1st208F Frankenupgrade

[Hydrolastic]

Hello Guys, I have been looking at the concert hall. (1st208F 1960 catalog) It fits the house in size and it's contemporary look. The cabinet is in gorgeous shape. It has never worked well. I realize now that I didn't get the amp restored, my tech was just fixing enough to get it working. Almost everything he worked on has died. In my speaker quest a while back I got a set of imperial 4 ohm 976 speakers. The ones with the 35 oz magnets. looking at this console I know that the tuner preamp is a straight swap and also that the amp 182 (25 watts) would fit in the same space as the old amp 175 (10 watts) I just need to get the horns to fit and get the small speakers out of the way. So I am going to do this upgrade and maybe get the record player to work. Inspired by Moto's frankengrand. Hydro

[William]

Hydro. Are all three photos of the same unit? If so, then you have already started switching things out? A suggestion, before you swap out the speakers for the horns see how it sounds with the original mids and tweeters, you might be surprised. If you do decide to go with the horns don't forget to change out the crossover.

Bill

[Motorola minion]

Thanks for sharing, I'm very eager to see how this develops. Not familiar with those TOTL speakers BUT those wild speakers alone may be enough of a first step, considering the three other mid/high drivers.

I have that same console, fully concurring with the need for upgrades . Is it "hot rodding" if using OEM parts?

Ours is in a bedroom and used mainly for upstairs activities, matches family heirloom furniture around it, hence the wife agreed. The older style record changer (F200) is my favorite part and EV26 cart is still good. Radio was squirrely for a few years after the initial full restoration, so giving the tuner a good cleaning where the rotor shaft meets the copper, then a fast IF-RF alignment brought it back to life. Best part is the FM mpx input is the ultimate AUX input, and the on-off switch being alone and separate is another nice feature.

That cabinet is not heavy, so it might be necessary to add structure to oppose those huge woofer forces. A bottom of solid MDF or plywood hidden under/inside with newly placed adequate ventilation for an upgrade amp.

The original 10+10 watt AMP175 "concert hall" is also used in the '59 stereOrama models as AMP185 with first preamp tube (7025) on board - instead of being in a tuner unit with tone network following it, has a 3-knobber phono-only control. The AMP185 volume and tone controls are right off the phono cartridge and combined prior to the first preamp SO it sounds quite different and FAR better suited to my garage -"shines" at higher settings.

[electra225]

A Frankenupgrade I have long considered is finding a Concert Grand, then replace the amps with two 93-series stereo amps wired for mono. Have four 6BQ5 output tubes per channel.

[Hydrolastic]

Hello all, Yes this is the same unit in all three photo's. I got the unit in 2018 and I went looking for a tech. I found a guy locally but he would only do the amp. (Guitar amp guy) then I found another shop to do the radio chassis when I put them together it sounded ok but weak. I started getting parts for other consoles in the last photo you see me installing 8 ohm concert grand speakers for a not very impressive sound. Instead of improving it the speakers were quieter and weaker.
In my speaker quest I got a set of 583037 speakers to change my external cabinets to concert grand specs. I then realized I had put 8 ohm speakers in the concert hall console but by this time the unit had quit working. This allows me to start over with the Amp 175 unit or upgrade using parts I already have. Since this console has never had much hp I am hoping this will help. The room is the open concept living room. 20 x 30 with hardwood floor. I am not going to put a MPX unit in it since I don't use the radio portion in any of the consoles I have. More to come soon.

[Motorola minion]

That room is big enough for 40 watts of amp. I can recall getting what I thought was a better 12" driver for a Fisher SS console only to be very surprised. Impedance matching is a big factor.