Magnavox 6V6 monoblocks

[stanko]

Those are gonna be some nice sounding amplifiers. Magnavox made some excellent stuff in that era.

 

[stanko]

Cheap but not too shabby, sound wise! I've done the basics needed to make mine a stand alone unit, it's back on the bench for a complete going over and re-cap. I had it hooked up in my living room for the last few days, driving a pair of Time Windows of all things. While the Magie ran out of steam before the Time Windows were done looking for watts, at levels it could handle it sounded great!

I always looked at these amps as a novelty, something to play with, but with the correct speakers I could probably live with one for a long time! I'm looking forward to hearing it hooked up to those "horned" AKAI's I have, some may remember the thread on those.

I just bought a pair of Time Windows for my daughter. They are excellent.

 

[jaymanaa]

Right. I ran into this same issue on my circa 1960 Maggie console amp I am refurbishing. Mine has the elusive 6V6 single chassis quad amp in it (model number 8103-10, with separate bass and treble amps for each channel). It's got some EQ circuitry (basically speaker crossovers) on the frontend of the power amp!

Also, the preamp/AM/FM unit has no DC blocking capacitors coming off the outputs! Glad I noticed this as this would wreak havoc trying to use the preamp in another setup.

These amps can be killer on a bi-amped horn system. I used mine with the big JBL 7' folded bass horn, and an Altec 500 and 902 driver. The adjustments on the chassis make it easy to dial in.

 

[circlefx]

The one circled in red. Remove, replace with a good quality film cap and then toss the ceramic cap into the nearest trash can.

Well, it only took me a year to get back to it but I took your advice.

Before

After

A noticeable improvement in the sound. Now have to chase down a hum that sounds like a grounding issue. I am working on some other speaker projects including a couple of crossovers that I'm recapping. So, maybe next summer I'll recap these amps completely. I'm warming up to that project.

 

[derekva]

Well, it only took me a year to get back to it but I took your advice.

Before

After

A noticeable improvement in the sound. Now have to chase down a hum that sounds like a grounding issue. I am working on some other speaker projects including a couple of crossovers that I'm recapping. So, maybe next summer I'll recap these amps completely. I'm warming up to that project.

Hum is most likely the remaining caps that should be replaced (power supply caps, signal caps - basically any capacitor that shipped with the amplifier has outlived its lifespan). Also put a DMM on the resistors (especially any power resistors) and verify that they are within 10-20% of their rated value.

-D

 

[jmccanna]

I agree - the 12AX7 circuit is the way to go. I'd add a fuse too - 1/2A to 3/4A slo-blo in each.

I have the AMP169 schematic too, if you want it...

Hi,

James here. I just got a pair of AMP 169 BB mono blocks to refurbish. I have been looking for the schematic and wonder if the one you have is for the BB?

Thanks,