BeDome
12-31-2013, 10:27 PM
I often go to church during this time of year and at certain other times (OK, only barely religious, but trying to offer the kids education in all ways). Doing my best, BUT ...
I frequent the sales mostly when I attend. The day after Christmas, we were attending, in earnest.
I found an old Motorola console stereo system, and the entire reason for my being there changed. I bought this beast for twenty bucks after inspecting it, despite my wife's multiple objections.
What I have bought is an ancient BSR turntable (recycle it), a beautiful stereo console cabinet in excellent shape for its age (junk it, probably), a couple of awesome looking 5" tweeters (Seriously - 5" tweets, OK, I withhold judgment, for now), a really wild looking ginormous, ancient tube type tuner (huge old school hand operated via a long braided cord wrapped around the tuner knob a couple of other "wheels" and finally to the actual multi-finned, foot long, adjustable cap style, dusty, but working capacitive device) which picks up FM, AM and some of the Shortwave Freqs (if it matches the dial in the sub cab with all the knobs - reserve judgement for now), a huge set of iron and miscellaneous tubes, maybe just the power supply (probably need to keep this until I can figure out what all this other shit does), a huge separate chassis sporting what seems to be a very large Motorola stereo tube amplifier - about twenty tubes - that seems to work enough to make the radio come in (reserving judgement on this component as well), along with THE CHERRY - two Altec 421-8H low frequency drivers, looking like they were made last year.
The drivers had a covering of maybe one inch fiberglass protecting them all these years. Hard to believe they are original - more like someone upgraded this old console at some point. Probably not the best driver for the application, but I do not mind! EDIT: I forgot to mention - it is an open back cabinet, yet with 421s , NOT original!
Someone giving you a horse, wait until you get home to check its teeth, right?
Well I checked and as soon as I saw what was under that fiberglass, I had made my decision and I did not care about the price - up to a point, large point. I was not walking away without these drivers, even if I had to fight with my wife that day and heft this huge thing into my truck by myself.
These drivers are the ones with the very heavy solid aluminum dust caps (yes I have already removed the drivers from the console and they seem to work perfectly as far as I can tell in open air tests).
Christmas came late this year, by one day, but any time I find working drivers worth their salt it IS Christmas!!
WOW
Now! What to make of the huge amount of iron and the ridiculously large stereo amp (stereo - so not THAT old, right? Late sixties, maybe?) inside this thing? Another set of experts, perhaps?
I can not identify the 5" tweets, as yet. They work. Small magnets, backs enclosed in stamped metal, ugly grey, folded treated paper surrounds, all paper. They were crossed over with single huge paper caps. Not thinking that they may be anything of quality manufacture, just weird.
Not sure what to do with these Altecs. I need a project.
Is it time to actually build some A-7s? I have four sets of 511Bs from the old days and a number of 808-8A drivers (not sure how many of the twelve or so still work - we always kept spares in the old days).
I frequent the sales mostly when I attend. The day after Christmas, we were attending, in earnest.
I found an old Motorola console stereo system, and the entire reason for my being there changed. I bought this beast for twenty bucks after inspecting it, despite my wife's multiple objections.
What I have bought is an ancient BSR turntable (recycle it), a beautiful stereo console cabinet in excellent shape for its age (junk it, probably), a couple of awesome looking 5" tweeters (Seriously - 5" tweets, OK, I withhold judgment, for now), a really wild looking ginormous, ancient tube type tuner (huge old school hand operated via a long braided cord wrapped around the tuner knob a couple of other "wheels" and finally to the actual multi-finned, foot long, adjustable cap style, dusty, but working capacitive device) which picks up FM, AM and some of the Shortwave Freqs (if it matches the dial in the sub cab with all the knobs - reserve judgement for now), a huge set of iron and miscellaneous tubes, maybe just the power supply (probably need to keep this until I can figure out what all this other shit does), a huge separate chassis sporting what seems to be a very large Motorola stereo tube amplifier - about twenty tubes - that seems to work enough to make the radio come in (reserving judgement on this component as well), along with THE CHERRY - two Altec 421-8H low frequency drivers, looking like they were made last year.
The drivers had a covering of maybe one inch fiberglass protecting them all these years. Hard to believe they are original - more like someone upgraded this old console at some point. Probably not the best driver for the application, but I do not mind! EDIT: I forgot to mention - it is an open back cabinet, yet with 421s , NOT original!
Someone giving you a horse, wait until you get home to check its teeth, right?
Well I checked and as soon as I saw what was under that fiberglass, I had made my decision and I did not care about the price - up to a point, large point. I was not walking away without these drivers, even if I had to fight with my wife that day and heft this huge thing into my truck by myself.
These drivers are the ones with the very heavy solid aluminum dust caps (yes I have already removed the drivers from the console and they seem to work perfectly as far as I can tell in open air tests).
Christmas came late this year, by one day, but any time I find working drivers worth their salt it IS Christmas!!
WOW
Now! What to make of the huge amount of iron and the ridiculously large stereo amp (stereo - so not THAT old, right? Late sixties, maybe?) inside this thing? Another set of experts, perhaps?
I can not identify the 5" tweets, as yet. They work. Small magnets, backs enclosed in stamped metal, ugly grey, folded treated paper surrounds, all paper. They were crossed over with single huge paper caps. Not thinking that they may be anything of quality manufacture, just weird.
Not sure what to do with these Altecs. I need a project.
Is it time to actually build some A-7s? I have four sets of 511Bs from the old days and a number of 808-8A drivers (not sure how many of the twelve or so still work - we always kept spares in the old days).