Dswankey
Lunatic Member
Not sure if this will help re; parts list but it seems to be a pretty cool site dedicated solely to vintage consoles
http://vintagehifi.net/index.php
Calling All Motorola Consoles!!!
- Thread starter relaximus
- Start date
Not sure if this will help re; parts list but it seems to be a pretty cool site dedicated solely to vintage consoles
http://vintagehifi.net/index.php
micajah
Member
FWIW If you haven't seen it there's a SK14M system right now on ebay for 199.00 - looks to be in good shape unfortunately it's a local pickup only in Nappanee, Indiana., otherwise I'd have jumped on it. http://www.ebay.com/itm/322069940667?ul_noapp=true
Saw this thing listed in my neighborhood. Can you guys identify it from the blurry pictures? All the listing says is that the turntable doesn't work but I feel like if the tuner worked it might be mentioned. It's been listed at $75 for two months so I'm sure I could get it cheaper.
Haven't restored any vintage equipment before but I'm itching to start. Worth a shot, or stay away?
Haven't restored any vintage equipment before but I'm itching to start. Worth a shot, or stay away?
Attachments
century tek
Addicted Member
Most likely a 3 channel Motorola. Are you familiar with the 3 channel concept and amplifiers?
I know what 3 channel amplification means. But not much other than that.
Maybe I should start a little smaller than this but I don't know exactly how to go about finding broken tube amplifiers/radios.
Mperron
New Member
Hello all I have recently "adopted" a Motorola cabinet stereo that came with the house I purchased. From what I can tell it is a 1960 Moto SK32W. At pulled it out of the garage got it into the house and plugged it in. It worked! The record player spins and plays but was not able to load the records. Tuner worked also. I enjoyed it for a couple days and them it just stopped working. Zero power to anything. So I was thinking fuse. I found some schematics online and realized there is a slow burn 3 amp fuse. So I purchased one and used alligator leads to clip in the new fuse temporarily (original one is soldered in). The second I rotated the switch to "ON" it blew the fuse. I am just learning about vacuum tubes and amps and such (more of a car guy). I would like to get it working because it sounds great and adds character to my new palace. Does any one have a possible idea of what this could be or at least a starting point? Any help would be greatly appreciated.View media item 7786View media item 7787View media item 7788View media item 7789
It requires a complete proper restoration
You are lucky it had a fuse, the early ones did not. It probably would have ruined the amp without a fuse
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/1959-motorola-sk32w-stereo-console.699316/
You are lucky it had a fuse, the early ones did not. It probably would have ruined the amp without a fuse
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/1959-motorola-sk32w-stereo-console.699316/
Last edited:
Mperron
New Member
Thank you for your reply. Looks like my first order of business is cleaning then capacitors. I know I was really worried I did ruin it. In hind sight I should not have just plugged it in. What did you mean by this post "I still need to re-stuff the 40/40/30 can on the amp as the amp still hums"
Do you have a place you recommend to get the capacitors?
Do you have a place you recommend to get the capacitors?
Mperron
New Member
OK now I understand. I did some searching and found this, not sure if it would work though: https://www.tubesandmore.com/products/capacitor-ce-mfg-40-f450v-40-f400v-30-f350v Looks like since mine is the HS-775C it does not have the C16 and C14 Caps. So I guess 2 less things to worry about. On the schematic I see a C15A which is a 100MF electrolytic Cap, does that reside in the "can" also? Couldn't find it on the parts location diagram.
sidsinatra
New Member
Hi motorola console owners! I signed up to this site for some help ID'ing this motorola console I picked up, unless the tag is inside or I'm just blind I cant find it. So here are some pics and a description of what I can see. Also I hate to be "that guy" whos first post is a question like what did I just buy, but I'm lost. Thanks for any help
I tried it out and the am radio and the turntable works played a roy orbison's greatest hits on it lol... the fm didnt have an antenna so it was just static the "vibrasonic" function works. Selector knob says off,afc,fm,am then there are treb. and bass both 0-10 then balance left,right pull mono push stereo then loudness 0-10 then a 2nd selector 78,tape,lp,radio then on/off, and ofcourse vibrasonic 0-10. Everything is there and its clean as hell so I kinda couldn't pass it up, the whole "tape" part throws me off do you think its 8-track tape? I was born in '81 so yeah I'm a little lost lol... Thanks again anyone who helps out with a reply!
