Good grief!

So, I was given a bit of grief today (nicely) by a co-worker who has followed my blog a bit. "When are you going to post something new?" Yes I've been bad...

I have been busy though. I've actually not worked on as many projects for myself as I have for Space Lab. I have a shop space there and work on vintage gear for the store and some of my own stuff too. One day I will show some pictures of the workshop, but probably not until we get it cleaned up a bit as we have had some "issues", like a flood from a damaged sprinkler for example.

Right now I'll give a small taste of some of the things I've done in the last several months and some of the projects ahead. Here's one, a silverware chest turned into a stereo stand. It's still somewhat unfinished but fully functional as is.

The "before" pic.




The "after" pics

And the "in between" pics.





I had to modify the drawer so the wiring could drop behind it through the slot I cut in the new plywood bottom. The B&O turntable works nicely because it is such a low profile but I might lower the shelf so I can use something deeper, though will require another re-work to the drawer. I'm also thinking I could add a holder to the lid for the "now playing" selection, and a bit of trim and finishing work.

I think it looks pretty cool. But we don't have anyplace for the fancy silverware now!

Yes, I'm still here.

I've been remiss in posting my successes (and failures) on this blog, so I'll try to rectify that soon. I've actually had lots of projects. In fact there have been so many that I have not found the time to talk about them. That's my excuse at least.

For the time being, I'll just mention that I have added a new link to the right for the Voice Of Music site. I use a few different sources for parts and advice and Gary at VOM is one of the nicer ones. His specialties tend toward idler drive turntables and changers but he can be a handy source for belts and needles and other parts for vintage gear and at affordable rates.

So, there's my plug for today. I'll be back with more soon. 

Advent 300 Refurbish Part Deux

Continued from...

So I have been away from this a while but the Advent moved into another phase and is now working better and looking way better.

Internally I have replaced most of the electrolytic capacitors though I still have a few to get to. The large power supply ones were the first and as the leads on them were radial (short and on one end) rather than axial (one long one out each end) I had to get a bit creative for mounting. I'll get a pic of that later.

The paint job is the obvious difference. These Advents look very industrial or utilitarian, almost military. The cabinets remind me of the Hammond project boxes my dad used to use on his home made stuff. This needed a repaint so why go with black? The face plate was generally pretty good and with all the text on it I am really glad it was as that would be hard to redo.

I used a grey hammertone paint which gives that industrial slightly pebbled or textured finish. It also is good at hiding minor imperfections, and since I am an impatient painter it works well for me. I stripped the black off mostly with paint stripper, sanded and primed before 2 coats of paint.

Recently I picked up a set of Realistic Minimus 77 speakers in white. These have aluminum cases and are bigger cousins of the Minimus 7 of which I have a few sets. They also needed new woofer foams which I have since done.



Here's how things turned out.

ADVENT 300 Receiver Rebuild - Part 1

I've had this ADVENT 300 receiver hanging around for quite awhile and it's time to get busy on this project. It's not hard to tell it needs a little work.


 

I plan to improve on the cosmetic issues as you can imagine, but also plan to replace other parts to update this classic receiver that came out the year I graduated from high school. Back then I had a tube receiver that I scavenged from a Viking stereo console that an elderly neighbour was tossing out. She had had a tube TV catch fire and didn't trust them (tubes) any more so was going all solid state. She was still sticking with Viking, the Eatons house brand name though. Little did she know that almost 40 years later people still want those tube gadgets. But I digress...

The Advent 300 is still considered to be a great performer and even with its low power of 15 watts per side and kind of chintzy build quality it can rival much nicer newer amps. It's an FM tuner only (even back then AM sucked), and pre and power amp in one case, with jumpers between the pre and power sections so you can use it with other components or add an equalizer if you like.

This one has some stickers and scratches that have taken off the paint, rust damage, and just old parts. The voltage regulator has already been replaced but as far as I know it has had little servicing since new.





