arts
Addicted Member
If you take it and regret it,you can change that.If you don't take it and regret it,you cannot change that.
Wow,that almost sounded like Yoda.....
1958 Philips F5C10A Tube Amp / Speaker
- Thread starter stevland
- Start date
If you take it and regret it,you can change that.If you don't take it and regret it,you cannot change that.
Wow,that almost sounded like Yoda.....
stevland
New Member
"Take it, regret it, change that you can."
—Jedi Master Yoda
That is very true, Master Yoda. But I did mention that it is 2500 miles away, yes? And that it weights about 50 thousand million pounds?!
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Wow ! What a lovely piece of Philips audio history. Great to see/hear it's working ! Having had a few Philips gems, the 800 Ohm speaker voice coil requires quite a large number of wire coil turns...That means the coil is thicker than a usual low impedance speaker. So, if you "push" the amp/speaker, it is easier to cause voice coil rub. Low to medium level listening is in order. Please do not try and blast it, as it will blast fast...
Within the amp, the coupling caps should probably be freshened/upgraded. The caps going into the 6CW5/EL86 tubes cannot leak any DC, or damage will be passed onto the speaker. If you hear any fuzzy sound, it's time for some cap replacement. I have not checked the schematic yet...Is there a coupling cap from the EL86 to the speaker ? If so, that is another cap to ascertain is a good one. Coupling caps pass the signal (considered AC) and block DC. Even passing .3V DC can shorten tube or speaker life. That is a great collector's item ! Enjoy !
Within the amp, the coupling caps should probably be freshened/upgraded. The caps going into the 6CW5/EL86 tubes cannot leak any DC, or damage will be passed onto the speaker. If you hear any fuzzy sound, it's time for some cap replacement. I have not checked the schematic yet...Is there a coupling cap from the EL86 to the speaker ? If so, that is another cap to ascertain is a good one. Coupling caps pass the signal (considered AC) and block DC. Even passing .3V DC can shorten tube or speaker life. That is a great collector's item ! Enjoy !
stevland
New Member
Copy that.
I had my vintage electronics guy check all the tubes and replace every cap.
Cheers! Will do.
Son-of-Vere
Super Member
I dunno, I think you made right choice. The unit is cool. It works with your phone. It doesn't take up a lot of space. No one gives a crap about stereo any more. It's flexible. You had it gone thru. A truly wonderful outcome has resulted. It doesn't have to be hi-fi.
IOW, I like it.
IOW, I like it.
Pio1980
AK Member
If you are thinking of Hewlett-Packard, different company altogether. Got their start with a lower cost high performance laboratory grade audio signal generator adopted for Disney's Fantasia production.
Pio1980
AK Member
A-ha!
stevland
New Member
For the record, I still care about stereo. I have yet to hear anything better for music.
Having said that, I agree that this mid-century stand-alone tube speaker is a gem and I thank you for your comment.
Son-of-Vere
Super Member
That's good to hear, so do I. But John Q Public barely understands the concept anymore. The '70's console I fixed up for my millennial kids living room occasionally drops a channel, it drives me nuts, and they never notice.
René Talbot
New Member
Just bought one in Québec yesterdays and seeked for infos. Merci! Lot of good infos here.
I was told It was in working condition so I plugged in and try with of of my guitars....WOW!
The sound as clean without any noise. JUst scratchy pots. Sound very cool as a little amp.
For sure I will have the caps changed soon as you never know with old gear when they gonna die and when they do it can be very bad.
I was told It was in working condition so I plugged in and try with of of my guitars....WOW!
The sound as clean without any noise. JUst scratchy pots. Sound very cool as a little amp.
For sure I will have the caps changed soon as you never know with old gear when they gonna die and when they do it can be very bad.
stevland
New Member
Whoa René, yours is in amazing condition as well!
My electronics guy replaced all the caps for $50. He's semi-retired and I'm pretty sure he's undercharging me... but that should give you an idea of what to expect.
He also plugged in an electric guitar to give me a short demonstration as a warning about the fact that this is a high-impedance system. He turned it on a turned the volume up and strummed a chord... it wasn't overly loud. He then turned amp off (to protect it) and he unplugged the jack from the guitar. He turned the amp back on but left the volume low and simply touched the end of the jack with his finger. Even though the volume was low, this produced a disproportionately loud buzz.
Long story short, he advised me to be careful with what I plug into this amp as it would be easy to blow the speakers.
I'm curious how much you paid? Did you buy it in a shop, an estate sale, or...? Did you learn any back story about its history... specifically, do you know if it was once part of a Hifi combo as mine was?
René Talbot
New Member
"I'm curious how much you paid? Did you buy it in a shop, an estate sale, or...? Did you learn any back story about its history... specifically, do you know if it was once part of a Hifi combo as mine was?[/QUOTE]"
I paid a whole 30$ for it. I didn't had any info on it then. Just the feeling that a powered speaker from 50's or early 60's was special enough to get a grip on it. It was on Kijiji.
I paid a whole 30$ for it. I didn't had any info on it then. Just the feeling that a powered speaker from 50's or early 60's was special enough to get a grip on it. It was on Kijiji.
century tek
Addicted Member
This same thing will happen with any audio or guitar amplifier. Just make sure the volume is all the way down or the unit is off when switching cables and there will be no loud surprises.
Hi All,
New to the Forum. I feel lucky to have found this thread. I've been working on a similar unit. I mainly have tube amp experience for guitar amps but this is my first time fixing a Hi Fi amp. I'm looking at a Philips F6CI1A, from the pic's provided by stevland it's basically the same unit (although not in as good condition). Tube line up is identical but the two channels (left and right) are in one chassis. I didn't have a schematic, but the one provided by s-petersen look like a good start. I fired it up and it is stable, but one channel isn't working, I'm thinking the caps are bad, but with out a schematic it's hard to see what else is going on. My curious about the the field coil speaker (new to me) and how the connect/work with the OT and what appears to be a choke. It looks like the 6at6 is the single triad pre-amp, and the 12ax7 is the phase inverter, long tailed pair, feeding a push pull configuration into the two 6CW5. Any correction or hints where to start are welcome.
New to the Forum. I feel lucky to have found this thread. I've been working on a similar unit. I mainly have tube amp experience for guitar amps but this is my first time fixing a Hi Fi amp. I'm looking at a Philips F6CI1A, from the pic's provided by stevland it's basically the same unit (although not in as good condition). Tube line up is identical but the two channels (left and right) are in one chassis. I didn't have a schematic, but the one provided by s-petersen look like a good start. I fired it up and it is stable, but one channel isn't working, I'm thinking the caps are bad, but with out a schematic it's hard to see what else is going on. My curious about the the field coil speaker (new to me) and how the connect/work with the OT and what appears to be a choke. It looks like the 6at6 is the single triad pre-amp, and the 12ax7 is the phase inverter, long tailed pair, feeding a push pull configuration into the two 6CW5. Any correction or hints where to start are welcome.
Attachments
s-petersen
Scott
Is the output transformer separate from the speaker? In the original thread I didn't remember that there was one.
analogadict
Active Member
Please share the AD**** type # that is on the driver magnets. This will allow us find the driver specs and confirm if they were meant for OTL operation or not. Also check if they are connected independently to the amp chassis or together in series or parallel.
Regards,
Regards,
Yes, it's in the chassis