Beastly Old Receivers

[TazManiac]

I'd come across a Quadraflex '666' some time past; it's a set that I was using to spin off of Audio/Video capture and conversion...

Cassettes and VHS to Digital, etc.

I just tickles me that they had the guff to name it w/ 'the Number of the Beast'...

Pix to follow.

[Dave]

Well, they didn't... not really.

It's named for a medieval German torture device (which should tell you something about the user-friendliness of its human interface). The original victims were hung upside down by their heels above the churning gears and heated metal, and tended to scream "Nein! Nein! Nein!"

[Typeminer]

[DinkyInky]

*paws at screen*

No pix. Did it bork the camera, or is it too awesome to behold by normal means?

[TazManiac]

I'm glad you brought this up because It actually was for sale at the local Farmer's Market (but came back home again...).

I have two android phones nearby I'll take some crappy pictures with...

(This'll push me to finally develop a new relationship w/ a picture hosting site, one that's NOT Photobucket...)

[DinkyInky]

I'm glad you brought this up because It actually was for sale at the local Farmer's Market (but came back home again...).

I have two android phones nearby I'll take some crappy pictures with...

(This'll push me to finally develop a new relationship w/ a picture hosting site, one that's NOT Photobucket...)

*dances*

[Hansontoons]

Here's my pitiful set-up. Running on 30-years old or so. Just got it set back up after last year's inconveniences. Use to be the stereo was the last thing to be packed and the first thing set up. Priorities change as years go by. The CD player is circa 1985-ish, turntable and receiver earlier than that. I do need new speakers.

IMG_2281.JPG (135.62 KiB) Viewed 33981 times

[TazManiac]

Heh heh heh,

See that Bose sub-woofer, sound module there on the floor?
Remind me, if I don't get it posted up today re: 'one of the current projects'.

It'll either get it's drivers moved to a new cabinet or just stay all hoary like it is but tighten back up a little.

[DinkyInky]

Shiny. My turntables are both "portable". Self-contained speakers, covered and carry handles.

One looks like a suitcase, I think it's an RCA, the other is a GE Wildcat.

[GlytchMeister]

Only tangentially related BUT LOOK IT'S SO CUTE

[AmriloJim]

Nothin' new here... a now-defunct company called TAMCO produced the Soundwagon back in the '80s.

record_runner_both.jpg (49.32 KiB) Viewed 33967 times

The picture above is of the Record Runner, a reprise of the Soundwagon. However, I don't see the whip antenna on this design that served as the power switch for the Soundwagon.
From what I can see, the only difference between the RokBlock and the Soundwagon is the addition of a Bluetooth transmitter.
However, Soundwagon was also called the Vinyl Killer for good reason. While normal tonearm tracking weights are usually less than two grams, the Soundwagon brought 3-4x that weight to bear on the stylus.

[Hansontoons]

Heh heh heh,

See that Bose sub-woofer, sound module there on the floor?
Remind me, if I don't get it posted up today re: 'one of the current projects'.

It'll either get it's drivers moved to a new cabinet or just stay all hoary like it is but tighten back up a little.

Bose is part of the tee vee setup, not connected to the vinyl spinning unit.

Stereo speakers are KLH 912B, sounded good to me for the price back when I got them.

[TazManiac]

(Image Upload to Forum... Ack!, 'Files Size Too Big".... "Grrrrr."

Open File w/ GNU Image Manipulation Program... sure. Wait, Oh Noesszz, defeated by GIMP again! Gah!

(All I have to do is spend some time w/ the damn program but it's initial interface it seems overly complex, so, once again, Frack It! (And I be smarty, too)I
OK, huff-&-puff, try again...

Ah hah! GIMP actually works after all!:

Quadraflex 666 & Toshiba SA-750

Q-666&T750-small.jpg (84.18 KiB) Viewed 33941 times

Jezzy, that was harder than I needed it to be...

More and better to follow. (Including some ghastly 'before' pix of funky stuff...)

[TazManiac]

Shiny. My turntables are both "portable". Self-contained speakers, covered and carry handles.

One looks like a suitcase, I think it's an RCA, the other is a GE Wildcat.

I'm still determining the status of an old Reel to Reel that is a Transformer too...

[Hansontoons]

Shiny. My turntables are both "portable". Self-contained speakers, covered and carry handles.

One looks like a suitcase, I think it's an RCA, the other is a GE Wildcat.

My grandparents had a portable phonograph that you would crank a handle to get the platter spinning, then carefully place the head that held a needle (more like the pointy end of a nail) on to the record. Had to wind a few times to make it through a disk. It was more of an amusement at the time than anything else. Of course when my grandfather retired and they moved to Florida like all Northerners do they got rid of it along with so many other things that would be cool to have now. My mother still occasionally mentions the china that her grandmother hand-painted. It was probably sold for pennies in a yard sale or given to a local church for a sale.

[Just Old Al]

Shiny. My turntables are both "portable". Self-contained speakers, covered and carry handles.

One looks like a suitcase, I think it's an RCA, the other is a GE Wildcat.

My grandparents had a portable phonograph that you would crank a handle to get the platter spinning, then carefully place the head that held a needle (more like the pointy end of a nail) on to the record. Had to wind a few times to make it through a disk. It was more of an amusement at the time than anything else. Of course when my grandfather retired and they moved to Florida like all Northerners do they got rid of it along with so many other things that would be cool to have now. My mother still occasionally mentions the china that her grandmother hand-painted. It was probably sold for pennies in a yard sale or given to a local church for a sale.

Ah yes - mechanical audio reproduction!

I have one of those in my living room - a mahogany cabinet with a top opening lid split in the center and two doors to the front.

The right door is the volume control and the left is record album storage. Out of the right side protrudes a crank, the winding of which will make the record on the turntable turn. Inside the top of the right side is the tone arm (hollow brass) with a reproducer on the end of it made up of a mica disk and the pivots to allow a needle's vibration to vibrate the mica via an armature.

I picked this thing up and spent a few pleasant evenings disassembling and overhauling the spring motor. With that running I then rebuilt the reproducer with a new mica disc and gasketing to improve its tone quality.

This thing is a genuine pleasure to listen to - very interactive given the need to change needles, records, winding and such. Once set up properly (thank you strobe light) it holds its speed quite well - a fly-ball governor built into the Victrola mechanism holds speed by braking the mainshaft when an overspeed condiion is detected. Getting that running right with new bearings was not trivial.

I've been lucky in my shopping - bagged full albums of things like "Peter And The Wolf", big bands, swing and even French and German language recordings. Surprisingly, there's little demand for or interest in 78-RPM records and even full sets of them in pristine condition selll for a pittance.

[DinkyInky]

I need to find something to stop them from slipping slightly between 78 and 33 1/3. Graphite no slip I think my friends dad called it.

I really wish I could ask the cantankerous old butt ass about a lot of things(as well as "borrow" his Texas Flood album again when he wasn't looking).