@9:08 "Obviously this is not the permanent hook up". I had an engineering job some years ago where a ""Vice President & Chief Operating Officer" saw a similar setup I had going on a prototype mock-up. I was taking measurements, scoping waveforms etc. This brilliant "C Suite" executive goes "What kind of Mickey Mouse pile of rubbish is that? No one's going to buy instrumentation equipment that looks like that. Wires everywhere, mounted on a sheet of Hollywood, voltmeters hooked up to it ! No wonder sales are in the toilet"! (Surprised he even knew what a meter looked like). I said, "This is not a production unit. It's an R&D development prototype. Here's what the final version will look like" (I showed him the graphic artwork). He goes, "Ooohh"!
Thanks for showing the schematic at the end. I was able to get a usable screen shot for the amp. BTW, I'll bet that AC motor will likely still be playing decades after a modern one has worn out.
If there is too much gain in the added Pre-Amp how about removing the 10 micro Farad source bypass capacitor?We could instead tailor the gain by putting different value resistors in series with this capacitor.We could even make the gain variable by putting a potentiometer as a variable resistor in series with this capacitor.
There seems enough room for a Class A amp based on a long-tailed pair using BD131 transistors driving 2x Motorola 2N3055 Metal cased power transistors would give a nice clean sound akin to that of a Vacuum tube amp.
Nice, and thanks for mentioning the Show 'N Tell. I have my GE Show 'N Tell that has an original cartridge with a screw-type needle, it sounds fine, but I don't have to replace the cartridge, so I have to leave it alone. I made a demonstration of that on my channel.
@Michael Beeny I think they're going for staying as close to 1972 technology as possible. An MPF102 FET is period correct as my 1970 Nivico console's amplifier has 1 in each channel as well as 1 in the FM front end.
Greetings: The speed select lever looks very much like the lever from another unit that has NEUTRAL between 45 and 33 rpm settings. Is that true for this unit as well? Now that you have adjusted the pot to set the drain resistor value; can a replacement resistor of a near standard value be used instead of the pot?
13:49 A half wave rectifier, when silicon diodes (guessing at 1972 prices) were about 5 cents a piece in bulk? That was a more eloquent a way of saying "we don't really care" than any words could convey.
I had the 1977 version of this and it sounded terrible. The tone arm shaft was loose in there and cartridge tracked at an offcenter angle, as well as would scrape against the edge of a 12 inch record. It also skipped on most things, especially things with a lot of bass. The minimal volume was also really loud. I couldn't turn volume completely down.The one thing that's always cool is that you can always make something decent out of almost anything.
Hey radiotvphononut. I purchased a new made ronnette copy that is stereo (4 pins). I've got it set up in a vintage Pye British radiogram and it's tracking and sounding good. Did I do right in buying the stereo version? The Pye unit is mono but I've wired the cartridge in series so it gives a loud mono volume. They do a mono cartridge repro but I was worried that it is not stereo record compatibles. Have you any experience in this modern cartridge? This is why I went with the stereo one to be on the safe side :)
I thought of that, but thought that it could possibly make a nice oscillator if you're not careful. I also thought of a JFET and high voltage BJT cascode that could run from the plate supply. Simulates well, but we all know about simulations...
1:40 How about wire wrap and super glue? If you could get a roll of gold-plated wire for such things, it could work. The leads could literally be lashed to the pins. I think this was actually used in the computer industry for prototypes at one point.
personally i'd say a grid resistor of 270k or 220k would be better as any grid emission would have less effect... have you ever tried using an enhancement mode mosfet such as 2N7000 or BS170 instead of a depletion type like the mpf102, wired source direct to ground, 4.7meg ish gate resistor to drain, rest as above, so giving semi self stabilising bias, so maybe no dc bias adjustment needed?, maybe adding resistor in series with the gate input to adjust gain to suit?
Why can't you just increase the gain on the amp? Which components would you need to change to get more gain? Or maybe you'd have to change the tube? Not trying to be a jerk. Just trying to understand.
