D. B. Cooper
New Member
Hey guys!
I've lurked here before and spend a decent amount of time on other forums. This one looks great! I'm excited to become member.
I've decided for my first project while on this forum I'm going to update/retrofit an old RCA console.
I realize that this has probably been talked about many times and is probably old news to all of you guys. I also fully realize that this project, by it's very nature has flaws.
But I am one who likes to bring new life to old worn out things. Brings me a certain sense of satisfaction and usually some aesthetic happiness.
I refurbish vintage drums and furniture as a couple of my other hobbies and I love to work with wood. I have a certain amount of knowledge of technology, so don't baby me too much here, in your responses.
Ok. So here's what I want to do.
I have an old RCA stereo console that I found in my grandma's house that wasn't being used. From the 60's, I believe.
It's in overall decent condition except for a few things. 4 of the 6 speakers aren't working and the turntable spins too fast.
All in all, when appraised by a stereo technician, it was going to cost $400+ to refurbish. And then what? I'd end up with a perfectly functioning stereo that doesn't really sound that great?
I figured, why not just spend the money making the thing actually sound good and be fully functional?
So I'm thinking about adding all new guts to the shell of the console.
I can easily swap-out the turntable for a modern one and I'm very capable of pulling out all of the internal equipment and replacing it with more modern or high quality stuff. I can also easily fabricate some kind of face plate or mounting brackets.
After thinking on this for a while, I realized that I have no knowledge of most things hi-fi and don't really know where to start in terms of selecting brands and models.
How much does it matter in the end if all of the components are going in a console? I'm guessing it can only sound SO good if the speakers are confined to this wooden shell? I really don't know.
I don't want to spend thousands on this project but I am interested in finding out the best way to make this a modern, functional stereo.
Things I'd like it to have:
AM/FM Tuner
Turn table
Auxillary input
Bluetooth in
Decent, nice sounding, speakers and other components.
How would you do it?
Really, I have tons of room inside this thing so I could really put anything in there.
It currently has a large speaker and two small ones on each side.
I thought about buying some kind of nice receiver, removing the metal housing and then mounting it on it's side with the face up with a small computer fan to cool it, since it won't be oriented for proper heat sinking. Think that could work?
Or should I just by each component separately and mount individual little control modules for each one. I could make a wooden faceplate and mount a radio tuner face and the Bluetooth face and everything else right on there where the only controls used to be.
Thoughts? Insight?
Thanks everybody!
-Mac
I've lurked here before and spend a decent amount of time on other forums. This one looks great! I'm excited to become member.
I've decided for my first project while on this forum I'm going to update/retrofit an old RCA console.
I realize that this has probably been talked about many times and is probably old news to all of you guys. I also fully realize that this project, by it's very nature has flaws.
But I am one who likes to bring new life to old worn out things. Brings me a certain sense of satisfaction and usually some aesthetic happiness.
I refurbish vintage drums and furniture as a couple of my other hobbies and I love to work with wood. I have a certain amount of knowledge of technology, so don't baby me too much here, in your responses.
Ok. So here's what I want to do.
I have an old RCA stereo console that I found in my grandma's house that wasn't being used. From the 60's, I believe.
It's in overall decent condition except for a few things. 4 of the 6 speakers aren't working and the turntable spins too fast.
All in all, when appraised by a stereo technician, it was going to cost $400+ to refurbish. And then what? I'd end up with a perfectly functioning stereo that doesn't really sound that great?
I figured, why not just spend the money making the thing actually sound good and be fully functional?
So I'm thinking about adding all new guts to the shell of the console.
I can easily swap-out the turntable for a modern one and I'm very capable of pulling out all of the internal equipment and replacing it with more modern or high quality stuff. I can also easily fabricate some kind of face plate or mounting brackets.
After thinking on this for a while, I realized that I have no knowledge of most things hi-fi and don't really know where to start in terms of selecting brands and models.
How much does it matter in the end if all of the components are going in a console? I'm guessing it can only sound SO good if the speakers are confined to this wooden shell? I really don't know.
I don't want to spend thousands on this project but I am interested in finding out the best way to make this a modern, functional stereo.
Things I'd like it to have:
AM/FM Tuner
Turn table
Auxillary input
Bluetooth in
Decent, nice sounding, speakers and other components.
How would you do it?
Really, I have tons of room inside this thing so I could really put anything in there.
It currently has a large speaker and two small ones on each side.
I thought about buying some kind of nice receiver, removing the metal housing and then mounting it on it's side with the face up with a small computer fan to cool it, since it won't be oriented for proper heat sinking. Think that could work?
Or should I just by each component separately and mount individual little control modules for each one. I could make a wooden faceplate and mount a radio tuner face and the Bluetooth face and everything else right on there where the only controls used to be.
Thoughts? Insight?
Thanks everybody!
-Mac