Just a few days ago I picked up a Zenith Stereophonic High Fidelity Radio Phonograph off of Craigslist. I probably overpaid a bit, but it was exactly the type of console stereo I have been searching for to put real music back in our home. We have shifted to mostly streaming music from various smart speakers, but have really missed the days where we could pick out an album and listen to it from front to back without having to yell at a speaker. Two years ago I read the story of this awesome
little homemade digital jukebox made by Chris Patty for a Christmas gift for his father. The idea of having an analog interaction with digital music excited me. I realized I was missing the ritual behind flipping through records, tapes, and compact discs. There are tons of tutorials on how to develop something similar to what Chris developed using a
Raspberry Pi and various card readers. I built a little proof of concept and it worked. Now, I needed something to drop it into. I love the idea of console stereos, so I picked up a
Truetone D-1645 off of Craigslist and thought I would dive in to restoring it. I figure I could wire the Raspberry Pi in with the radio and use the existing amplifier and speaker. I started reading about recapping old stereos on various forums, then I wondered about making that record player work... and what about the radio... what if I could make that work too... but it is only AM and Shortwave, that would be fun, but a nice FM stereo might be good. Also, the Truetone was mono, and while retro is fun, I don't want to give up all the sound quality. So I started searching for a good console stereo that is from a newer vintage.
I wanted a stereo that would open on the front so we could set stuff on top, ideally one that had a record player, and an RCA jack to connect in to the stereo. It had to have an FM radio and ideally would be from a recognizable name. I came across this listing that seemed perfect.
 |
| The Craigslist Ad that won me over |
The second photo you could make out an owner's manual an extra tube in the box, and the "cobra-matic" record player still had the paper on top. It looked like it was in good shape, clearly had some issues that seemed repairable, and I was willing to take the risk. I made an offer and drove about an hour away, met some guy in an old garage who was drinking beer and building something out of 2x4s and picked it up. Now I am starting to tear into it and learn how to do a restoration. This blog will be the chronicles of this adventure. I'll try to post as I remember and link out to some decent information because there is not a lot of data out there on the specifics of tearing this thing to pieces and putting it back together again. So, enjoy if you will. My adventures in restoring this beast of a radio.
No comments:
Post a Comment