Silvertone-what is this?

[Yankee Dog]

Picked this up yesterday. Paid $20 for it. It works. Does have a weak channel (left speaker is louder than right) but have not had any fun with deox-it yet. Hopefully that is the cause of the weak channel (about 15% weaker in sound).

I am a tube newbie, but have been doing alot of reading. I feel comfortable with cleaning it up, removing it from the cabinet, adding rca jacks for aux input, speaker terminals, and building a new tuner face plate and finally enclosing it in a smaller shelf top cabinet. This does not look like any amps I have seen while reading here or on the net. It's a silvertone am-fm-phonograph stereo console model 30761. It does have a mpx/tape input (right, left, common) and a mpx out (single rca connector). It also has a "reverb" socket? Not sure what that is?

It does have point to point wiring and a circuit board. It sounds good with no hum, uses a 12ax7a, and 6bq5 each for main audio and stereo audio output. Reception is good with just a short wire dipole (factory). Sorry, it's bad pic. Tried to get a pic of the layout sheet, but the camera will not give me a good photo of it. It also has coaxial speakers.

Not to sure what I am going to do with it yet, but, the cabinet/console has got to go. Wanted to run it by you folks here before I really tore into it. Should I keep looking or can I make this into something? I was really hoping I could clean it up, build a small case, and maybe tie in a tape deck or cd player. Just to get my feet wet with tubes. Thanks, YD

 

[terryblulite]

:thmbsp:I kinda like it.Sure like to see the speakers,though.Coax? pics,please!:yes:
I'm not the one to say much about the unit- Like who made it-Possible it was built to label as Silvertone.I have a Silvertone PA head that I'm thinkin' the chassis was built by Valco or Supro,or something like that to sell in the department stores.I bet some of the folks here can give you the lowdown on this one.

Also,is the cabinet as nice as the photo shows?

 

[WattUsay]

Sears Silvertone: 1915-1972
http://www.searsarchives.com/brands/silvertone.htm

 

[radiotvnut]

Look at the chassis number. The first three digits before the period will indicate the maker. 528 will be Warwick Electronics. 132 will be Arvin. These were the two major players for Sears Silvertone radios and stereos.

 

[Yankee Dog]

Thanks! The chasis number is 528. Found a photofacts for $5 bucks, and will have that in 4 or 5 days. Meanwhile, I am cleaning it up.

I will pull the speakers today and take a pic. When I said coax, I can only assume as there is a second set of speaker wires that run under the cone area of the large (15 inch without measuring) speakers. I don't see a second set of speakers mounted, so I am guessing they have a smaller one mounted under the larger one. Will soon find out.

The cabinet is clean, nothing nasty to the wood. Some minor scuffs, but no chips, no cracks, no dings. However, I had no plans to use the cabinet. I was even thinking of cutting it up to make a new shelf top cabinet for the amp/tuner section. Maybe I shouldn't?

Finally, have been reading about the weak channel, and I can't really do anything till I clean up the control pots and such, but, anything else I can do to check that out?

No leaky caps. It has alot of the quarter sized disc caps, only two cardboard caps. As a matter of fact, I'll post a pic of the underside when I post a pic of the speakers.

I looked at that sears website earlier, thanks for the link. Nothing came up using the chasis number of 528.5448 2 Thanks again, YD

 

[Yankee Dog]

OK, here is a pic of the tube layout. The actual tube layout sticker is pasted on the inside of the cabinet and it won't come off, so I guess this is the next best thing.

I managed to temporarily install a couple of rca jacks into the "multiplex input" wires, connected a junk FM tuner and that works well. So at least I have an "aux in" feature.

The speakers are not really a coax, just a small tweeter underneath the large woofer. Removed one of the speakers and found a 3 or 4 inch speaker installed (factory) underneath with a 4uf cap.

Cleaned all the switches and pots, and still have the balance issue, but it did seem to eliminate the noise when moving the knobs. I have had it running in the garage for about 3 hours now.

Curious about the "reverb socket & plug" as seen on the tube layout. Anyone know what it's function is?

Anyways, I am having fun messing with this thing. Sounds pretty good with a pair of ratty minimus 7's, but the power is not all that great on this thing. Just can't bring myelf to hook up the heresy II's to this unit. Don't want to mess them up, but I am curious how they would sound. YD

 

[solidjackson]

Does this console have true stereo? I've got a similar Silvertone model (has an extra 6bq5) that splits the tone between both sides for a faux stereo effect. The tuning section is the same.

It's got great sound and good bass. Unfortunately, the record player is nothing to write home about when playing 78rpm discs.

 

[Sansui Louie]

Nice score. Silvertone stuff is pretty cool. I love their tube guitar amps.

