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Replacing Speaker Screw Terminals + Phono Input Interference

artsybob

artsybob

Active Member
I've really been enjoying my Realistic SAF-40D tube integrated amp over the past four years, however the worst part of the amp's design, and that of most other amps of the 1960's, is that I hate the tiny speaker screw terminals on the back. It makes plugging the speaker cables in a huge chore every time I do it! Has anyone else upgraded the speaker terminals on the back of your tube amp/receiver? Is this something doable on a 1960's Japanese tube amp?
Also lately I've been getting some staticky interference on the phono setting and I've been trying to figure out what's causing it. I'm still a relative newbie when it comes to tube equipment and I'm trying to figure out if it's the turntable wires being too close to the other wires, a bad tube or some other issue. Has anyone else experienced something like this? Thanks!
 
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Mounting spade terminals on the cables will make the screw terminals function better. Personally i think this is a better approach then changing to "banana plug" connectors as they can get loose with bad things happens with open outputs.
 
I have replaced the old style speaker terminal strips with nice single row barrier terminal blocks. Keeps them from shorting together. You still want to use fork lugs with them for convenience and certainty of the connection with no loose strands hanging about.
John
 
The 'staticky" sound in your phono stage could be a bad tube or an aging, noisy resistor. Try swapping some different tubes into the phono stage. If that doesn't help you may need to replace some components. Is it in once channel or both channels?
 
zackthedog said:
The 'staticky" sound in your phono stage could be a bad tube or an aging, noisy resistor. Try swapping some different tubes into the phono stage. If that doesn't help you may need to replace some components. Is it in once channel or both channels?
Click to expand...
I should get another 12AX7 or two in order to test it out!
 
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