50's Magnavox tube stereo...

[Tonegeek]

Phil I agree the prices seem too high, especially on that last one, but it looks REALLY cool. It's really clean and has that tiny chassis. I'd love to get my hands on it for $20 .

I've got an informal limit. Generally around $25 without tubes and $50 with tubes. If I really want it, I might go a bit higher. Those amounts include shipping. You have to be very patient to get them at that price. I bid on stuff almost every week. I probably find/win a couple of them every year.

One time, I got a buggered Sears chassis that had two good old stock USA 6L6GC (Sylvania?), a nice PT, and a Stancor A-3801 !!! IIRC, around $40 for that one. I could see the A-3801 in the picture, but there was no mention of it. You have to look for badly captioned, badly written auctions. The prices for those little SE stereo Maggies is silly.

I just "won" an OT from a Bogen Challenger CHB20A that was running the pentode side of a pair of ECL86, with outputs for 4-8-16 ohms and 25V. Just under $16. It will make a nice guitar amp. I'm thinking maybe a something class A running a pair of Ruskie 6L6 wannabe 6P3C's I've got. Should be around 20W and perfect for it. I'll have to wait for the OT to see what it's actual turns ratio is. I'm guessing it has a 9K or 10K primary. But I diverge.

Sorry. I seem to have hijacked this thread. Didn't mean to. I just have real enthusiasm for recycling used gear.

No hijack detected. Its all good. I watch eBay for this stuff too but never see much that seems reasonable. Even the freebee that I got will still require an investment to make it into something I can use, or learn from. And then you will have to wonder how long those trannies and tubes will actually keep working. Still, its all about the enjoyment of building/creating something and you don't want to worry too much over the $ cost. I too like the idea of recycling/re-purposing someone elses junk.

[CW]

I have that very amp in a stone stock 1958 Magnavox console sitting in my living room. We listen to it almost every day.
It has a Corado turntable and a really nice AM/FM radio. The furniture is beautiful.
Speakers are a pair of P12R like AlNiCo's.
One of the nicest radios I've heard!
Too bad you don't have the whole console. I got mine for $12 at a local second-hand shop in near-perfect shape.
Since you only have the power amp, I'd keep it and make a guitar amp out of it. Tons of room underneath to mount a board. LOTS of different circuits with all the sockets. Double 5y3 recto is nice...I run a pair of 6087's.
The iron is very well made and will last a lifetime.
Keep it! You won't be sorry!
V/r
CW

[Tonegeek]

I have that very amp in a stone stock 1958 Magnavox console sitting in my living room. We listen to it almost every day.
It has a Corado turntable and a really nice AM/FM radio. The furniture is beautiful.
Speakers are a pair of P12R like AlNiCo's.
One of the nicest radios I've heard!
Too bad you don't have the whole console. I got mine for $12 at a local second-hand shop in near-perfect shape.
Since you only have the power amp, I'd keep it and make a guitar amp out of it. Tons of room underneath to mount a board. LOTS of different circuits with all the sockets. Double 5y3 recto is nice...I run a pair of 6087's.
The iron is very well made and will last a lifetime.
Keep it! You won't be sorry!
V/r
CW

Not sure I mentioned it but I have the speakers too although they are ripped. the radio does sound pretty good. Wonder how it would do through a full range speaker...

[Phil_S]

There is a chance the speakers paper is ripped. Maybe you just need to repair the paper? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSbTbuZ-55Q

[passfan]

The Magnificent Magnavox vintage tube stereo units are some of the highest detailed sounding units around. They blow anything away you could think of buying at your local electronics den. I have hand built a few of the "paraphase" amps from the original schematics and would get 4 or 5 hundred a clip off ebay for them. People go nuts over them for that very reason.

[Structo]

Got any schematics?

A while back I bought a PCB from a guy at the DIY Audio forum.

Real nice board.

It's a single ended amp with two octal power tubes. ( you can use just about anything).

It uses a couple of constant current devices to keep the power up.

I still haven't built it yet.

http://www.tubelab.com/Simple_SE.htm

[passfan]

Have to give it up to my good friend Gabevee for the articles here
http://gabevee.tripod.com/pptube.html
and here
http://gabevee.tripod.com/maggie.html

I use hammond 1608's I believe for the output. They should be around 10 watts at 7600K if I remember correctly and a 272J for power with a 5U4 rectifier. Gabe does a great job of explaining the circuit and what it's doing as well.

DIY Audio was my mainstay until I got back into playing. Gabevee used to be a member there as well. He used to sell a kit with some secret refinements but shut all that down for some reason. I haven't heard from him for a while but his site is still up

[Tonegeek]

I rigged the Maggie up to accept a send from one of my guitar amps and although it worked, there is an issue. It craps out when you hit it hard. I suspect the supply caps just can't deliver the current needed. Not surprised, as the largest cap has a gap where the end is separating from the tube. Still thinking on what to do with this rig. leaning toward a 1x12 combo.

[CW]

Don't expect that to run well with a guitar as-is.
You have to modify it to make it sound good.

CW

[Tonegeek]

This is what passed for a choke in the maggie. I can't imagine this is stock, but maybe it is although it does appear the mounting was rigged. The secondary wires were just clipped off flush with the housing on the opposite side.