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Magical Mystery AM/FM Mono console amp

basplin

basplin

Active Member
Hi everybody,
I've got a friend who is going to give me an unknown tube amp that came from a console. It's got an AM/FM tuner and a phono output. He thinks it's from the 1940's, but he can't find any markings on it that lead to a maker. He doesn't live where I do, so I have no way of inspecting it myself. I've attached some pictures.

I'd like to restore it, but it'd be nice to know what I'm dealing with before having him mail it to me. Can anybody identify a brand/model of this thing, and if so, if its any good and worth restoring? Thanks a bunch!

image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg
 
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I have two of those. It is from a Sparton (Sparks-Worthington.) There is an rca(for phono) input on the back that I connect from a receiver. The model is 1090 type 8W10 A.C. receiver. The tuner on mine are really crisp and nice sounding. That's about all I know about it.
 
Sparton was based in Jackson, Michigan, and went out of business in the mid/late fifties. Some of their mirrored radios, from the thirties, are worth a small fortune.
 
Sparks Withington, Sparton.
Aside from the stylish mirrored but otherwise unremarkable sets, like the highly collectable but othetwise very ordinary Catalin cast resin table radios,
Sparton made a technically interesting uniqie line of "Equasonne" radios in the latter 1920s, using a proprietary TRF arrangement that avoided the Neutrodyne and Superheterodyne patent licensing. These sets also used a proprietary Cardon tubeset that is today pretty much unobtanium except salvaged from wrecks.

http://spartonequasonne.m.webs.com/site/mobile?dm_path=/index.htm&fw_sig_premium=0&fw_sig_session_key=44c8a64a082970d0dabf9b4fb9aa62594a557d1117bb817502d52771a7a0b700-44469544&fw_sig_api_key=522b0eedffc137c934fc7268582d53a1&fw_sig_permission_level=0&fw_sig_is_admin=0&fw_sig_access_token=2ba49961cb6bf0d49ba23e2ebd52b105251c5056&fw_sig_permissions=none&fw_sig_social=1&fw_sig_time=1463862472635&fw_sig_locale=en-US&fw_sig=15de05035f1f2293191bc10d9cc50400&fw_sig_url=http://spartonequasonne.webs.com/&fw_sig_partner=webs&fw_sig_tier=0&fw_sig_site=44469544&fb_sig_network=fw#2102
 
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Thanks guys! Great info here. CopperWizard, just to clarify, this is a tuner only, without a phono preamp?


CopperWizard said:
I have two of those. It is from a Sparton (Sparks-Worthington.) There is an rca(for phono) input on the back that I connect from a receiver. The model is 1090 type 8W10 A.C. receiver. The tuner on mine are really crisp and nice sounding. That's about all I know about it.
Click to expand...
 
It does have a line in (rca style) on the back where the phono plugged in. I use that line in for other sources such as my tablet or ipod. Did you Google the model designation I gave you?
 
Are you wanting to use it as a phono amp? It is an older style that doesn't use an RIAA. A line out from a phono will work though.
 
I did google the model, but I couldn't find much on it. I'll keep looking, but that is very helpful to know. Yes, I do want to use it primarily for a phono amp (mono set up), so that is good to know. How would you assess the sound quality?
 
That phono input is most likely for the old style ceramic cartridges. Any magnetic cartridge turntable would require a separate preamp. You can use this input as a basic mono line level input for a tape deck, CD player or iphone.
 
Well at this point I am still a tube newbie so take my advice with a grain of salt. This little amp got me into tubes so it is invaluable to me at this point. I have some very efficient old full range speakers lying around that sing like angels with this amp. When I asked the local tube repair guy about restoring it for me he laughed. It is a stepping stone that I will lug around for a long time. The sound is incredible and the tuning lugs make it fun to dial in the tuner to 2 martini liquid clarity. Not worth spending a lot to get it or having it restored but if it is cheap than go for it.
What turntable are you using?
 
Good to know about the need for a preamp. Maybe I can wire one in...

That's helpful input on this little guy, CopperWizard. My friend is just giving it to me, so I won't have much invested in it at all, so it should make for a nice little amp. My main TT is a technics 1200 mk 1, but when I restore it and like the sound enough, I'd probably just buy another one for this and get a mono cartridge, and hook it all up to an orphan speaker.
 
The phono input is for a ceramic cartridge so it is basically a line level input. Try your iPhone (if you have one). It would sound fine but in mono.
 
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