The old electrolytic capacitors are all going to be replaced in this project. I will also be trying to clean up or replace some of the fittings, for example the grounding screw and AC jack on the back are respectively rusted and cracked.

I'm going to clean extensively and might "reflow" solder joints. Essentially that means melting the existing solder to ensure that the contact is good. I will replace some of the jumper wires I think too, and clean up the routing in the process. Maybe I will anyway; I will certainly have a look at them and replace if questionable.







In the pic above and the one below you can see some of the rust on the case near the power supply and on the RCA connectors. I've actually removed a lot of the corrosion on the RCAs to the left already with a 3M pad and sand paper. The ones to the right are essentially untouched.





Here you can see the power supply. My first actual real "upgrade" is to replace the 2 large capacitors you see to the left. The stock components are 3000uf at 30volts but I will be using 4700uf at 50volts which is totally acceptable as a component value change for this area.



In addition to other resources, I am using the excellent website by David Eaton devoted to the Advent 300 as a reference. Thanks David!

http://www.davidreaton.com/Model_300_receiver_main_page.htm

I'll be back soon with Part II...

Ol' Shakey on the Swirly Table

Neil Young, a photo by Buhduh on Flickr.

I treated myself to one of my current favourite records on my current favourite turntable.

Neil Young, live at Massey Hall 1971 is an amazing record in my opinion. A man with a guitar, and sometimes a piano, in a hall with great acoustics and a reel to reel tape deck propped up on an office chair...what could be cooler than that?

Apparently this recording was "lost in the vaults" for 30 or more years before Neil decided to listen to it and eventually release it in 2007. Neil is a stickler for, and proponent of, high quality recordings including digital media formats. He didn't give this recording much thought but when he listened to it after many years he realized it was good and deserved releasing.

Deserved indeed. It's really good. Really really good. And I only discovered it a couple of months ago myself. Go buy it. If you can't get the vinyl, buy the CD or the DVD. Or get them all.

It sounds great on my newest turntable project and is a good showcase for any system. This "swirly table" as I have been calling it is a Technics Sl-1200 MKII that was in usable but battle scarred condition when I got it, but not anymore.



I can't stand the mess that DJ tables become. It's not just DJ tables but a lot of other too that people abuse. So I fix them up.

This one had already had the RCA cables replaced and obviously whoever did that had some idea what they were doing so I saw no reason to mess with that. I dealt with the cosmetic and other issues.

I took it apart and went to my friends shop with it with the intent of bead-blasting all the paint off but it turned out that the blaster was not working well. I got some paint off with it, but now I was kind of stuck, so I grabbed the angle grinder and a sanding disc and took the rest of the paint off. When I got it home a did a bit more controlled work with my Dremel and a sanding disc. I like the random swirly effect of this. I then gave it a few coats of a satin finish clear coat spray paint.





A few parts also needed replacing so I ordered them and I put it aside. It took a few months before I decided to get back at it and just the other day I put it back together. I had to get a trim piece for the pop-up target light, a new slider trim plate and ordered a lid and hinges. I also decided to order an LED kit but decided to just replace the pop-up light which was burnt out anyway and the pitch LED. The stock one is green but the new one is white. It's a bit too bright IMO so I will try to do something about that.

Anyway, here's the mostly finished product.



And the darn near completely finished item. It has the new parts mentioned above, a couple of new feet, and the heaviest thickest Technics mat. I even took an aluminum 45 RPM adaptor and "swirled" it with my Dremel. I still am going to tweak a few things but I really like how it has turned out.

From 66 & 2/3 to 33 & 1/3

I have not posted in awhile but thought I should start it up again. This one is about another Dual turntable problem and a solution for it. Hmm, that kind of makes it sound like Dual turntables have a lot of problems. That's sort of true, but they had a lot more turntables than most. More models and more in quantity sold too. Have a look at this page if you don't believe me:

http://www.dual-reference.com/tableinx.htm

So, the problem fix for the evening involved a Dual 510. The motor on the original version of the 510, and a few other models as well such as the 601 and 1249, had a tendency to run at twice the standard speed occasionally. This apparently did not happen on the Duals at home in Germany where the electricity from the wall is 240 volts at 50 HZ, but here in North America at 120 volts & 60 HZ it sometimes occurred. The motor in question was the SM-840. Later versions included the SM-840-2 and -4 and they had found a fix by then.

