magnavox console and matching aux speaker...

[marty59]

Mine came with two different 12" and a horn on one channel, and on the other it has a 15" and a different horn. Same amp topology, but different model number with different crossover caps.

My maggie is just the 2-twelve one horn setup too (bi-amp). One 12 is a lower freq. and the other more of a mid. If they are in parallel most likely 8ohm each. Some of you have a 15 and a twelve. Here's some part numbers if you want to verify what you have. 583660 low/woff....583641 mid/woff. late 50's-early 60's.
I only have the one cabinet....

 

[Saratoga48]

After listening to these at a louder volume today (didn't get them set up until late last night, Neighbors) I've decided that they sound quite nice although there is a light buzzing from one of the 15" woofers when it hits certain notes. I guess I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for a beat up old console with similar woofers, or I was contemplating some that I have laying around...I'll want to make sure that I'm not going to throw the impedance way off. It's really not bad enough to warrant a lot of work until I can find the right drivers. All of the others are definitely functioning, both channels are equal volume, everything seems quite nice.

I have read many posts here at AK about the benefits of a recap and I will definitely be giving it a shot. I should be able to search around and get all the details figured out.

My real problem with these, and what's making me actually consider parting them out, is that they stink. I mean they really smell bad. The guy I bought them from lived one street over from a Tyson chicken processing plant, when I went to pick them up you could definitely tell how close it was from the smell. I have to figure out how to get rid of the smell or they will have to go. I've had other consoles that stank before, its hard to describe the smell but its definitely not pleasent. I can't decide if this is the same smell as the other consoles, the chicken plant smell, or a molotav cocktail of both. I think I'll start by blowing all the dust out and maybe a bit of febreeze on the grilles.

I've got these set up about 20 feet apart at 45 degree angles pointing directly at my listening area. Imaging is good, stereo seperation is excellent, I am overall quite pleased with my purchase and will be looking around Tube Audio for some easy mods and ideas. Thanks for everyones input.

Reminds me of a business trip I took to Rogers Arkansas about 10 years ago.
I booked the hotel online not knowing the area, and ended up between a TYSON processing plant and a JB Hunt truck terminal a few miles south of Rogers. The smell from each side was overwhelming to say the least. The 2nd night was at a hotel a very long way away from that plant.
I grew up on a chicken farm and cant stand the smell, of chicken. I dont eat it and dont want to be around it so for me it was the trip from hell.

 

[kydog]

Well I'm a bit dissapointed. After removing the back from the auxilary speaker I noticed that the speakers inside don't match the main unit. Instead of the 5" and 4" tweeters it has two small 4"? tweeters. The magnet assemblies on these are much smaller than the highs in the main console and they're wired differently. I wonder what kind of difference this will make in the sound between the two? Really though I would have never known the difference just listening to them, they sound like a match pair. Oh well.

When I cleaned the outsides of the cabinets the nastiest looking layer of what I would think was cigarette smoke stain came off, I would say that this was causing it to stink, I blew all the dust out of the inside and wiped everything down really well. Febreeze on the grilles and boxes of baking soda in each cabinet. Hopefully in a few days the smell will wear off.

Congrats on your Maggie. It's looks like mine but I have horn (12") tweets and 15" drivers in both. I don't believe you will hear much differance in sound.
The top sliders on the TT & Amp side are indeed glass!!

 

[gadget73]

My maggie is just the 2-twelve one horn setup too (bi-amp). One 12 is a lower freq. and the other more of a mid. If they are in parallel most likely 8ohm each. Some of you have a 15 and a twelve. Here's some part numbers if you want to verify what you have. 583660 low/woff....583641 mid/woff. late 50's-early 60's.
I only have the one cabinet....

Mine had the aux cabinet to make the turntable stereo. It was an optional upgrade item. The main cabinet is long gone, I was given the parts only. The aux speaker is still intact though. It would have looked pretty much identical to the one that kydog posted, but mine has the bi-amp arrangement. The speakers are in parallel, probably configured as a low and a mid as yours is.

 

[spaceman]

I have the matching sized cabs like the aux cab kydog posted, called the Modern Concerto. I've been playing with the baffles a little, trying to match up drivers, but finally went with different 15"s & Altec 811-Bs sitting on top. If I make new baffles & reinforce the cabs, I'll be able to mount the horns on the baffle too. Mine was the victim of a liquid spill, the preamp & TT weren't worth messing with, but I still have the 175 amp to play with later.

 

[Saratoga48]

Congrats on your Maggie. It's looks like mine but I have horn (12") tweets and 15" drivers in both. I don't believe you will hear much differance in sound.
The top sliders on the TT & Amp side are indeed glass!!

Same one I have, with the bi-amped 182

 

[BransonAuct]

Well guys...after playing with these for awhile and using them as a stereo home theatre setup I became more and more satisfied. They sound very clean, stereo seperation is amazing and gets comments from all my pals. I keep hearing "it sound's just like headphones" when playing dark side of the moon or old, scratchy, garage sale Cream.