I need to do a "Break my Kindlefire on my driveway". P.O.S changed Plywood to Hollywood. Autocorrect is TURNED THE F$#* OFF! Even as I type this the Kindle is slow and keeps stalling and freezing up.
In this age of ipods and phones. I would find it hard to beleave any child would listen to the really poor sound of such a record player. With very low cost class D chips available for about a dollar already on a Pcb with a volume pot which I'm sure will sound much better than that 3 transistor original. It will also run with about 500mV input with a 1 meg resistor to maintain a high impedance. for the crystal cartridge. Would make an interesting project one day.
Being a brushless motor, it has less parts that could possibly wear. And when the bearings start to get worn, you can still get a little bit of extra life out of them by getting them well soaked in oil.
Well sir you would be surprised in what a child would like. My son, which is 17 now, was really amazed by record players when he was like 11 years old. I bought him a General Electric kids record player off Ebay like one I had when I was a kid and he loved it. I found two of them and bought one of them for myself being that I had one exactly like it when I was a kid. It was a Christmas present for him at the time, he still has it and would not take anything for it. Sure he has a modern smart phone, video games and such, but he has a love for old technology also. What amazes me is both the one I bought for my son and the other one I bought are all original and they still work good. Those things were built back in like 1974 or 1975, sure they were cheap built little record players, but they lasted over the test of time. Buy a modern Crosley built in China and see if they last 40 or 41 years, I doubt it ! They both sound better than most of the Crosleys on the market also.
MisterTalkingMachine What got me interested in record players and vinyl records again was my son's fascination with record players when he was 11 years old. I had lost interest in records because of cheap BSR turntables that skipped like crazy and ones I owned made by Fisher that were made in the late 80s, they were cheap made junk. Back then I knew nothing about proper tracking force or cartridges. After buying a good quality Technics turntable that was made in the early 80s and learned about tracking force, cartridges and proper record care, I got into collecting records. Now I own 4 Technics turntables, a Califone school record player and a GE kids record player made back in the 70s like the one I had when I was a kid. I only play my good records on my direct drive Technics tracking at less than 2 grams, it is gentle on my good records and tracks very well even on warped records. That Technics rarely skips even on old worn out records, it only skips if there is grove damage to the record. The thing I would recommend is buying a good quality vintage turntable from the 70s or 80s, there were several good brand names made back then that were good quality. Those old turntables cost far less than buying a new audiofile turntable made today. I think paying three or four thousand dollars for a turntable is nuts. I would never recommend buying a stupid Crosley, they are cheap made crap made with slave labor in China. My GE kids record player made in the mid 70s is better quality than a Crosley and I would never play my good albums on it. record players and vinyl records is a good fun hobby, but don't go spending thousands of dollars on it. You can get good quality vintage equipment for far less money and you can't tell that much difference between a good quality direct drive Technics and the newest $4000 overpriced crap the stupid audiofiles buy. Also you do not need the high dollar record cleaning device and the expensive record cleaning chemicals. You can clean your records with Dawn dish washing liquid and a wet/dry record brush in the sink. Also dry them with lint free clothes you can buy at Walmart for a cheap price and let them air dry a while after to make sure they get dry in the groves.
I made my record player with $15. It has a BSR changer that makes it a bit prone to skip near the end of the record as I haven't got the time to take it to pieces and get it lubed. Mostly play 78's in it. I think I have only one or two LP's worth taking care of, the rest is all in rough shape, but still good enough for me.
Yeah, Chris is afraid to help me with my cutter....or its way beyond his knowlege.. Basicaly any record player has an amp in it, So basically a cutter is a record player with one extra function..so theyre all basically the same..
@9:08 "Obviously this is not the permanent hook up". I had an engineering job some years ago where a ""Vice President & Chief Operating Officer" saw a similar setup I had going on a prototype mock-up. I was taking measurements, scoping waveforms etc. This brilliant "C Suite" executive goes "What kind of Mickey Mouse pile of rubbish is that? No one's going to buy instrumentation equipment that looks like that. Wires everywhere, mounted on a sheet of Hollywood, voltmeters hooked up to it ! No wonder sales are in the toilet"! (Surprised he even knew what a meter looked like). I said, "This is not a production unit. It's an R&D development prototype. Here's what the final version will look like" (I showed him the graphic artwork). He goes, "Ooohh"!
