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  #1  
Old 01-28-2015, 02:39 PM
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rca2000 rca2000 is offline
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Been almost 25 years...but I FINALLY got it again !!

This is a chassis from an old silvertone stereo console. It uses an SE 6BQ5 for each channel and has pretty big OPT's for an SE too. Chassis # 456.54530.

But what is really SPECIAL about it...to ME at least....is this is the EXACT same chassis I had OVER 30 years ago..as my "first stereo" I have spoken about it before. The one I had got stripped WITHOUT my knowledge nearly 25 years back...and I have wanted one since. But....I NEVER could get my hands on one !! The original one...I stripped out of a console in the trash sometime in I think early July of 1982......and drove it about 2 MILES to the car...on the handlebars of a BICYCLE !!

I have never been able to get another one just like it ...
Till now...anyway. This one was an ebay purchase.


It DOES work-- including the 6FG6 tuning eye tube..but not quite right. Surprisingly there is NOT a lot of hum in the sound...but there IS a sort of "nose blowing sound" in the stereo mode (I think. Like my first one i did NOT get the dial to this one either). And of course--the music played on it today...is MUCH different than my old one played in 1982-1983..but that is NOT the chassis fault.... that music pretty much SUCKS today.... I expect some caps need to be changed no doubt....but all in all I AM PLEASED....after all of these years !!

After playing around with it a bit more....I discovered that most of the "honking sound" in stereo mode is due to a weak signal !! Hooking a piece of solder or such to the antenna terminals on back makes it sound MUCH cleaner. The antenna lead I THOUGHT was for FM...turns out to be for AM. The FM terminals are the ones on the back, near the dial area.
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Last edited by rca2000; 01-28-2015 at 04:36 PM. Reason: more info.
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  #2  
Old 01-28-2015, 03:34 PM
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rca2000 rca2000 is offline
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I wonder who made this chassis ?

I do NOT think it was warwick....since it is NOT a "528" #. I do not know who made the "456" prefix for sears. I Know that 132 was fisher. But who is 456?
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  #3  
Old 01-28-2015, 05:10 PM
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Jon A. Jon A. is offline
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Nice score, congrats.

I wouldn't want my first stereo back, it was just some cheap imported junker with the Sears name on it.
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  #4  
Old 01-29-2015, 02:11 PM
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dtvmcdonald dtvmcdonald is offline
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I could not use my first stereo now. It was a combination of Heathkit amp and
record changer, Heathkit FM4 (mono) tuner and a homemade (and designed)
transistor multiplex adapter, using filters and resonators made from war
surplus 88 mH toroids.

But the speakers were Electro-Voice 12 inch "TRX" ones, with the horn
poking out the center of the woofer, in Aristocrat corner-only cabinets.
The speakers were used by somebody or other I knew until well into the 90s.
They'd be worth substantial bucks today if still working.
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Old 01-29-2015, 04:03 PM
JBL GUY JBL GUY is offline
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Congratulations on your find.

Thanks for the pictures and the information.
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  #6  
Old 02-07-2015, 10:40 AM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rca2000 View Post
I wonder who made this chassis ?

I do NOT think it was warwick....since it is NOT a "528" #. I do not know who made the "456" prefix for sears. I Know that 132 was fisher. But who is 456?
I've seen some Warwick built equipment, that had the 456 source number, also 529. Sears had some products built on the west and east coast, they were seldom seen in the midwest.
Source 132 was Arvin, not Fisher.
I bought an amplifier at a swap, Sears source 567. I finally traced it to Crescent. I know they made changers for Sears, but not the entire unit. Recapped it, works and sounds great.
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Old 02-07-2015, 10:44 AM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon A. View Post
Nice score, congrats.

I wouldn't want my first stereo back, it was just some cheap imported junker with the Sears name on it.
I got an earlier import Sears compact stereo, made in Hong Kong, but sourced by Arvin. Scrapped it for the wonderful Glenburn changer.
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  #8  
Old 02-10-2015, 12:31 AM
EdKozk2 EdKozk2 is offline
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RCA 2000,
Does that FM tuner use a tube with a center pin in it ?
That FM front end looks like a tuner I bought in the 70's,
it used a 9 pin miniature tube with a center pin. I bought
it at a TV shop in Chicago. I don't remember what tube it
used?
ed
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Old 02-10-2015, 12:45 AM
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rca2000 rca2000 is offline
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Indeed it DOES. a 6C9 tube. with a center pin. Used in the FM tuner. A separate AM tuner is on the PC board. on the chassis.

