Classic Hifi Care

Hello, everyone! I've been tinkering around mostly with Magnavox Astro Sonic consoles and micromatic changers since I was a kid. My dad was a TV/Stereo repairman and was a warranty repair tech for GE, Philco, Magnagnavox, Zenith and Sylvania....we had a room full of service manuals, SAMS Photofacts and tons of parts...that my step mother pitched

At any rate, my dad taught me the ins and outs of record changers, and I worked on many over the years. I recently scored a beautiful 1968 Magnavox Imperial FOR FREE from a storage unit. The chassis number for the Pre/Tuner is R22401 and the power amp is A59503. I recapped both the pre and power amp, refurbished the micromatic changer, and it is indeed a powerhouse BUT....the sound is VERY muddy. Being an imperial, each channel has two horns, so there are 4 front-facing horns total, but I've had regular Astro Sonics sound much brighter. I have the treble and Timbre dimed, and while there are highs, it's just very weak....almost as if the treble knob is all the way down. I know the horns roll off around 14kHz, but I don't think I'm getting anything much past 6-7kHz. Do any of you have any suggestions or thoughts? I know some people have suggested modifying the tone circuit and changing the crossover network to brighten things up. One person took a pair of the Maggie horns out and put in EV T35 super tweeter horns in their place.

I'm just kind of at a loss because I love this Imperial, but it just doesn't sound great. Any help would be tremendously appreciated!!!

Shadi

Welcome aboard! In the way of a gentle reminder, please include your location in your user profile. Your first three posts must be moderator approved, per the rules, so please be aware of that. And you need to post an avatar by your third post. That said, we hope you will enjoy the forum!.....

In the way of a suggestion on your situation, I would suggest you verify that the tweeters are all working. Horn tweeters aren't known for being as tough or dependable as cone speakers. If the tweeters are all working, then you need to look at the crossover networks. Magnavox used two types, and yours probably has the kind that are mounted on perf board. They have caps that can go bad. I wouldn't advise changing the value or type of components until you verify that the correct ones, in good condition, aren't doing the job. Good luck.....

Welcome to the forum, and what Electra 225 said. After making sure the horns are working the next step would be to check the crossover system. Your Imperial should pound nails for bass and the highs soar.

Bill

Welcome to the forum. We always like stories about sales and service.

In college, I worked as a bench tech at stores that sold Magnavox and others, so I got to see all the brands you mentioned.

That '68 may need crossover caps. To get at those, I opened the speaker boxes on a 65 Imperial 1RP701 similar to yours, two horns and a 15" woofer. The AMP was A575, probably the same also. I doubt its a cap change mistake if both channels are affected.

If you could, please post a picture of the board Electra mentioned..

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum! be sure to check the caps in the 595 amp as well as the bias resistors, they have a tendency to crack from the heat.