12-15-2017, 11:13 AM
Hi all,
Attached are some chassis/speaker pix.
I'm no Philco expert, but it really looks to me like the speaker, baffle board, grill cloth and output transformer chassis are original to the set. They all fit perfectly and there are no signs that the board was installed long after the cab was made. The Philco "V" (chevron?) cloth is original, and the patina of the baffle board looks identical to the patina of the cabinet wood inside. If it was added to the set, I would guess it was added very, very soon after the cab was made. The output transformer chassis is mounted very cleanly, straight and the lead wires going to and from it are about the perfect length for what they need to do.
So what happened? I can only come up with four possibilities:
1. The speaker was Frankensteined into the cabinet at a later date.
2. This is a not well-known variant of the 650RX model.
3. This was a one-off made at the Philco plant for someone who wanted a combo unit, not a receiver unit and separate speaker cab.
4. Prototype??
Another weird thing are the decals, which Ron correctly pointed out don't look right. However the weird thing is that if they were added at a later date, I don't see how it was done. There is ZERO trace of what would have been the original half-circle decals around the knobs. And the finish on the control panel is definitely original, so I don't think someone went in with laquer remover to strip out the old decals before applying new ones.
Very strange. ANyway, thanks for the help from the experts here. I'd love to get to the bottom of this set, but in the end I'm not too concerned. This set looks great, is in excellent condition and I'm glad to have it. The chassis is untouched; was never worked on.
Thanks all!
One other thing: You may notice that the small bolts holding the speaker in place appear shiny and not original. This is true. The screws were a bit loose from the baffle board, making it difficult to reattach the speaker tightly. So I used the original screws to snug the screws to the board. Then I re-installed the speaker and used four new bolts to secure the speaker to the board.
Attached are some chassis/speaker pix.
I'm no Philco expert, but it really looks to me like the speaker, baffle board, grill cloth and output transformer chassis are original to the set. They all fit perfectly and there are no signs that the board was installed long after the cab was made. The Philco "V" (chevron?) cloth is original, and the patina of the baffle board looks identical to the patina of the cabinet wood inside. If it was added to the set, I would guess it was added very, very soon after the cab was made. The output transformer chassis is mounted very cleanly, straight and the lead wires going to and from it are about the perfect length for what they need to do.
So what happened? I can only come up with four possibilities:
1. The speaker was Frankensteined into the cabinet at a later date.
2. This is a not well-known variant of the 650RX model.
3. This was a one-off made at the Philco plant for someone who wanted a combo unit, not a receiver unit and separate speaker cab.
4. Prototype??
Another weird thing are the decals, which Ron correctly pointed out don't look right. However the weird thing is that if they were added at a later date, I don't see how it was done. There is ZERO trace of what would have been the original half-circle decals around the knobs. And the finish on the control panel is definitely original, so I don't think someone went in with laquer remover to strip out the old decals before applying new ones.
Very strange. ANyway, thanks for the help from the experts here. I'd love to get to the bottom of this set, but in the end I'm not too concerned. This set looks great, is in excellent condition and I'm glad to have it. The chassis is untouched; was never worked on.
Thanks all!
One other thing: You may notice that the small bolts holding the speaker in place appear shiny and not original. This is true. The screws were a bit loose from the baffle board, making it difficult to reattach the speaker tightly. So I used the original screws to snug the screws to the board. Then I re-installed the speaker and used four new bolts to secure the speaker to the board.
