Category Archives: Vintage

Philco 42-365 Antique Radio Repair

Posted on December 15, 2014 by jwk

This Philco 42-365 came to the shop in need of major repairs. It was missing its dial string, lamps, and the power transformer had melted down due to a failure in the main electrolytic capacitors. It’s melted and run everywhere, … Continue reading →

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VD-1221 Replacement Substitute Diodes

Posted on November 25, 2014 by jwk

We’re lucky that these days you don’t need to stock very many diodes in the parts drawers for refurbishing most vintage gear – pretty much everything except for the main power supply rectifiers can usually be replaced with some combination … Continue reading →

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Vintage Schematic Mistakes

Posted on November 21, 2014 by jwk

Every once in a while, you run into places where a drafting tech made some mistakes on the schematics. This one was a Philco 42-360 radio, which has the wrong tube called out in the tube line-up vs. the schematic. The … Continue reading →

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Harman/Kardon Control Amplifier A-401 Restoration

Posted on November 19, 2014 by jwk

This little Harman/Kardon Control Amplifier, model A-401, just came through the shop for a full overhaul. It was in a pretty sorry state to begin with – one channel distorted, one barely gasping for air, and a world of scratchy … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Electronics, Hi-Fi, Projects, Stereo, Vintage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

EICO Stereophonic Integrated Amplifier HF-81 Repair

Posted on November 7, 2014 by jwk

From the late ’50s, I had this nice example of an EICO HF-81 amplifier come through my shop. These are nice little stereo amplifiers with a built-in phono pre-amp and RIAA equalization and feature about 14W of power output per … Continue reading →

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Boes 901 Series IV Active Equalizer #241792 Refurbishment

Posted on November 3, 2014 by jwk

Bose® 901 Series IV Active Equalizers are getting up there in years now, too, so more and more are coming up for repair. This one came in with a flickering power supply in need of an overhaul. Series IV was … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Bose, Hi-Fi, Projects, Stereo, Vintage | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Vintage Engineering is Beautiful

Posted on October 30, 2014 by jwk

EL84 output tubes in an EICO HF-81 integrated stereo amplifier.

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Marantz 2270 Stereophonic Receiver Overhaul

Posted on October 26, 2014 by jwk

I just had a great stereo receiver through the shop for repairs, the Marantz 2270. It’s the big brother to the Marantz 2245 I had through the shop a little while ago – mostly the same front-end circuitry, but with … Continue reading →

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Toshiba 11H-540F Tabletop Transistor Radio Overhaul

Posted on October 20, 2014 by jwk

I recently got to work on a little tabletop transistor radio from the late ’60s, maybe 1970 at the latest, from Toshiba: the 11H-540F. Not the catchiest name, but it was near the top of its model line-up featuring 11 … Continue reading →

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HP 143A Wide Screen Oscilloscope Mainframe Restoration – Part 2

Posted on October 15, 2014 by jwk

Part 1 I’m continuing to work on getting my HP 143A ocsilloscope mainframe fixed up as a dual-trace X-Y display. A lot of the time has been spent on reading and researching, but I’ve picked up an important tool that will … Continue reading →

Posted in Electronics, Gadgets, Test Equipment, Vintage | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment