Sylvania Stereo Cabinet Restoration

AudioSpartan

New Member
Hello all,
First post, I think I’ve done this right. I cannot seem to find a more specific place to post this so I’m doing General Topic. I have this Sylvania cabinet I picked up some years ago and have just had it in storage till I bought a house. It was painted black and the legs were cut off so I wanted to show it some love. I’ve stripped it down and stained it and now I’m ready to order some things for it. I was thinking about maybe doing a cheap sound upgrade. It’s not bad but I was wondering if it could be better with some quality woofers and maybe horn tweeters. Looking for solid low range and decent imaging. I know of the Zilch Econowave but that may be a bit much for this cabinet. Need some recommendations. Thanks

Blake30553E6A-EF6B-4F47-9A50-A381495C9C6E.jpeg0D2AC5C1-4A2C-4970-8AD0-A0211EAB7B21.jpeg53A406E2-4E69-44F6-89B2-E4206E8CEE98.jpeg14128FFC-6976-497F-BA58-63D02D0477AF.jpeg
 
Welcome to AK. I understand your desire for upgrade. But what does it sound like with the speakers in place?
 
Welcome to AK. I understand your desire for upgrade. But what does it sound like with the speakers in place?
The sound is all mid range. I have stacked advents and love the bright sound and heavy punch. I know the cabinet won’t sound like those ever but I want it to be good enough for me to want to power it up every once in a while.
 
Have you tried it with the speakers screwed to the cabinet?
I've been amazed at the sound of some consoles. Much better than my OLA's
 
Yea, I’ve tried them with the woofers attached. Really not much difference. The drivers on both woofers and tweeters are pretty wimpy so I didn’t expect much. I’ve been deOxing the knobs and playing with the tones. It’s better but I don’t really think they are as high quality as other cabinets.
 
Looks to be a SET amp, pretty low power output and the console speakers are probably designed to work with that. Replacing those speakers might improve sound quality but reduce the output more than just a little. Sure a nice looking restore job on that cabinet. Pretty nice outfit.
 
May we have a picture of the inside of the speaker area please? With a ruler for scale?
 
Thanks for the complements. Here are some inside pictures. I’ve ordered legs, vintage fabric, and NAL tweeters (the soft dome type). At $15 dollars each, that should open up the top end, I hope, and answer some questions I’ve had about those tweeters for a while. I’m going to leave the woofers for now. I don’t want so put too much money into this. It’s just going to be for in room listening and maybe parties.
 

Attachments

  • 3DF8D904-61D8-4E3A-99EE-48CF2EC4530B.jpeg
    3DF8D904-61D8-4E3A-99EE-48CF2EC4530B.jpeg
    77.4 KB · Views: 71
  • D16A907C-4329-4FC5-B8C0-2CD054635EA3.jpeg
    D16A907C-4329-4FC5-B8C0-2CD054635EA3.jpeg
    77.1 KB · Views: 70
  • 73628AB9-9158-4503-9B98-65149F08AC73.jpeg
    73628AB9-9158-4503-9B98-65149F08AC73.jpeg
    76.3 KB · Views: 72
  • E3DC4EE6-F15D-4691-8BC8-3AE0572D55B9.jpeg
    E3DC4EE6-F15D-4691-8BC8-3AE0572D55B9.jpeg
    47.9 KB · Views: 72
Welcome to AK! You've done a beautiful restoration on that cabinet thus far. I'm so happy that folks are beginning to recognise the beauty and build quality of the old consoles. Like a number of older folks here, I grew up with these big consoles as my only music source, and spent hours and hours spinning records on them.

I'm thinking that replacing the speakers with more modern ones should give you a big leg-up on the sound signature you are seeking. Since you don't want to spend a lot on the speaker upgrade, I'd go to Parts Express and replace the woofer with one of the GRS woofers to match the tweets you've already purchased. And definitely replace the crossover capacitors. They are way past their "use by" date. (And be sure to replace your speaks with new ones having the same impedance as the originals. Finally, you need only one tweeter per side, so delete one of those currently in place. )

Tom is absolutely correct: the replacement speakers are likely to be less efficient than the old ones, so you may need to dial in a bit more volume control when you listen.

GeeDeeEmm
 
How would I figure out impedance if it’s not one the back of the speaker?
 

Attachments

  • DFD8D3BD-87FD-4B55-BD97-94243829AFC9.jpeg
    DFD8D3BD-87FD-4B55-BD97-94243829AFC9.jpeg
    69.6 KB · Views: 8
How would I figure out impedance if it’s not one the back of the speaker?
Disconnect the speakers from the wires leading to them. Then, use your digital multi meter (DMM) set to "ohms" and measure across the two speaker terminals (one DMM probe to each speaker terminal. It does not matter which probe you use on which terminal). If the reading is a little less than 8 ohms, they are 8 ohm speakers. If they measure a little below 16 ohms, they are 16 ohm speakers. Post the numbers here and we'll confirm.

If you do not have a DMM, go to WalMart, Lowes, or Harbor Freight and buy one. The simplest ones are around $10 or less, and everybody needs one!

GeeDeeEmm

From the Interweb: Example of a DMM

th
 
Does it look like this??:rflmao:
But really, I figured that would be the method. Had a fancy multimeter an electrician buddy gave me but one of the leads shorted out and I never replaced it cause only ever test 110/220v ac or 12v dc. I’ll pick one up on the way home today and start testing.
 

Attachments

  • 51415C46-8CE1-48C1-9197-B978800EAA5D.jpeg
    51415C46-8CE1-48C1-9197-B978800EAA5D.jpeg
    43.3 KB · Views: 32
Ok, so I’ve got a new DMM and I’ve been checking things out. The readings I’m getting from the woofers are 7.5 ohm and the tweeters are 3.7 ohm. So am I right in assuming that those are eights and fours?
 
I was hoping the layout would accommodate some quick and easy bookshelf speakers in there but I guess not.
 
Back
Top Bottom