After using the internal amp for awhile and finally deciding that one channel was weak, I thought it would probably be best to stop using the amp until I could recap/restore it some. So, I simply wired up my spare marantz 2220b and WOW. The tube amp just isn't in good enough shape to make these play to their fullest potential, the Marantz brought them alive. I was wondering, what do you think the power rating on something like these would be? For those that haven't been following the thread each cab has a 15", a 12", and two high frequency drivers.

The reason I ask is because the bass begins to distort at higher volumes. I really think my volume is limited by the 2220b but want to make sure I won't damage the speakers with more power. I'm not playing rap or anything like that but if i go more than maybe 12 oclock on the marantz, loudness off, the bass becomes real muddy. I am familiar with a woofer bottoming out from being overpowered but I kind of think the reciever is the source of my distortion, just looking for input from others who may have more experience.

Thanks guys, you have proven to be a valuable and reliable source of information about these consoles.

 

[markus]

best thing you could do is limit the super low subbass frequencies going to the Magnavox speakers - say anything below 50 or 60 Hz - ideally with a electronic crossover. Added benefit is they'll handle more juice before distorting :yes:

I do this with my open baffle setup, and it really allows the speakers to play the frequencies they're best at. feed that low signal to a dedicated subwoofer (or some Karlson K-15's like me ) and you'll be lovin' it :thmbsp:

 

[Urizen]

Beautiful consoles, fellas.

To the OP, that Magnificent amp is well worth restoring.

 

[DaWoofer]

Very nice indeed! You have been given some solid advice concerning this beautiful outfit.

 

[GordonW]

Bransonauct, if you can't get satisfaction with your existing woofers, PM me... I think I still have a pair of those 15" woofers here somewhere.

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[Phototone]

The original Magnavox amp probably put out about 10 watts RMS per channel, and it would be less if there were old leaky caps in it.

 

[gadget73]

I'd say original power rating is closer to 20 watts. Its a push-pull parallel setup. PP 6v6 is good for about 10 watts, put them in parallel and you're in the 15-20w neighborhood, which is right about what a Marantz 2220b is rated for I think. I'd be willing to wager you have a combination of bad capacitors and probably some weak tubes from use with those dead caps. Overhaul those amps and you'd be surprised at what they will do. Power isn't everything either. Those speakers were built to be sensitive, so they make a lot of sound without really high power levels.

 

[Phototone]

If its push-pull parallel from 4 6v6 I will concur to be 15-20w depending on the output transformer.

 

[paulorr1]

The OP's amp is stereo and about 10watts per channel MUSIC Power (whatever that means). The PPP 6V6 amps that are mono blocks (AMP132 or 142 for example) are 20watts MUSIC power and use a 300024-1 output transformer at approx 4ohms.

 

[Phototone]

The OP's amp is stereo and about 10watts per channel MUSIC Power (whatever that means). The PPP 6V6 amps that are mono blocks (AMP132 or 142 for example) are 20watts MUSIC power and use a 300024-1 output transformer at approx 4ohms.

Music power is an inflated rating, kinda like "Peak" power.

 

[paulorr1]

Music power is an inflated rating, kinda like "Peak" power.

Yep, but I've never seen an actual definition of MUSIC power which is the term Magnavox used in the fifties for their power outputs. When you consider the 6V6 dissipation of 5 watts then a 20 watt 4 tube amp is kinda pushing the output if the wattage is real. I don't really worry about it since virtually all my Amps are 6V6 Maggies the numbers are all relative to each other. I do have one nice EL84 (I think....have to look again)) no name generic amp out of a console I scavenged and my Scott 299.

 

[Scuzzer]

When you consider the 6V6 dissipation of 5 watts then a 20 watt 4 tube amp is kinda pushing the output if the wattage is real.

But max plate dissipation on a 6V6 is 14 watts. The conservatively designed 142 PPP 6V6 amp puts out 20 actual real watts and they could have pushed the envelope and gotten even more out of them.

Depending on how they're set up a single PP pair should put out 10-14 watts.

 

[paulorr1]

But max plate dissipation on a 6V6 is 14 watts. The conservatively designed 142 PPP 6V6 amp puts out 20 actual real watts and they could have pushed the envelope and gotten even more out of them.

Depending on how they're set up a single PP pair should put out 10-14 watts.

My VERY VERY bad! I really had 5 watts in my head when I wrote that but you are 100% correct. I still question their rating though as I have an original owners manual that stated 20 Watts Music Power which is still undefined. You'd think with all my knowledge I might have actually CHECKED the power output once but I never have.

 

[Scuzzer]

I own one and I've tested it. The 142 puts out 20 (poorly named) RMS watts. Why Magnavox used music power I don't know. If it was used for a PP pair of 6V6 it would make sense though.