There are a pair of rca inputs on the back, presumably for an external tape player. That's what the "tape" setting activates.
kirkendoll
Luke.kirk on instagram
I picked up a total basket case motorola 3 channel record player only console about a month ago, it had a huge mouse nest in it along with a few old dried up mouse bodies. The copper clad on top of the amp had been eaten up from either the horrible storage it had been in, the mouse poo and pee that it was covered in, or both. This had left the top completely rusty :/. I thought it was a 6bq5 amp but when I got it home and removed it realized it was 6aq5 amp so I was like dammit this is not even worth fooling with what's this thing put out like 2 or 3 watts. Well the next day my curiosity got to me and I fired it up on the variac and it played music up until 90 volts then it popped and died. Next i scratched around and replaced the power supply caps and the coupling caps. After that it was still silent so I tested around and found a dead output tranny on the single ended side. I luckily snagged a output tranny out of a fire department motorola cb base station that used a single 6aq5 for the speaker 
. So now I was back in business and it was working. Since the outside was so awful I decided to to make it a rat rod amp reusing the old original speaker screw terminals, surrounding the outside with some nice 50 year weathered apitong wood that I got from work that were originally utility pole cross arm braces, and using the original motorola emblems and not cleaning or polishing them.
These J.W. Davis full range 12s that I got from a guy that said he got them out of an old cafe sound fantastic through the stereo side of the amp. Bass from them is nonexistent but the mids and highs are crisp and clear and has spooked me a few times on a quiet part in the music when a trumpet or singing starts up. The 3rd channel does not put out hardly any good sound, the stereo side just drowns it out. This was definitely a fun change from sanding, painting, staining, and trying to make everything perfect, all I had to do is to keep it looking old and crusty.
. So now I was back in business and it was working. Since the outside was so awful I decided to to make it a rat rod amp reusing the old original speaker screw terminals, surrounding the outside with some nice 50 year weathered apitong wood that I got from work that were originally utility pole cross arm braces, and using the original motorola emblems and not cleaning or polishing them. These J.W. Davis full range 12s that I got from a guy that said he got them out of an old cafe sound fantastic through the stereo side of the amp. Bass from them is nonexistent but the mids and highs are crisp and clear and has spooked me a few times on a quiet part in the music when a trumpet or singing starts up. The 3rd channel does not put out hardly any good sound, the stereo side just drowns it out. This was definitely a fun change from sanding, painting, staining, and trying to make everything perfect, all I had to do is to keep it looking old and crusty.
century tek
Addicted Member
I'm sure that you know that this is a 3 channel amp and no bass will ever be heard through the left & right upper channels. You will need a single bass woofer for the bass (3rd channel) for it to sound right. I also have this exact same amp so don't go fooling yourself about power. The 6AQ5 is equivalent in operating characteristics to the 6V6GT tube. It puts out 5 watts per channel single ended, and 10 watts push/pull for the bass for a total of 20 watts.
These Motorola 3 channel amplifiers are made for the left & right channels to be upper mids and highs only while the 3rd channel is the bass output only.
Mine has been updated with new capacitors (a few years ago) and is in its original console which I use with my MP3 player. The bass is incredible with its original 12 inch woofer. I listen to it on an almost daily basis.
If you get a chance, try to find matching output transformers for the left & right channels. You will be pleasantly surprised!
Last edited:
kirkendoll
Luke.kirk on instagram
I really want to drop the third channel and get some push pull output trannys and redo the whole thing. Doing that is way more user friendly for me since the console was trashed. I have totally rewired a single ended so a push-pull can't be much harder. If i could find the proper trannys and a schematic it would be all downhill from there. But I do love the sound of jazz and blues through it as it sets, it is probably true what I've heard is that the magic is in the midrange. Decisions decisions decisions lol
century tek
Addicted Member
If you want to go that route, probably any stereo 6V6 schematic would work for you unless you can find a good 6AQ5 schematic.
Yesterday I picked up a SK 30 M. The cabinet is totally trashed beyond hope. It was too dark to unload from my truck, can anyone tell me what I have? Possibly turn it into a head phone amp? If anyone is looking to get a turntable gratis and lives in the PNW message me. Ed 
Should be a three channel unit like this one with a push-pull 6BQ5 pair for the bass channel and single ended 6BQ5s for the side channels. Be careful not to wipe the print off the power tubes - they used a lot of Mullards back then and they are great tubes that hold some value. It should also have four 12AX7 tubes.
Not particularly usable for a headphone amp as far as I can see, but hey, my vision is pretty bad.
Not particularly usable for a headphone amp as far as I can see, but hey, my vision is pretty bad.