico, but nothing too special. If you like how they sound, roll with it.

If you want to put something modern in there, you'll need to match the woofer to the box size and tuning. Are the speaker compartments enclosed? Do they have ports? Are they even the same size? (Weird design choices were made in the console era.)

In my console, I was able to use the JBL D123 drivers it came with, but I added proper crossovers and bullet tweeters that were reproductions of the appropriate JBL part to make a 2 way system. This necessitated making entirely new speaker baffle boards, which wasn't all that much of a problem, really. At least you already have tweeters, so you're ahead of where I was.

 

Nice find. You could remove the speakers and put new drivers or remove the front baffle and replace drop in the biggest bookshelf speakers you could find and make a grill out of similar fabric.

 

Not recommended on this Sylvania. It is a system. And that is less than a 15 WPC amplifier and the bookshelf speakers will cause feedback as the bass response must be limited in a console. What is in it is designed to work together.

 

Those are a CTS 2-way system, probably 12" woofers. IT has AlNiCo magnets and is rated at 25w or less. Not a bad mate as it is but nothing that I would worry with upgrading as you'd really be looking at replacing everything. The RtR was likely an expensive option, so I doubt that was ever in there. I have to agree with McLover as usual.
-Bill

 

The cabinet is very nice looking.

 

Thanks for the input guys. I don't have the budget to restore anything at this point so I am just going to enjoy as is. I am going to replace the stylus and lubricate the Dual and see how it performs.

 

So frustrated with the gremlins of the old system I did something kind of drastic and moved my downstairs components (hardly use that space anyway) up to my living room where this cabinet sits. So now I have my Project Debut Carbon with Speedbox S feed to Kenwood KC106 preamp to Russound R275HC which feeds the cabinet speakers. Kind of best of both worlds, look of the cabinet with modern components. Trying to figure out if this makes sense, anyone have opinions of the look or functionality of this? I am considering adding an isolation plate for the TT. Sounds good to me and now I have option of upgrading cabinet speakers or just adding some bookshelf and using cabinet purely for show. Thoughts are welcome, thank you very much.

 

I have always wanted to find one of these and gut it....putting new stuff inside. Hiding an amp, updating the speakers somehow, maybe a SB touch inside facing up....but it's a cool look for sure.

 

Might get feedback or muddy sound having turntable on top of what is in essence a big vibrating speaker cabinet.

 

Yes I am trying to figure out a good isolation method. I see lots of things for sale but not sure what works and what does not....

 

Nice.

Through the years my dad replaced the components in his old console unit. A component stereo system just wasn't something my parents' generation wanted on display in the living room. It had to be housed in a presentable piece of furniture.

 

I bought some MDF plywood and raquetballs, attempt to make my own vibration isolation platter this weekend...

 

It's a start.

Bottom MDF has felt pads under and top sits on racquet balls cut in half.

 

pbiancardi,
Looking at the photo you posted of the original console, I see that the reel-to-reel tape deck was an Ampex. And, yes, it would be cool if that had been left in there--and far more valuable than the Realistic deck they replaced it with.