Thanks for showing the schematic at the end. I was able to get a usable screen shot for the amp. BTW, I'll bet that AC motor will likely still be playing decades after a modern one has worn out.
If there is too much gain in the added Pre-Amp how about removing the 10 micro Farad source bypass capacitor?We could instead tailor the gain by putting different value resistors in series with this capacitor.We could even make the gain variable by putting a potentiometer as a variable resistor in series with this capacitor.
There seems enough room for a Class A amp based on a long-tailed pair using BD131 transistors driving 2x Motorola 2N3055 Metal cased power transistors would give a nice clean sound akin to that of a Vacuum tube amp.
I enjoy watching your videos, you make it easy to understand things.
Nice, and thanks for mentioning the Show 'N Tell. I have my GE Show 'N Tell that has an original cartridge with a screw-type needle, it sounds fine, but I don't have to replace the cartridge, so I have to leave it alone. I made a demonstration of that on my channel.
I enjoying the record players The Video's are teaching me a lot thank you😀😉That Rca TV 1977 was the year I was born great tv
Fuck yea! Knight Rider! I always watch that show while soldering stuff!
I'm saving this vid as a favorite so I can modify 1 tube wonders in the future, too! THANKS SO MUCH for posting this! Hope to hear from you someday!
@Michael Beeny I think they're going for staying as close to 1972 technology as possible. An MPF102 FET is period correct as my 1970 Nivico console's amplifier has 1 in each channel as well as 1 in the FM front end.
Greetings:
The speed select lever looks very much like the lever from another unit that has NEUTRAL between 45 and 33 rpm settings. Is that true for this unit as well?
Now that you have adjusted the pot to set the drain resistor value; can a replacement resistor of a near standard value be used instead of the pot?
Doesn't it work to use a heatsink clip on the cartridge pin when soldering the wires?
13:49 A half wave rectifier, when silicon diodes (guessing at 1972 prices) were about 5 cents a piece in bulk? That was a more eloquent a way of saying "we don't really care" than any words could convey.
Focou legal meu amigo! Rio Brasil
How do you adjust the speed on these Imperials, I have one where 33 is way to fast and the 16 speed is just a bit slow for 33,Thanks!
I had the 1977 version of this and it sounded terrible. The tone arm shaft was loose in there and cartridge tracked at an offcenter angle, as well as would scrape against the edge of a 12 inch record. It also skipped on most things, especially things with a lot of bass. The minimal volume was also really loud. I couldn't turn volume completely down.The one thing that's always cool is that you can always make something decent out of almost anything.
Hey radiotvphononut. I purchased a new made ronnette copy that is stereo (4 pins). I've got it set up in a vintage Pye British radiogram and it's tracking and sounding good. Did I do right in buying the stereo version? The Pye unit is mono but I've wired the cartridge in series so it gives a loud mono volume. They do a mono cartridge repro but I was worried that it is not stereo record compatibles. Have you any experience in this modern cartridge? This is why I went with the stereo one to be on the safe side :)
I had often thought about using the cathode voltage to power a preamp. They do it in tvs off the audio out tube why not this
I thought of that, but thought that it could possibly make a nice oscillator if you're not careful. I also thought of a JFET and high voltage BJT cascode that could run from the plate supply. Simulates well, but we all know about simulations...
+sporadic -Z Not in a series string set. Your "ground" reference will not be ground anymore.
that lp with the green label sounded like blk sabbath
1:40 How about wire wrap and super glue? If you could get a roll of gold-plated wire for such things, it could work. The leads could literally be lashed to the pins. I think this was actually used in the computer industry for prototypes at one point.
personally i'd say a grid resistor of 270k or 220k would be better as any grid emission would have less effect... have you ever tried using an enhancement mode mosfet such as 2N7000 or BS170 instead of a depletion type like the mpf102, wired source direct to ground, 4.7meg ish gate resistor to drain, rest as above, so giving semi self stabilising bias, so maybe no dc bias adjustment needed?, maybe adding resistor in series with the gate input to adjust gain to suit?