I have 4 new cpacaitors--to replace the 4 in the can. I will hide them under the chassis--so it looks "original' from the top. I think all 14 tubes on the chassis are original.

The much smaller hot chassis Philco chassis I have uses a 17 volt version of the same tube--a 17C9.
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  #10  
Old 02-10-2015, 12:57 AM
EdKozk2 EdKozk2 is offline
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The old Radio-TV Lab where I got the tuner like yours was also
an authorized Philco repair Shop. I used it to build an Fm tuner
for an amp in 1974/75.
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  #11  
Old 02-10-2015, 12:05 PM
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Jeffhs Jeffhs is offline
<----Zenith C845
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dtvmcdonald View Post
I could not use my first stereo now. It was a combination of Heathkit amp and
record changer, Heathkit FM4 (mono) tuner and a homemade (and designed)
transistor multiplex adapter, using filters and resonators made from war
surplus 88 mH toroids.

But the speakers were Electro-Voice 12 inch "TRX" ones, with the horn
poking out the center of the woofer, in Aristocrat corner-only cabinets.
The speakers were used by somebody or other I knew until well into the 90s.
They'd be worth substantial bucks today if still working.
Why can you not use your first stereo today? (The only thing I can think of is you don't have it anymore.) If it has a record changer or turntable it will play standard phonograph records, and the FM tuner will still work since it tunes today's 88-108 MHz FM band (FM radio has not gone digital like television did). The speakers will still work, unless the voice coils are burned out or the cones are torn or missing. Your tuner will even work with stereo FM signals, if you still have the adapter. In short, there is no reason your first stereo system will not work as well today as it did when it was new. The only thing you will have to do if you have CDs is add a CD player, but again, if you have standard phonograph records, your turntable will still play them.

Ooops! I just reread your post and saw that you gave the speakers to another person years ago. If this is the case, you may have sold the rest of the system at the same time or shortly afterward.
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Collecting, restoring and enjoying vintage Zenith radios since 2002

Zenith. Gone, but not forgotten.

Last edited by Jeffhs; 02-10-2015 at 12:10 PM.
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  #12  
Old 02-10-2015, 06:30 PM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rca2000 View Post
Indeed it DOES. a 6C9 tube. with a center pin. Used in the FM tuner. A separate AM tuner is on the PC board. on the chassis.

I have 4 new cpacaitors--to replace the 4 in the can. I will hide them under the chassis--so it looks "original' from the top. I think all 14 tubes on the chassis are original.

The much smaller hot chassis Philco chassis I have uses a 17 volt version of the same tube--a 17C9.
AFAIK, there was only one firm that used that tube, Sarkes Tarzian, EIA source 684. Sylvania must've designed that tube, just for them. I saw several makers use that FM front end. Seemed to work OK.
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  #13  
Old 02-11-2015, 10:33 PM
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rca2000 rca2000 is offline
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Well...got 2 caps replaced. The 40 one on the 320 volt line and the 40 below that. Used a 100/350 for the first one and a 47/350 for the other one. Hid them under chassis,clipped old sections out of ckt altogether.

And it IS quieter now. VERY little hum--even at mininum volume. Before--with the old cap in ckt...there WAS a bit of hum, not a lot--but it was there--at very low vol. Not now.

A couple of fuses, a 1.25 A SB for the primary and a 125MA one for the B+, are on the way.
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  #14  
Old 02-25-2015, 07:06 PM
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dtvmcdonald dtvmcdonald is offline
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Originally Posted by dtvmcdonald View Post
I wrote: I could not use my first stereo now.


Why can you not use your first stereo today? (The only thing I can think of is you don't have it anymore.)

Well, that's one thing. But the reason I was suggesting is that
E-V Aristocrat speakers need to be in the corners
of the room, and I don't have any suitable room.

Doug McDonald
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