My fiance picked this up earlier this year. From what the seller told us, it's a '73 Magnavox all original. Still works just fine, but the sound leaves something to be desired for me. We have another cheap turntable hooked up to the 3.1 system in the living room, but this thing is just cool.
We want to leave the outside exactly how it is, but I want to upgrade all the internals so that it sounds much more modern. But I have absolutely no idea where to start, has anyone done/researched something like this before?
Magnavox had the market cornered in the early 70's for console stereos! That's the little brother of this thing:
TV, turntable, receiver, speakers, and an optional 8-track in one unit!
As far as swapping components, I'm assuming that's a solid-state unit, correct? Might be able to get away with a speaker upgrade, but not sure what else can be done aside from gutting the entire thing and starting from scratch. What's wrong with it now? Muddy sound, or a functionality problem?
That's rad!
Operates just fine, the only thing we did was put a fresh cheaper cartridge on it.
It's just, it's early-70s sound quality. No bass, no real bass or treble just kind of muddy midrange. I'm use to stuff at least from the last decade.
I was in the same boat. Loved the vintage, but one channel was inop, so I eventually gutted it, and simply screwed modern speakers in. 
The thing was those old consoles had tiny speakers, and I put the speakers and boxes in this thing, so I had to get creative with the head unit, CD, turntable, etc.
Basically, I fit stuff where I could, used plywood and black paint so it would all sort of blend in. Even drilled some holes, and mounted a light bulb in there for the heck of it. A garden variety power strip powers the whole mess.
I did spend the bucks on the turntable, and would recommend the same to anyone doing something similar. This is one of my prize possessions. Apologies for the fuzziness/redundancy of the photos.
j_tso
HalfDork
12/5/22 6:21 p.m.
The remnants of my dad's audio system lives in the corner of my dining room. It used to live in a stacked cabinet with glass top and front doors.
Pioneer PL-250 turntable with SA-410 amp
The auto return doesn't work but I've read on forums that it usually needs re-lubing. I need to make/find a cover for it.
In reply to wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) :
Thanks for the pics. You took it a little further I mainly just want to put a better cartridge in and upgrade the speakers and amp if it needs it.
In reply to j_tso :
I have a Pioneer PL-400 turntable that I bought in 1980. It sounds good even after all these years. The 80s and 90s gear hand good quality sound and durable build quality.
I have to figure out if I want to try and fix up a hand-me-down Philips 406 Automatic or go for something new. Leaning towards new but there's some sentimatal attachment going on... The platter got loose during a move and broke up a plastic bushing that centered the platter on the plate below that drives it. And it got a little scratched up. I almost need a parts 406...
z31maniac said:
In reply to wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) :
Thanks for the pics. You took it a little further I mainly just want to put a better cartridge in and upgrade the speakers and amp if it needs it.
New amp, new speakers, next new turntable. I think that that is exactly what he did except for the turntable which will be next. There's a reason people give those consoles away free. Any internal photos?
Edit: For a new amp, I am a big believer in old obsolete Yamaha A/V receivers. Look for one with a turntable input or else you have to get a pre-amp to hook up the TT to the Amp. They are pretty cheap, super rugged, and have great low distortion. I have bought 7 of them for the 7 a/v setups I have created.
Here is one as a quick example with TT phono inputs and 95 W (8 ohms, 0.06% THD), plenty to power most any speakers. It also has HDMI inputs along with optic digital inputs. Doesn't come with a remote which makes it useless forcing you have to also buy one of those:
Ebay.com: Yamaha Aventage Natural Sound AV Receiver RX-A770
VolvoHeretic said:
z31maniac said:
In reply to wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) :
Thanks for the pics. You took it a little further I mainly just want to put a better cartridge in and upgrade the speakers and amp if it needs it.
New amp, new speakers, next new turntable. I think that that is exactly what he did except for the turntable which will be next. There's a reason people give those consoles away free. Any internal photos?
