Let's see some really BAD projects.......

[dr*audio]

I don't know why my pictures aren't showing up, so here they are as links:
The patient:
http://render2.snapfish.com/render2...?*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXP0o|Rup6lQQ|/of=50,590,442

The innards:
http://render2.snapfish.com/render2...?*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXP0P|Rup6lQQ|/of=50,590,442

The old driver board:
http://render2.snapfish.com/render2...?*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPJo|Rup6lQQ|/of=50,590,442

The new driver boards:
http://render2.snapfish.com/render2...?*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXP0a|Rup6lQQ|/of=50,590,442

The new caps:
http://render2.snapfish.com/render2...?*KUp7BHSHqqy7XH6gXPJJ|Rup6lQQ|/of=50,590,442

 

[Donny]

Do bad ones that turned out well count? This is a honda 250trx that I bought dead. The first pick is midway through,at this point it ran and the rearend had been repaired. When I bought it the bike was dirty and the front fenders where off.

This next one is the after,it took alot of work and some cash to get to this point.

As for audio my tube system was very rough,it was a console given to me and it looked like a rat chewed off a leg! It turned out pretty good and was my avatar for along time.

 

[dr*audio]

Ok, I got the picture problem solved. Igor, ready with the pictures? "Yeth, marthter!" Then throw the switch!
Prototype boards

The Patient:

Inside, with one poweramp removed:

The old Power Board:

The new transformer:

The Gold Tune caps:

 

[jaymanaa]

Warren, he asked for ugly, horrible projects. That Marantz is beautiful.:thmbsp: Nice work, Jay

 

[onepixel]

I don't do bad...I just run away.

 

[dr*audio]

Warren, he asked for ugly, horrible projects. That Marantz is beautiful.:thmbsp: Nice work, Jay

Thanks, but it's far from done!

 

[thedelihaus]

My runner-ups are my DCM timewindows. I paid real money for this pair ($10). They work perfectly, so I wasn't ripped-off too badly. They're on loan to thedelihaus, who has offered (masochistically, I expect) to spruce 'em up while they're in his care.

Mark, any idea where I can get the stuff to cover the drivers in? A source ws mentioned somewhere, maybe here, maybe another forum...

thoughts on the top pieces? I could use wood putty and stain, or maybe re-vener the tops, but the edges, either semi-sucessfully fill and stain 'em or give 'em another treatment...

No work on 'em yet as I'm dealing with some hassles here w/ the apartment and the move, and disspassionate relatives who'd rather have me collecting Hummels...

 

[dr*audio]

Go to JoAnne Fabrics and get some black doubleknit fabric. Don't worry about the foam crap they put in there originally. Select a fabric that you can see light through, so the sound won't be blocked.
For the top and bottom, I'd use a new slab of red oak, but I think that might cost you unless you can buy scraps. The TF-700 used solid oak, and all the Timewindows I've seen looked like the wood was solid. Maybe they started cutting corners?

 

[ARRAY]

OK, here's what you're looking for, I think! My AR-3's. You can guess where I got 'em. The price was right. They sound great. They look really nasty. Really nasty.

Whoa! Those are like "The Big Book of British Smiles"...

 

[mhardy6647]

oh, I forgot all about these! A pair of two-way, shelf-ported enclosures sold by Heathkit, originally populated with a Jensen P8RS and Jensen RP-103. This particular pair, as found (you-know-where!) had had its beautiful Jensen AlNiCo extended-range woofers replaced with generic 8" paper cone/foam surround Radio Shack woofers :-( The RP-103's were still on board and still worked fine.

I suspect the prior owner may have had cats.

BTW, I put a pair of (8 ohm, AlNiCo) EV LS-8's in these and the combination sounds good and is, of course, very efficient. I actually bought a beautiful pair of Jensen P8RX's on eBAY (one of my very first eBAY purchases) for these, but I think the drivers had been re-coned and they didn't sound all that special when installed.

I have, actually, finally found a home for these (with the Jensen woofers) in the form of a fellow here in NE who was looking for Jensen Duettes. These ain't Duette's, but they're pretty similar.

EDIT:
The P8RX's:

 

[thedelihaus]

Go to JoAnne Fabrics...

That was an option I considered. I've also considered in covering them in a nice light burlap or such, I bet it would look stunning.

Mark, what do you think you'd like? Black, light cream/tan burlap, maybe red? Let me know. Or I can suprise you...

...For the top and bottom, I'd use a new slab of red oak, but I think that might cost you unless you can buy scraps. The TF-700 used solid oak, and all the Timewindows I've seen looked like the wood was solid...

I'd be okay with re-doing the tops in oak- not too concerned about cost- Mark's friendship is worth thousands $$$ anyhoo. :thmbsp:

My worries is cutting myself up. Since I can't stand, I need to do all the work from my chair. Makes my creative woodworking a bit taxing.

I've got a good friend who's a woodworker- his work is outstanding- and he's pulling probably 70+ hours because of it. He's got a new Ducati monster, and a new sweetheart of a girlfriend- so I haven't seen him since this past March. I don't blame him- she's quite the catch, and that bike is a hoot.

Anyhoo, I hope I can get him to stop by for the holidays- at least get some great veneer off him, if that's all.

Maybe a nice tiger-eye veneer and a bit of sanding and chip-filling will get 'em back to tip-top shape...

 

[Holst]

To ride all three of these horses. I've ridden the second one (he's my avatar as of this post).

