Eico 2050 is alive as found!

buckstir

"ain't no devil, just God when he's drunk" tw
Eico 2050 sitting in homemade cabinet with Electro-Voice Wolverine LS-12's and Garrard turntable. Hooked her up and after a few fidgets .... nice sound! From original owner ... kit built .. Eico branded 7591's. My first "find" ...... at a building supply business clear-out full of doors and windows. DSCN0380.jpg DSCN0383.jpg DSCN0382.jpg DSCN0384.jpg DSCN0386.jpg Envelope postmarked 1966.
 
Will inspect further tomorrow on the TT ... not a 301 ... from google images maybe an RC something ... no model on the topside to see ... white tonearm and both spindles are there ... has the weird side contraption for stacking multiple albums. The speakers are surprising me ... better with jazz than rock. I like them with the set-on tops off.
 
One tube ( 12DX7 ) flashes orange for a half second on start up and settles back down. Is this normal???

LT-12's three way speakers, not LS.

Turntable is Garrard Type A - ii with Shure M3D cartridge. Can figgle it to work on manual but auto is futzed up. Set TF at just under 5 grams.

Speakers sound real good on Jazz and Eva Cassidy, and I mean very, very sweet. A bit confused with Hendrix and Santana. I like 'em better with the tops removed.

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Some signal tubes do that; Mullard 12AX7 come to mind as a regular occurrence
 
The EICO 2050 is an excellent amp. It is the sister to the EICO st40, but with less doo dads. The tubes , if they are all stock, are probably Mullards except the power tubes and are worth at least 200 bucks. the power tubes if they are Westinghouse are superior to any others and should be tested to check their strength. Also, be sure to check to make sure your power supply caps are not becoming really hot after short use as this would indicate that they are starting to go bad and may blow up on you.
Re. the record player, any turntable that has the stack the records up spindle is not goiing to be very "hi fi" as the needle and tonearm can be hard on your vinyl. It is probably not a good idea to use it on your collectible or mint lps.
Well, "good eye" finding the amp where you did. You just never know where these things will turn up.
 
The Garrard has the single play spindle present.
I already have a Pioneer PL530, Thorens TD160 and an Elac Miracord 10h that has the auto features disabled so it is a dead quiet fully manual.
I don't know if the Garrard warrants any time investment.
The speakers, however, are growing on me, will research what to do to the home made cabinets to enhance the sound.
The Eico 2050 will get a cleaning and I will test all tubes. It sounds sweet as is, so am very pleased.
 
Nice score! I had an EICO 2536 receiver a couple of years ago. It was EL84 based rather than the 7591 power tubes in your 2050. Lower power in mine, but still a sweet sound......when it worked. Which unfortunately was about 2 weeks at a time. It was going to require a complete overhaul....new caps, resistors, etc. I didn't have the time or want to invest any more cash into it at the time so I parted ways with it. In retrospect, I should have hung onto it. :(
 
Newbie question .... can I go without the tube shields or are they important ... am starting the general cleanup and DeOxit procedure.
 
Newbie question .... can I go without the tube shields or are they important ... am starting the general cleanup and DeOxit procedure.
The shields are to help with emi/rfi shielding so if that is not a problem you can dispense with it. They are more important on the phono tubes since the signal is amplified a lot more in that circuit.
 
Congrats on your Eico find, I need to replace the cans on my 2080 and it will be finished. Great sounding amps! :thumbsup:
 
Cleaned her up. Carefully wiped her down and got some grunge off the tubes. DeOxit in all pots. The balance crackle is gone .... but now have "hash" on the left channel ... waiting for tubes to cool and will switch them over ... maybe put the shields back on.

EDIT: switched tubes still had noise ... put back shields ... noise gone ... guess that answers that question!
 
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