The PHILCO Phorum

Yes, after a bit of prodding, I managed to go up and get this radio yesterday evening. I figure any radio that makes Ron's eyes bug out is worthy of my effort to attain. The console looks complete although there are a few issues. For one, almost every part of the phonograph was loose and it appears the chassis has seen a rebuild in the past (probably late 40's) as the on-off switch has been replaced (hence the incorrect knob. I will need to file a flat spot on the shaft for the correct knob.), and the wires for the tone arm had been cut and then spliced back together. The phonograph motor was stiff, but while doing the transformer test (which it passed), I managed to get the motor lubricated up and it now works fine. I will need to replace the rubber motor mounts and the rubber washer the turntable originally rode on. I brought the console up slow, but didn't get any audio out of the speaker. Oh, two of the caps on the 24's snapped right off when I tryed to gently pull the grid connectors off. Pheh...

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Wow, Jayce, great find ! It is probably going to take a ton of work to get it all sorted out, but once it is, you are going to have a sweet machine for playing 78s as well as radio listening. Do keep us posted on the progress.

Well.....if your speaker need repair (and as is often the case with 20 it just might) replace the cone for a modern one or at least the spider with that 45rpm type. As you will be playing records this just might improve the sound, as 20s, in all honesty, are not that great as players, and the speaker is 80% of that problem (it actually has a decent output amp, a triode PushPull).

What a cute little set!

I love that deco veneer!

Your right its a cute set!

Veneer is the exact same as on 20 Lowboy. Looks nice.

Nice find, Jay! That is the first "real" one I have ever seen!

Quite possibly, the last.
Somehow I suspect they did not produce superb sound due to the 20 speaker's spider, and then people did not keep them. Plus the fact that the qty built was not large - 11,500.

Definitely agree with you about the model 20's spreaker! Compare a model 70/90 speaker with the 20, assuming the appropriate output transformer is used, and you will see what I mean!

Well, I did see the difference at some point, but I no longer have any 20 with the original spider, or even the cone.
The 1st ever 20 I restored (1931 version lowboy) had no cone whatsoever. So all new cone and spider were added.
The Deluxe had a good cone but then it had bad field. While changing the field coil, Dee from Alabama Society was not able to save the cone (it was brittle) so he fully re-coned it having added a 45rpm spider.
The rest of the radios with K speakers I have are a 70 and a 90 which have 45rpm type.

So I cannot compare

Does the one you gave me have an original cone/spider or is it also a replacement?

the saddest thing about the 20's output is it is a highly regarded Triode (71A) output that can play QUITE nice (and unlike tetrodes/pentodes has very low THD with only even harmonics plus it is a push-pull). But all that gets nullified with the speaker.

Also, this size cabiet can fully accept H-type speaker and 71A output and the transformer are a good match.