Edit: For a new amp, I am a big believer in old obsolete Yamaha A/V receivers. Look for one with a turntable input or else you have to get a pre-amp to hook up the TT to the Amp. They are pretty cheap, super rugged, and have great low distortion. I have bought 7 of them for the 7 a/v setups I have created.
Here is one as a quick example with TT phono inputs and 95 W (8 ohms, 0.06% THD), plenty to power most any speakers. It also has HDMI inputs along with optic digital inputs. Doesn't come with a remote which makes it useless forcing you have to also buy one of those:
Ebay.com: Yamaha Aventage Natural Sound AV Receiver RX-A770
He mentioned a CD player as well. I can't remember the last time I played a CD. Hell neither of our cars even have CD players. I'll try to get some pics of the inside at lunch.
I'm running an RX-A700. I'm not sure what I'd be missing with a newer unit. My plan is to eventually have a 5.1 speaker setup with it (right now I'm at 2.1, need to find a good project to build a trio of speakers for the fronts & center). Would definitely buy another home theater Yamaha product, new or old. Mine is lacking the phono-level input of the -A770 though; I've got a phono pre-amp with USB output if I want to play around.
I have a pioneer PL-2 I bought from goodwill a while back. It had a broken needle and I couldn't find a replacement so I changed the headcase to one with a more common cartridge. Unfortunately the table speeds up and slows down randomly, and I haven't bothered to try to find the problem yet. So for now it just sits unplugged in my living room.
If we're talking about our own stuff, I just posted these in the other thread:
On the left is a Realistic LAB-200 that I got a couple years back as a NOS unit. I just uboxed it, and of course the belt was completely borked, so a new one is on the way.
On the right is a Gemini D.J.Q. 1200 direct drive table I got off of Craigslist about 10 years ago for $20. It's been my main table since, but needs some maintenance. It has intermittent grounding issues and the motor has been getting grindy; probably needs some lubrication. But it's been great since I've had it, and sounds good.
The rest of the stack consists of these:
From the top:
Sherwood DD-1030 Cassette Deck
Kenwood KR-A3060 Receiver
Denon DCM-280 5-CD changer with MP3 playback
The Sherwood is dead right now, as it needs belts. The other two work perfect. They are playing through two Mirage 250 "bookshelf" speakers. Those guys have been with me for nearly 30 years, but they are too big to fit in the office with my new stand.
Right now they are on the floor, which is less than ideal. They will get relegated to garage duty soon. I just ordered these Jamo S801's to replace them:
Not only will these little guys fit in the shelving unit, but they have great reviews and are perfect for my small office setup. Despite the small size, they punch way above their weight class based on reviews I've read. Cannot wait to get them set up!
In reply to Tony Sestito :
I saw that post, it's what inspired me to make this one!
Updated stereo rig post!
My new Jamo S801 speakers and the belt to fix my NOS Realistic LAB-200 have arrived!
Let's talk about these speakers first.
These little guys are very impressive. Although small with a 4" woofer, they somehow have more bass than the Mirage 250 speakers they replaced, which have 8" woofers. They are rear-ported and close to the wall, which probably helps. I can't imagine anything sounding better at this price point, and they punch well above their weight class.
And that turntable...
All it needed to get it working was a light cleaning and the belt replacement. I plugged it in, sniffed around for magic smoke, and called it good. Even though it's a 40+ year old low-mid level table, it's pretty nice. I'm still dialing it in, but I'm liking it so far.
The old Gemini DJQ-1200 and this Realistic LAB-200 are really different. The Gemini is direct drive, whereas the Realistic is belt drive. The Gemini feels like a lifted 1985 Chevy K20 4x4, and will run terribly forever and rumble over everything. The Realistic feels more like a Triumph TR6; it's British, from the 70's, quirky, and has much more precision. The sound profiles of each are a bit different, as you would imagine. The Gemini is a DJ turntable, so it's Stanton cart/stylus is bass-heavy and more muffled than the clear, sensitive Shure 6X on the Realistic. It emphasizes durability over sound quality. That said, the Realistic picks up EVERY imperfection. If the record is even slightly dusty, you'll hear every grain of dust. But, with a nice, clean record, you'll hear stuff you've never heard before in the recording. It does tend to come over slightly distorted on really heavy/loud stuff, so I'm working on dialing that out with needle pressure.