 

[mhardy6647]

I'm not sure the endpieces on those original series will come off readily. My "plan" has always been to putty up the rough edges and paint. Anything else would be far beyond my meagre abilities.

McMaster-Carr does (EDIT: is reputed to) have appropriate foam for the socks, and the retainers on the back are all present and accounted for (they're basically tacked on the back, and they'll just pull off with a little coaxing). try www.mcmaster.com Part no: 2195K52
My reference for this was: http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=speakers&n=199344&highlight=McMaster&r=&session=

Paul, please don't feel obligated to do anything with 'em but enjoy them for a while...

 

[thedelihaus]

Mark, I'd like to make the attempt- consider it my pleasure. If things prevent me from doing it, I know you'd understand. But I'd like to try. Consider it my way of saying thanks, for all you've done to me. Your kind heart and outstanding general personality is appreciated- by me, and many others.

 

[TedJ]

Well unfortunatley I don't have pictures of this... but its a great one anyway

Back when i was getting into audio i ended up with a set of car speakers but nothing to put them in...so i'm at shop-rite and see a pile of boxes that the plastic bags come in and i'm like hey--- speaker enclosures!

So cut to a few weeks later, i'm sitting at my bench and cranking the radio..then I hear a loud crash. I jump about 2ft and look over and ther is my speaker, which has ripped itself out of the box and LANDED IN THE GARBAGE CAN.

Moral: Screws don't hold well in cardboard

 

[jedo1507r]

I have a cruddy Soundesign 'blaster, didn't cost much, but managed to get alot of time in my hands (and $2 for decent computer speakers) and wound up trying to modify it with stronger speakers. Sounded slightly better, but wound up destroying the power section and omitting the cassette section (it was junk anyway), making room for an audio player dock.

I have learned that two stinky turds don't make a Bose. So point and laugh at my attempt.

 

[BlackSwamp]

My parents kinda dropped the ball on this one!!!!

 

[Twenty20Man]

To ride all three of these horses. I've ridden the second one (he's my avatar as of this post).

Beautiful Horses, good luck with them. I have 7 and ride 4 of the 7. in the next year I intend to ride the other 3. lol if they don't kill me

 

[gadget73]

I wish I had pics of the old Galaxy Saturn CB rig I cobbled back together. No readable print on the faceplate for any of the dials, knobs from 3 different random bits of equipment, a power supply built from a 12 volt camper light supply, and many feet of shrink tube splices putting all the wiring back together. It was given to me DOA in a box, I put it back together, found a failed $3 regulator, and had to install a $20 PLL chip. Worked great, looked horrible. Sold it for $50 to a friend, he used it for a long time, it got moved around and last I saw it, it was still working. It had no cover and something had fallen on the case. The back part of the cabinet was crushed, but it still worked. The cover was removed because it shorted on the power supply cap if it was installed.

 

[markthefixer]

Thought this would be a good weekend thread :yes:

Do any of you have any projects that are so bad, that fixing the thing and making it useable again would be like turning a turd back into a cheeseburger?

(Don'cha just love the analogy? :lmao: )

Now I don't wanna see pics of things that are DONE, show me some pics of things that are as they are, the stuff that's so bad that willl make us all scratch out heads as to why you'd bother

I have quite a few to choose from around here ara:

I'll take some pics over the weekend, let's see yours!

Ok, I've been watching this thread, and I decided to liven things up a bit - tech wise...

The items are a pair of Hewlett Packard 3336B Synthesized Function / Level Generators. They make 10 Hz to 20 Mhz Low distortion sine waves at calibrated levels of about -70 dB to +6 dB into popular (OLD) phone company impedances. Very Accurate Levels.

In the pictures the unit on the right side or the bottom is the GOOD unit for comparison.

The LEFT and TOP unit however, fits Kams decription of turning a turd back into a cheeseburger.

The first view is the front panels..... just a few missing switches and keycaps.... and ALL the led's and 7 segmant displays behind the plastic!!!

The second view is the rear panel. Notice ALL the EMPTY HOLES. ALL the BNC connectors and the HPIB stuff is missing....

The third view is the bottom chassis. Yes the big board is there, and should work. But the mixer/ vco board (and some unobtanium custom parts on them), and output attenuator box are missing. What doesn't show well is that ALL the TNC custom length coaxial interconnect cables are MISSING, and another unit would have to die to supply them.

The fourth view is the top chassis. Yes the microprocessor board is present, but it's MISSING THE PROGRAM ROMS, all FOUR of them..... The missing board below it is the divider board, more unobtanium parts... as well as ALL needed coaxial harnesses between the boards (just like the bottom). Just when I was ready to relax, I saw the BUTCHERED (apologies to all professional meatcutters out there!!) Power Supply. The main filter cap is missing! The formerly socketed power pass transistors for the regulator have been soldered to jumpers, and their elegant frame mounting bracket is MISSING. Then I saw that the integrated circuits were missing and sockets substituted in their place with some of the worst soldering work done ever by a supposedly professional tech, TILTED sockets with pins barely into holes, holes barely soldered, bridges etc. Rabbi Rich, I think, once his eyes would focus on the hulk, would be impressed with the carnage here.

I take on lost causes....and don't give up easily, but this is one I decided NOT to sacrifice a better generator to make it live again. This IS a DONOR UNIT that I had intended to resurrect. I can replace the roms, I can replace the leds... I may even find the missing boards..... but those harnesses...... fuh..ged..abou...dit..........

The turd stays a turd.