Sparton Equasonne Model 931 ?!?
 

I pick this set up a few months ago for $30 thinking it was a Sparton 931. I've since learned that the chassis is indeed a Sparton 931, but the cabinet and speaker are not. That jensen speaker is from that era, but what about the cabinet?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3652/...02242f3638.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3623/...106e4b7cac.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3593/...64fbdc4b4a.jpg

Does anyone recognize it?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3388/...4d3b2a053c.jpg

Cabinet label
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3327/...d637b5debc.jpg

I'm not familiar with the Sparton Equasonnes, but don't be too quick to rule it out of being a 931. The cabinet seems to be in the style of the 620 model.

That metal tag doesn't look like it's gone through the abuse of moving it from another cabinet.

The Majestic 71 radios seem to have come in a number of different styles of cabinets. Maybe you have a deluxe version of the Sparton 931.

If someone made a cabinet from scratch, they did a great job!

If someone comes up with an authoritative answer, it'll be interesting to hear.

John

That's what I've been thinking. It's a really nice cabinet and the radio chassis fits it it just fine. No extra holes or patches.

Here's a close up of that label. It sure doesn't look like it's been tampered with.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/008sm.jpg

My impression is that during that time period things changed frequently and you sometimes see the same chassis in two different cabinets. That certainly looks original to me. Atwater Kent was famous for offering different cabinets, made by others such as Kiel, Red Lion etc. for their radios. I'm not a Sparton expert but it doesn't seem all that strange. Nice radio you got. Does that use those weird 400 series tubes?

Thanks, I hope to get it running if I can ever find the time :)

I contacted Mike who runs this Equasonne site regarding my set. He's never seen a cabinet quite like it but says it not the normal 931 cabinet.

Yes, it's supposed to use six matched Cardon 484 tubes, an 80 rectifier and two 182 output tubes. However, mine came with a mish-mash of tubes. Some 484s, some 27s and some unlabeled. I've since found a couple 484s so maybe that's enough to get it running.

The main challenge I think is going to be restuffing the oddball capacitors in the 6-stage amplifier unit.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/sp...84%20tubes.jpg

That cabinet is in beautiful condition and the Jensen speaker is delicious! Congratulations on a great find.

Reece

If you find you need more 484's shoot me a PM. It seems I had one or two in the stash.

Thanks for the offer - I'll let you know.

Thanks. The top actually needs to be refinished and the speaker cone has a tear, but it's not too bad.

I cant tell you if its original or not but it sure is in nice condition. I agree with toxcrusadr in that it might have been an optional cabinet like AK did with their sets. If thats the case, you may have a rare version of the 931 which would make it extra special. Keep us posted on the restoration as i would like to hear how this one turns out. Good luck in your research!
-Tony

Woah ! Gorgeous !!

Here are some pics of the inside I took a few weeks ago when I cleaned it up. I basically just used a damp rag and NuFinish car wax on the black metal boxes.

This model uses 3 separate metal boxes. The Power Unit, Amplifier Unit and Tuning Unit.

I love that single, huge electrolytic capacitor. They were fairly new then I believe.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/sparton931/02-01.jpg

It doesn't really use those blue Artcurus tubes. I just thought they looked cool :smoke:

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/sparton931/02-02.jpg

Here it is back in the cabinet. I used shims to get the proper height. I suppose they used rubber washers back in the day.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/sparton931/02-04.jpg


Any suggestions on repairing that speaker? I'd like to do something better than slapping a piece of masking tape on it.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/sparton931/02-03.jpg

There are various techniques for fixing speaker holes. The one that appeals to me the most is tissue paper. You can probably get a color close to the color of the cone at a craft store. Dilute some white glue a bit and glue tissue on both sides of the hole. That's a pretty bad one you got there so I'm not making any guarantees.

Thanks, I really like this idea. I've fixed a couple before with just diluted glue like in this post: http://www.philcoradio.com/phpBB2/vi...php?f=3&t=1356

I figure this tear would need a little more reinforcement. Tissue paper sounds like just the ticket.

I've heard that teabag paper works well too. Unused that is!

Bill J over at the ARF has identified that cabinet as a "Cowen Model 96 Radio Console" http://antiqueradios.com/forums/view...=976827#976827

Seems that someone slipped that label onto the cabinet :nono:

I find it curious that they both seem to have a large cutout that accepts a chassis that has a small panel, including the knobs and dial, that covers the cutout. Any chance that the cabinets were somewhat generically produced and that this is still the original? That unmarred label has me puzzled and the layout of panel matches the cutout quite well.

John

I've been wonder about that too. Many radios from that era had the same knob & dial layout - close enough to swap cabinets. I believe this cabinet was sold without a radio - perhaps to manufacturers - perhaps to the general public.

Now that I've seen a really good photo of the interior of a "real" 931, it's pretty obvious that my radio is still attached to it's original mounting board. It's meant to slide into a slot in the Sparton cabinet. It's just sitting on a shelf in mine held in place with four bolts. The real clincher is that the original speaker wires with their spade terminal are about 3 inches shy of the speaker. Someone put little wire extensions on to bridge the gap. Overall this cabinet appears to be about 20% bigger than the original.

I can't explain away the label though. It appears to be unmolested and I can't find any area where an old label might have been removed.

Entirely possible that your cabinet is original, that the factory needed some alternate-maker cabinets to finish a run, something like that. After all, there's that label that looks authentically placed. Also notice the rear view of the set over on ARF: the speaker cone looks the same color as your Jensen. Of course, radio mfrgs. used speakers from various vendors, Jensen, Utah, Rola, etc.

Reece

Could be. Even if it isn't I don't really mind. It's all certainly from the same era and looks great :)

If it helps at all, radio manufacturers of the period would sell just the radio to various furniture stores, who turned out a cabinet to hold them. I have friends in Seattle with a wonderful Atwater Kent model 60 in such a custom cabinet (with medieval castle decor) and I have a Midwest chassis that came with a simple wooden face so you could slip it into your own cabinet.