For now, I'm doing a trial run with the Realistic for the next week or two. I am leaning toward making this my main table. It's weird and quirky, and I'm digging it. How often do you get to use a brand new 43-year old turntable? Never, that's how often! Enjoying the ride.
I have an old middle of the road Technics SL1800 direct drive manual TT w/ Stanton 681 cartridge which was top of the line in the late 70's. It has sat for 25 years after CD players became affordable. My son was talking about the vinyl Renaissance and how he wanted to try it out, so instead of trying to talk him out of it, I gave it to him along with my 2 crates of Progressive Rock/Fusion Jazz albums so he could discover the wonders of wow and flutter and snap, crackle, and pop (I digress).
The platter couldn't keep a steady pace according to the strobe and I couldn't disassemble the motor so I just dripped sewing machine oil from JoANN's Fabric down the spindle. I haven't found out if it helped but I'd guess those old motors are pretty dry by now.
I've never figured out how to tell when to replace the diamond stylus.
A middle of the road old turntable and cartridge should sound 100% better as a replacement because the play back technology back in 70's was great, it was the vinyl tech that had reached it's limits.
Edit: that Yamaha a/v amp above went for $180
Where are the nudie interior photos of that stereo console cabinet?
Looking at that stylus in the Shure - maybe it's just the angle the photo is taken from - but it looks like the needle is aimed toward the rear at a pretty good angle. If that's an old stylus you might want to take a very close look at it and consider replacing it. The diamonds wear flat on the sides and do a pretty good job of chiseling the grooves of the vinyl if they're old and worn. Decent cartridges aren't that expensive relative to the cost of a few new records.
In reply to jwagner (Forum Supporter) :
Yeah, that was before I started dialing it in more with the counterweight, etc. It is less pitched now, but I am inclined to replace it anyway.
After using it for a few days, I've noticed a warble and a bit of distortion out if it. The warble gets worse as the stylus gets closer to the center of the record. Looking at the stylus, it's slightly bent where it shouldn't be. I may pull it apart, oil the motor shaft a bit, and replace the stylus for cheap insurance.
Based on a maybe bent stylus, I would definitely replace it, especially if you don't know how many hours are on it. With a known good stylus at the right tracking pressure, if you still have mistracking issues you might want to check the alignment. Might be worth doing anyway. https://sumikophonocartridges.com/cartridge-alignment/
There's a bunch of cheap crappy replacement styli out there, especially on a certain large auction site and a big online retailer. If you can't find something that looks legit (OEM or equivalent quality) it might make sense to buy a decent entry level elliptical cartridge.
In reply to jwagner (Forum Supporter) :
I went ahead and ordered a replacement. It's an aftermarket replacement but it has good reviews. I figured it has to be better than whatever I have going on now, so we'll see how it does.
Worst case scenario: it goes back in the box and I soldier on with my other table for now. That one works, but definitely needs some servicing, mainly with the motor and looking at the grounding situation to quiet it down.
Since I took over the desk space downstairs my kid was using for remote school, I was able to resurrect parts of my high-school/early career audio stack, starting with a Technics SL-Q202 I bought at an audio show in the early 80s (not sure how old the Shure V15 cartridge is), feeding into an NAD 1020 preamp (bought used in the late 80s, I think), along with an NAD tuner, and ADS cassette deck. Using a pair of M-Audio powered monitors on my desk. The 19" rack I picked up surplus somewhere when I used to do pro-audio repair in the late 80s...
VolvoHeretic said:
Where are the nudie interior photos of that stereo console cabinet?
Ha, totally forgot and haven't been looking at any forums in more than a week.
Wow, some of these photos are like taking a trip back in time. Nice finds.
