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Magnavox 1959 Berkley Cabinet (AMP-185) complete restoration

NattyBDC

NattyBDC

Living on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam
Subscriber
Full Album - including videos, documentation

This unit originally belonged to my great uncle and was purchased in January 1960 for about $300. I inherited it rather than let it go to the dump last year, since I have a friend with the skills to take on a project of this scope.

My buddy did all the recapping, soldering, electrical and turntable work. Just a genius. Was about $450 in parts total, that includes adding bluetooth receiver and switch, headphone capabilities, a fuse, new tubes (bought pre Russia-Ukraine...), a bunch of new resistors, new thermistor, rewiring the turntable motor, etc. Oh, and he found the matching Berkley stereo cab for $25 in a pawn shop - perfect condition, just needed rewiring, so it's a full stereo set rather than just the 1 mono cab I left with him!

Anyway, he did such an amazing job I figured people at a place like this would appreciate it the most. I myself am new to the HiFi game but am really looking forward to using this set regularly when I pick it back up in a couple weeks.
lftTUCP.jpeg

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Unfortunately, it seems my video host isn't integrated here (imgur), but if you click the top link you can see the album with videos of the first successful powerup and how it sounds.

I go pick both cabs up at the end of the month and I can't wait! I learned a lot just from spending a weekend with my friend being his extra set of hands and eyes.
 
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grindfix said:
Welcome to AK tube forum!
Beautiful console. Enjoy!
Click to expand...

crispycircuit said:
What a nice unit! I use 2 Magnavox mono's for my system and have tried others but really like the mono's.
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thank you! One of the benefits is that my great uncle was an audiophile so he kept it in good shape while he lived (about 1975). It never lived in a garage and even more rarely no one smoked indoors around it.
My friend who repaired it and got the extra stereo cab also got a backup cab/amp unit. He said the amp and wires were just COVERED in nicotine tar on that unit.

my mother in law gave me a sick collection of her classic rock records and with those and the Bluetooth receiver I can’t wait to start jamming out.
 
NattyBDC said:
Full Album - including videos, documentation

This unit originally belonged to my great uncle and was purchased in January 1960 for about $300. I inherited it rather than let it go to the dump last year, since I have a friend with the skills to take on a project of this scope.

My buddy did all the recapping, soldering, electrical and turntable work. Just a genius. Was about $450 in parts total, that includes adding bluetooth receiver and switch, headphone capabilities, a fuse, new tubes (bought pre Russia-Ukraine...), a bunch of new resistors, new thermistor, rewiring the turntable motor, etc. Oh, and he found the matching Berkley stereo cab for $25 in a pawn shop - perfect condition, just needed rewiring, so it's a full stereo set rather than just the 1 mono cab I left with him!

Anyway, he did such an amazing job I figured people at a place like this would appreciate it the most. I myself am new to the HiFi game but am really looking forward to using this set regularly when I pick it back up in a couple weeks.
lftTUCP.jpeg

BP3NEeh.jpeg

w8Il10A.jpeg

91EDofp.jpeg

w20jEmQ.jpeg

UOV1XW1.jpeg


Unfortunately, it seems my video host isn't integrated here (imgur), but if you click the top link you can see the album with videos of the first successful powerup and how it sounds.

I go pick both cabs up at the end of the month and I can't wait! I learned a lot just from spending a weekend with my friend being his extra set of hands and eyes.
Click to expand...

Very nice! Welcome and congrats!
edit - careful with your mom's record collection with the Collaro turntable. IIRC it runs the arm at 2 or 3 grams.
 
bobabode said:
Very nice! Welcome and congrats!
edit - careful with your mom's record collection with the Collaro turntable. IIRC it runs the arm at 2 or 3 grams.
Click to expand...

Huh! I’ll mention it to my buddy. In any case I know he rebalanced the table, got a new cartridge (for $50!!!) and even fixed the 10 record changer which also required balancing. New drive wheels in as well!

that said…I’ll test some yard sale trash vinyl before I put Led Zeppelin 1 on the table
 
NattyBDC said:
Huh! I’ll mention it to my buddy. In any case I know he rebalanced the table, got a new cartridge (for $50!!!) and even fixed the 10 record changer which also required balancing. New drive wheels in as well!

that said…I’ll test some yard sale trash vinyl before I put Led Zeppelin 1 on the table
Click to expand...

There you go. Really nice score getting the companion speaker. Your friend is a friend indeed.

I'm jamming some old Jefferson Airplane thru my '57 Magnavox bi-amped 150s at the moment.
 
bobabode said:
There you go. Really nice score getting the companion speaker. Your friend is a friend indeed.