The motor runs at the right speed about 80% of the time and simply turning it off and back on usually makes it run at the correct speed. This is the second of these turntables I have had this issue with, and while you could live with it, I would rather make it go away.




The later motor model SM-860 also fixed the problem, and a kind person on Audio Karma sent me one very inexpensively.

With the turntable flipped over (yeah I know, the picture could be flipped too) here is the original motor. I took out the 2 large screws and 1 small one on the motor, and removed the cover for the electrical connections.



Swapping the entire motor is not required. You really only need to change the motor winding part which is off to the right in this pic. The entire motor can be taken out but there are several more screws and the pitch control belt to mess with if you do that. This is easier...sort of.



I often take close-ups of the wiring or other important details so I can make sure they go back the same way.



This is a good time to oil the motor bearings. Note the scarring on the armature. I'm not sure how that came about.



Top bearing with some fresh oil.



And going back together.



Fully reassembled, but I still had some fiddling to do. I found that there was a lot of stiffness in the motor and it barely turned under hand pressure and not at all with power applied. I played around with the tightness of the 2 bolts that hold the bearing mount and that did not help right away.




I swapped the armature from the 860 in place of the 840, thinking that maybe the scoring you see was a factor. The brass capstan was not at the same height though and I have trouble with those little screws before so changed it back to the original (on the right). This time when I put it back together it worked smoothly. It could have just been the orientation of the top and bottom bearings which are in kind of ball and socket joints.



Anyway, it all worked out! I cleaned the entire table up further, oiled the platter well, gave the lid a quick polish and here you go! Starting and stopping a bunch of times and the speed is just as it should be every time.



In this pic you can also see the cuing lever I made from a bicycle spoke and spoke nipple. That lever was missing as well and this stuff was handy.



It still has a few cosmetic issues but it looks good and works well.

Advent 400 Radio

I had another mini success story today. Someone on Audio Karma was asking for tips on how to repair his Advent 400 radio recently and it tweaked me into working on one of my own procrastination projects.

Aside: I would like to make "project" and "procrastination" into one word. Projectination? Procrastiject? I'm not sure either quite has the ring I want...

Anyway, the Advent 400 is a neat, high quality table radio with external speaker from c. 1975. The FM only tuner is supposed to be of very good quality and the fairly substantial (for a radio) speaker is quite decent. The tuner does appear to be quite sensitive. It has an auxiliary input and a tuner out so you can run a CD player or other device through it or send the radio signal to a larger amplifier.



The fellow on AK described a similar problem to mine, and that is very low, almost non-existent volume. I have had this radio for a year or 2 and even bought a batch of capacitors with this radio in mind, among other projects. Someone else chimed in on the thread there with specific capacitors to try first so I decided to go for it after work today.

As usual, I forgot to get pictures while I had the patient under the knife, but the operation was a success! I am listening to CBC Radio 2 right now and it comes in well with no antenna attached. The volume is all I could want from a table radio and the bass and treble controls work well. Tuning is vernier style which allows for accurate fine tuning.

I had a few minor glitches along the way. I ended up replacing 3 capacitors but at first only did 2, those being the ones closest to the volume control. Along the way I blew the fuse and had to solder a new one in. Also the caps I had were the right value but the wire leads were radial (both at one end) not axial (one out each end) so were a bit tricky to get into a tight spot. It all worked though and it is now working great!



Too bad about that little scratch on the face...




Edit: I found the new home for the Advent 400 in the dining/kitchen area at our cabin. It works over there and looks good next to the Dansk Kobenstyle coffee maker and those sushi plates (or whatever they are)