Arvin consolette stereo phonograph
 

I saw this small Arvin consolette phonograph at the flea market for $25 and I was going to get it, until I realized it was solid state. I thought about it overnight and ended up back at the flea market this afternoon. I managed to talk them down to $20 and brought it home. The cabinet needs the dust cleaned off and the right side speaker grille cloth needs to be reattached. The record changer is a 4-speed BSR that I'm guessing to be from around '66-'67. It has two side firing 6" speakers and controls for balance, tone, and volume. At least it's not one of those models with seperate L and R volume controls. The amp and cartridge show signs of life; but, the changer is gunked up. Looking in the back, I can see that it's got one of those multi-section cardboard electrolytic filter caps that were common in tube sets. Someone did a sloppy job of tacking new caps across the old filter cap and I will fix that properly.

The same vendor had two more consoles; but, they were too expensive for me. One was a late '50's Motorola phonograph console for $95 and the other one was a high end Zenith with the belt driven micro-touch record changer priced at $125. I think the Zenith was one of those with the tube tuner and SS amp. The lady at the flea market told me today that people are buying these, gutting them, and using the cabinets for other things. Those are too nice to destroy; but, I can't see paying those prices just to save them. Maybe, if they sit there awhile, I can get them cheaper.

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/f...3arvin0001.jpg

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/f...3arvin0002.jpg

I saw a similar Arvin at a thrift same changer, but with a tube tuner/amp chassis. The motor stuck, but transferring some grease from the changer to the base of the motor shaft helped. I did not but it, rather Mom was taking a long time to finish looking for what she buys, and I was very bored so I started playing the records I was going to buy.:D

The sams photofact for this one was published in '66; so, this was probably made in either '65 or '66. I'm sure I'll find some date codes when I tear into the amp. I'm sure all the changer needs is cleaning and lubrication. These BSR changers are usually reliable, once all the hard grease is removed.

Tom! Reading some of your posts, I thought you were fussy about your records. A BSR changer is bad enough, but using an stylus that is questionable at best.:no:

I don't have a stylus force guage; but, this tonearm feels like it tracks at a minimum of 20 grams, despite the 6-8 gram recommended tracking force for the cartridge that's used.

I mostly listen to Swing, and most of that is either on or remastered from 78RPM discs, and as such is often far from HiFi. A portion of the LPs I get from GW are fairly worn already so the sound quality is not going to be affected all that much....

I was not alive during the cold war so I have little knowledge of what phonos from that time are good or bad. I also used to use an earlier version of that changer frequently (in a philco), and will again once it's console is taken out of storage.

Here's the amp out of the Arvin and it was made the 31st week of '66. Notice the sloppy repair that was made when replacing the filter caps. They left the old cap in circuit, tied the big cap to the chassis with two bread wrapper ties, and soldered the smaller cap directly to the underside of the PC board. This is also a hot chassis amp and uses those old style electrolytic caps that are almost always bad by now. I also see two black plastic paper caps. And, the transistors were made by RCA. I'll post another picture once I fix it. I'm sure it will look better when I'm done with it.

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/f...204amp0001.jpg

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/f...204amp0002.jpg

I picked up several LP sets from SVDP that were in like new condition. RCA special products from Reader's Digest and others. I'm surprised those cheapie Dynaflex records sound as well as they do. They're all big band and swing.

How cool to find people who like good music! It's my favorite, too.

I have this collection of 78s I don't know what to do with. Artie Shaw, BG, Harry James, you know the stuff. They sound pretty good on my living room system. One I especially enjoy is Les Paul's Lover, arguably the first multiple recording that sold well.

The caps have been replaced, as well as a bunch of resistors that were either open or had increased in value. Even after all that, one channel was still dead. More testing turned up a defective driver transistor, an NTE102, which is a PNP germanium device. The output transistors are silicon and made by RCA. The drivers are germanium and made in Japan. Some of the resistors look Japanese, as well.

im in shock that its solid state. looking at the cabinet i would think early 1960s tube for shure!

And, here's the amp after repairs. I think I was a little neater than the other guy.

http://i538.photobucket.com/albums/f...t/DSCF0061.jpg

What kind of germanium first amp transistors did you use?

NTE102, which is what the original crossed to.