Modded well
What Black Sabbath song is that??
Why can't you just increase the gain on the amp? Which components would you need to change to get more gain? Or maybe you'd have to change the tube? Not trying to be a jerk. Just trying to understand.
well, I was going to leave a nice comment here, but seeing you never react to them, what the point!...
I need to do a "Break my Kindlefire on my driveway". P.O.S changed Plywood to Hollywood. Autocorrect is TURNED THE F$#* OFF! Even as I type this the Kindle is slow and keeps stalling and freezing up.
In this age of ipods and phones. I would find it hard to beleave any child would listen to the really poor sound of such a record player. With very low cost class D chips available for about a dollar already on a Pcb with a volume pot which I'm sure will sound much better than that 3 transistor original. It will also run with about 500mV input with a 1 meg resistor to maintain a high impedance. for the crystal cartridge. Would make an interesting project one day.
Being a brushless motor, it has less parts that could possibly wear. And when the bearings start to get worn, you can still get a little bit of extra life out of them by getting them well soaked in oil.
Well sir you would be surprised in what a child would like. My son, which is 17 now, was really amazed by record players when he was like 11 years old. I bought him a General Electric kids record player off Ebay like one I had when I was a kid and he loved it. I found two of them and bought one of them for myself being that I had one exactly like it when I was a kid. It was a Christmas present for him at the time, he still has it and would not take anything for it. Sure he has a modern smart phone, video games and such, but he has a love for old technology also.
What amazes me is both the one I bought for my son and the other one I bought are all original and they still work good. Those things were built back in like 1974 or 1975, sure they were cheap built little record players, but they lasted over the test of time. Buy a modern Crosley built in China and see if they last 40 or 41 years, I doubt it !
They both sound better than most of the Crosleys on the market also.
I got into phonographs when I was about 12 years old, right now I'm 19.
MisterTalkingMachine What got me interested in record players and vinyl records again was my son's fascination with record players when he was 11 years old. I had lost interest in records because of cheap BSR turntables that skipped like crazy and ones I owned made by Fisher that were made in the late 80s, they were cheap made junk. Back then I knew nothing about proper tracking force or cartridges. After buying a good quality Technics turntable that was made in the early 80s and learned about tracking force, cartridges and proper record care, I got into collecting records.
Now I own 4 Technics turntables, a Califone school record player and a GE kids record player made back in the 70s like the one I had when I was a kid. I only play my good records on my direct drive Technics tracking at less than 2 grams, it is gentle on my good records and tracks very well even on warped records. That Technics rarely skips even on old worn out records, it only skips if there is grove damage to the record.
The thing I would recommend is buying a good quality vintage turntable from the 70s or 80s, there were several good brand names made back then that were good quality. Those old turntables cost far less than buying a new audiofile turntable made today. I think paying three or four thousand dollars for a turntable is nuts. I would never recommend buying a stupid Crosley, they are cheap made crap made with slave labor in China. My GE kids record player made in the mid 70s is better quality than a Crosley and I would never play my good albums on it.
record players and vinyl records is a good fun hobby, but don't go spending thousands of dollars on it. You can get good quality vintage equipment for far less money and you can't tell that much difference between a good quality direct drive Technics and the newest $4000 overpriced crap the stupid audiofiles buy. Also you do not need the high dollar record cleaning device and the expensive record cleaning chemicals. You can clean your records with Dawn dish washing liquid and a wet/dry record brush in the sink. Also dry them with lint free clothes you can buy at Walmart for a cheap price and let them air dry a while after to make sure they get dry in the groves.
I made my record player with $15. It has a BSR changer that makes it a bit prone to skip near the end of the record as I haven't got the time to take it to pieces and get it lubed. Mostly play 78's in it. I think I have only one or two LP's worth taking care of, the rest is all in rough shape, but still good enough for me.
You can buy that cd on cdbaby.com
Yeah, Chris is afraid to help me with my cutter....or its way beyond his knowlege.. Basicaly any record player has an amp in it, So basically a cutter is a record player with one extra function..so theyre all basically the same..