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New to tube audio. Looking for pointers

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Donnie2112

New Member
Hi everyone!

I am just getting into hifi audio and I have some problems to solve.

Background: I have some custom built cabinets. My grandfather built them in 1958 when he was stationed in England. They are loaded with the original Goodmans speakers and XO. The XO points are 950/5000 on the Goodmans ARU, already checked for electrolytic caps, none there so I’m planning on pressing with what my grandfather had there. The speakers are Audiom 60, the Midax horn, and Trebax tweeter. One of the tweeters is inop right now, no continuity when I test with a multi-meter. I have not yet torn apart these enormous teak cabs to diagnose. I will need to figure that out, worst case I have a pair of tweeters to replace.

Any suggestions on good tweeter replacements?

I liked the way the operating speaker sounded when I ran it mono with a Scott 299, but it was mono and the stereo field wasn’t there so it’s hard to tell.

Currently my plan is to have my amp guy, Lee Lipman at Electron Addicts in Papillion, NE, restore a Scott 222C for me. I think it’s a good match, any suggestions for customizations I should ask for during the resto process? Upgraded power chord or something else? Already changing to a diode rectifier.

I can still get out of this amp deal, are there any other amps or receivers I should be looking at? Kind of wanted to be era correct but it does not have to be. Seriously considering a tricked out 80s Yamaha too.

My ultimate plan is to have the Scott amplifier, a tuner of unknown brand, a Project DC Carbon (Grado cart), and a Bluesound Node2 for Tidal as sources. I’ll also probably get some sort of graphic EQ mainly for room tuning, and I’ll be upgrading all the speaker wire to transparent zero oxygen.


Any generalized suggestions or answers to the questions I have would be appreciated
 
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Donnie, if I was in your shoes I would try and find out the sensitivity of the speakers before settling on an amp.
 
You're right at the edge of a very deep rabbit hole. Hang on tight.

A true vintage system sounds fun. Why not? The Scott sounds fine and is probably period correct. There will likely be a lot of "personality" to the sound of that system. Go for it!
 
mkane said:
Donnie, if I was in your shoes I would try and find out the sensitivity of the speakers before settling on an amp.
Click to expand...


So, can you be a little more specific? I would think they are pretty efficient considering horn mid, tweeter, big folded horn box, and 15 ohm impedance. Also the era was generally filled with efficient speakers right?

I hooked them up to a lower powered Scott 299 (A? Did it have an A or was the first one just a 299?), that would make about 3 fewer watts than the 222C and they were louder than I would want to regularly listen when I turned them up.

Is there any other reason I would want to do this?
 
You have something built back in ‘58 and have you checked all the solder joints to see if any are cracked ??? Has the Scott been gone through and checked out to be in good condition ???
 
Djcoolray said:
You have something built back in ‘58 and have you checked all the solder joints to see if any are cracked ??? Has the Scott been gone through and checked out to be in good condition ???
Click to expand...

The Scott has been restored.

As for the speaker cabs, no. I have not completely taken them apart yet. The one cabinet plays and sounds ok, I also get continuity and resistance reads with a multi-meter when I check all three of the leads.

Mid and bass read good on the defective cab, but the tweeter gets no continuity.

Planning on taking both cabs apart, hoping the tweeter is not blown and there is just some broken wire some where.
 
I'd probably try shopping for a single tweeter of the original type. No idea if its an impossible to find item or not. Either way for replacements you'd want to try and dig up some basic specs on what is there to match it up. Assuming of course it is actually bad and not just a connection issue. Not being at all familiar wit that tweeter, I have fixed tweeters with broken internal lead wires before. Its like soldering human hair, and not all of them are constructed in a way that lets you actually do anything inside. The ones I fixed were horn tweets from a pair of Pioneer speakers. The coil wires on those bend around a piece of cardboard and it broke right at the bend.

If these were built in the late 50s, they're likely fairly efficient and will do OK with a dozen watts or so. A 222c should be fine.
 
A good set of efficient speakers and a scott tube amp, is a system I could be happy with for the rest of my life. There are always going to be bigger better amps and speakers. What you have sounds as good or better than most of em. Bonus points awarded for ease of service, and good looks.
 
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