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#1
06-11-2023, 10:50 PM
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Picked up a Zenith 6R886 Radio/Phono Combo today!
Greetings everyone, a good friend of mine picked up at one of the local Goodwill stores a 1948 Zenith 6R886 Radio/Phono Combo unit that is in pretty good shape yet and looks like it might of had an older restoration job done on it because the the power cord was replaced on it at one point in time and the radio has no hum when it plays the only thing that doesn't work right is the record changer, which is a first generation Cobra-Matic 3 speed record changer that uses the "Radionic" needle (the needle that uses the special oscillator circuit in the radio to pickup the audio from the cartridge rather than a dedicated phono-preamp stage.)
I've noticed that however the "Radionic" needles are next to impossible to find and when they do show up (there are currently two listed on feebay) they want $100 for them. I bought the unit off my friend for $50 (which I thought was more than fair because he has helped me out in the past by taking old radio cabinets off my hand that I was unable to repair the guts in them so with him being a woodworker he was more than happy to take the cabinets off my hand, to reuse in some of his woodworking projects.) Anyone know anything about this radio/phono combo and how good it is performance wise compared to other comparable units? Also is there any way to retrofit this unit with a cartridge that uses a regular style needle rather than using the original "Radionic" needle, since the original "Radionic" needles are extremely scarce and expensive? Last edited by vortalexfan; 06-11-2023 at 10:56 PM. 
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#2
06-12-2023, 06:39 AM
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Oh, it can be these capacitive cartridges that some makers tried in the 50's...
I love turntables (I listen a lot of vinyl), and I suppose that one cartridge designed for same arm weight/mass, to match the cartridge compliance, at least will suffice, but unfortunately I know almost nothing about early arms and cartridges, and for a lot of them, is difficult to obtain data... But since most 50's cartridges are made for heavy arms, chances to find one that works is great, if you find some cartridge from these era. Various ceramic cartridges from this era appears on Internet (eBay, time from time). Probably these match more easily, and needs no preamp (the high output models).
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So many projects, so little time...
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#3
06-12-2023, 09:10 AM
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They're going to be expensive because a number of $5K Wurlitzer Jukeboxes use them and ebay sellers like to milk the more monied collectors for as much as they can get. If you can find it through a non-auction seller it should be cheaper. Otherwise any parts changer that uses the cart and has a decent stylus could be used as a doner.
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Tom C. Zenith: The quality stays in EVEN after the name falls off! What I want. --> http://www.videokarma.org/showpost.p...62&postcount=4
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#4
06-12-2023, 06:06 PM
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Quote:
I know that Gary Stork doesn't have any left at his site, but I know there are some other sites that sell NOS needles, that aren't affiliated with feebay.
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#5
06-16-2023, 03:45 PM
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UPDATE: Unfortunately some of the non-ebay sources I found were even wanting $70 or $80 for the needle...
 
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#6
06-16-2023, 07:28 PM
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I was replying that I had a couple of these I was using on my 1950 zenith turntable. I think I bought 2 or 3 years ago hoping to fix the broken tonearm. Well I went to go look and they are not with the turntable or in the tonearm. What the heck would I have done with them? I'll try looking but that was at least 5 years ago and a house move.
Sorry! -- Matt Davala Last edited by Davala; 06-16-2023 at 07:33 PM.
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#7
06-17-2023, 01:06 PM
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Quote:
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Linear Mode