I'm jamming some old Jefferson Airplane thru my '57 Magnavox bi-amped 150s at the moment.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Music has always been a big part of my life, but I’m finally at a point where I can invest in something better than cheap plastic crap that I grew up with in the late 80s/early 90s. The fact that it had a family history is even cooler, and now it’s had a bunch of TLC and is ready for another half century of enjoyment.

a couple more things I’d like to note: if you look at the gallery, we replaced a lot of resistors- but many were still well within their original tolerance. Good manufacturing, that!

the other thing my buddy pointed out is that a couple years after this make the turntable manufacture contract with magnavox switched from Collero to a much inferior make from the US. Can’t recall the name right now…

Jefferson Airplane is great! I’m biding my time to listen to all this sweet stuff like Jethro Tull, LZ, Stevie Wonder on these tubes…I was born in the wrong times
 
NattyBDC said:
Yeah. Music has always been a big part of my life, but I’m finally at a point where I can invest in something better than cheap plastic crap that I grew up with in the late 80s/early 90s. The fact that it had a family history is even cooler, and now it’s had a bunch of TLC and is ready for another half century of enjoyment.

a couple more things I’d like to note: if you look at the gallery, we replaced a lot of resistors- but many were still well within their original tolerance. Good manufacturing, that!

the other thing my buddy pointed out is that a couple years after this make the turntable manufacture contract with magnavox switched from Collero to a much inferior make from the US. Can’t recall the name right now…

Jefferson Airplane is great! I’m biding my time to listen to all this sweet stuff like Jethro Tull, LZ, Stevie Wonder on these tubes…I was born in the wrong times
Click to expand...

Saw them at William and Mary Hall back in the early '70s. There may have been some Orange Sunshine involved. (grin)

Lot's of us Magnavox owners here at Audio Karma and a huge reservoir of talent regarding Tube amplification. Good to see you honoring your uncle. He's probably tapping his foot somewhere up there.
 
bobabode said:
Saw them at William and Mary Hall back in the early '70s. There may have been some Orange Sunshine involved. (grin)

Lot's of us Magnavox owners here at Audio Karma and a huge reservoir of talent regarding Tube amplification. Good to see you honoring your uncle. He's probably tapping his foot somewhere up there.
Click to expand...

so I’m going to see Little Feat reprise their Waiting for Columbus tour next weekend. That also is in the collection my MIL gifted me. I’ll probably get the reissue at the concert so I don’t use the OG vinyl too much .
And yeah, my great uncle knew his way around this amp I’d say. There were a few basic modifications and besides that he worked as a telephone lineman before working his way up the phone company ranks, so wires and electricity wouldn’t have scared him, hah.

thank you for all the positive feedback! I’m picking up a pair of very good condition pioneer can style headphones from the 70s tomorrow, so I’ll be fully ready to roll when the cabs come home! I think jazz is also going to sound phenomenal on this set.
 
Dswankey said:
^ Agreed!!!

@NattyBDC were you able to test the original tubes? I say this because they are probably fine.
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Yes in addition to the bent pins at least one was no longer functional. All in all I’m happy with our decision to go with all new tubes, and doubly happy we bought last fall!
 
NattyBDC said:
so I’m going to see Little Feat reprise their Waiting for Columbus tour next weekend. That also is in the collection my MIL gifted me. I’ll probably get the reissue at the concert so I don’t use the OG vinyl too much .
And yeah, my great uncle knew his way around this amp I’d say. There were a few basic modifications and besides that he worked as a telephone lineman before working his way up the phone company ranks, so wires and electricity wouldn’t have scared him, hah.

thank you for all the positive feedback! I’m picking up a pair of very good condition pioneer can style headphones from the 70s tomorrow, so I’ll be fully ready to roll when the cabs come home! I think jazz is also going to sound phenomenal on this set.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reminder about the Little Feat tour, NattyBDC. Just booked tickets for the LA show in August.
 
Honestly even 3-5 grams won't bother things if the stylus is in good condition. 2-3 certainly will not. Records are not nearly as delicate as people make them out to be. Running north of 1 gram tracking force is not going to peel the vinyl out in piles of dust, never to be playable again.
 
gadget73 said:
Honestly even 3-5 grams won't bother things if the stylus is in good condition. 2-3 certainly will not. Records are not nearly as delicate as people make them out to be. Running north of 1 gram tracking force is not going to peel the vinyl out in piles of dust, never to be playable again.
Click to expand...

That's my feeling as well, especially as it's been recently calibrated with a brand new cartridge.

9 more days until I head to Philly to hang out for the weekend, listen to tunes, and bring this baby home! I got a sweet Wes Montgomery album last weekend for $7 that I can't wait to hear on this.

Oh, my friend made one more small modification. Added another switch and an external small tube amp for headphones. We felt it was the best available solution. Everything with that sits right next to the bluetooth receiver and switch already pictured.

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PS: I was going through my father in law's old setup. He had an insanely good Yamaha PF 800 TT and an NAD 7150. Now that I'm a little more comfortable with trying my hand at audio stuff, I'm going to see about getting some speakers and setting that up in the living room for my wife - she and her Dad were very close. As far as I can tell, all they really need is some compressed air and a little TLC with deoxit and a q-tip or something. It'll eventually need recapping, but I'd bet the farm it still works perfectly fine for now. Anyway...this hobby seems addicting, and I'm like, not even a novice yet! :D
 
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