03-27-2024, 09:44 AM
Hi, I'm new to the forum. I'm in my early 60's. First and foremost, I have VERY basic radio skills and tend to be more automotive/mechanical. I had my Grandparents Philco F-1902-121 Hi-Fi (they bought it new) gone through locally by a very sharp young man. Tubes checked, replaced some transistors, capacitors, and cleaned pots. It all works. I had'nt heard it in 40+ years but I am sure that the unit used to have bass that would literally rattle the windows. Am I imagining this? It is not capable of that now and at higher volume and bass levels it make the sound quite distorted/fuzzy/muddy. He repairs many very old radios, but I don't think he is aware of this ones potential as he isn't real familiar with them. He thought it might be that the 2 larger tubes (T-6L6GB-PSV) were not "matched" so 2 new "matched" tubes were installed. It may have helped some but it is still way off the mark sound wise on records and radio both. I will say he did check the 15" speaker for damage and said there was none. Could the speaker still be lacking in some way? I could divert the 15" speaker wires to a boxed speaker for testing if needed. The treble is handled by an electro static amphitheater which sounds pretty good. I will add that Grandpa did replace a socket for one of the aforementioned tubes and the remaining one you have to wiggle the tube to make it glow intermittently. Even if they are glowing could there be high resistance in either of those sockets causing an issue? I am capable of soldering new ones in if needed. Also there is a slight hum to it. I'm not sure if that is normal but I could add a grounded power plug (ground the 2 chassis's) if that might help. Again, I don't think I am imagining how rich it used to sound and am looking for suggestions on how to get it back up to snuff. Thanks! Dave.