 

[Yankee Dog]

Does this console have true stereo? I've got a similar Silvertone model (has an extra 6bq5) that splits the tone between both sides for a faux stereo effect. The tuning section is the same.

It's got great sound and good bass. Unfortunately, the record player is nothing to write home about when playing 78rpm discs.

Yes as far as my ears can tell. I do hear good separation. I currently have the minimus 7's about 10 feet apart and it sounds to me like "real stereo". Sounds nice as long as I don't play it real loud, but I guess thats what my other equipment is for.

I plan on scrapping the cabinet. Actually using the wood to make a smaller enclosure for the amp and tuner section only. Basically box it in. Probably a stand up model (like how a computer tower stands on the short side) instead of a lay flat model. That way I can use the existing dial plate. The plate is an up down style instead of a left to right stye, and it is in good shape. It cleaned up nicely. So I could just reuse that, install the aux input jacks, antenna connection point (probably a 75 ohm terminal), nice grounded 3 prong AC power cord, and make sure I keep good ventilation in mind.

Sure I have other bugs to clear up like bulbs, maybe some tube rolling at some point, who knows, I bought it to learn and to play with. So far I am only out $20 for the stereo and $6 for the photofact.

If I am destroying something that I should not be, then somebody stop me now, otherwise the saws and router are gonna get some use tonight. YD

 

[ke4mcl]

looks japanese to me. has that japanese gold color to the chassis. i think id scrap the cabinet and rework the chassis to make it just an amp.

 

[SOTA]

Sounds pretty good with a pair of ratty minimus 7's, but the power is not all that great on this thing.

With those EL34/6BQ5 pentodes running as single end outputs you have about 5wpc class A:thmbsp: but its hard to say how they are biased without a schematic.

J.R.

 

[gadget73]

Thats not true stereo. I see no multiplex tube in that parts layout. Its also got input and output to an external mpx adapter, which is a clue the set doesn't have it built in. Its very possible this unit has the MPX decoder installed in the cabinet, but its not on the main chassis.

 

[orthophonic]

Your Silvertone is a 1961 Model, i found it in one of my old catalogues. It is american made by warwick.
The Phono is stereo but the FM is not unless it has the optional mpx decoder.
The plug for the reverb was for an optional spring reverb unit,
these were very popular in the early 60's with names like reverbasonic and reverbasound.
The record changer is made by crescent and has decent performance when upgraded to a modern magnetic cartridge.

 

[klama2006]

I still run a 48 silverstone for my AM Talk sports radio enjoyment.

 

[DaLarry]

Do I hear an echo??

Curious about the "reverb socket & plug" as seen on the tube layout. Anyone know what it's function is?

I have one of those reverb units which plugs into the receiver in a beautiful old Grundig Console of mine. Back in the day stereo didn't hit all at once for all sources. The manufacturers of the day would finesse it with these reverb units to give a faux stereo effect. Heck, for the most part, we didn't know what we were supposed to be hearing then. My Grundig has a stereo phono and a jack for a stereo RTR, but a mono FM tuner. It was made for the European market which hadn't adopted multiplex stereo at the time. The models made for the US did have FM Mpx. The reverb sounds pretty cheesy and I disconnected it.

 

[Yankee Dog]

OK, have been out of town and too busy to "play" with this unit. I did get the photofacts in the mail, and I have been studying it with my very limited knowledge base in electronics.

I could swear I heard real stereo when I had another stereo fm tuner connected to the "MPX in" leads. This would explain my hearing "true stereo" when I had it playing in the garage all day. Correct me if I am wrong in this assumption. I do understand that it's own fm tuner section is not "real stereo"

As suggested by a previous post, I have decided to remove the tuner section and just use the amp section (since it is not real fm stereo). I will be posting a thread on the removal, hopefully sometime today.

Thanks to all who have posted the above information, it is a big help. Now I am going back to the photofacts and study, then post questions on how to remove the tuner section without messing up the amp section. Thanks, YD

 

[bronco]

My restored Silvertone console amp. Sounds very nice after upgrading the ceramic audio circuit caps and replacing the quad capacitor.

 

[Yankee Dog]

My restored Silvertone console amp. Sounds very nice after upgrading the ceramic audio circuit caps and replacing the quad capacitor.

That is very nice! That is what I hope to acheive with this silvertone. I just posted a new thread on tuner removal, and when I eventually get that done, I would like to work on getting this one cleaned up, and then work on the improvements you mention. I would like to hear more about it, but I am not even past the tuner removal part yet.

Thanks for posting the pic. Mind if I keep a copy of it? Thanks, YD