| The Cabinet & Power Unit | The Head Unit & AM/FM Stereo Radio | The Turntable | The Tape Deck | The Bluetooth Receiver | Putting It together | Future Plans | Links | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Cabinet
The cabinet is one from a Sylvania SC-740M console stereo that was gutted by one of its previous owners. Presumably, it was a bookshelf at one time because a large portion of the top was missing and Knape & Vogt 255 shelf supports were installed (this becomes important later). These supports use the 256 Series Clip (or equivalent). The wood finish is pretty dinged and scratched, so I'll have to fix that once I move a bunch of stuff of it and fill some screw holes that were made in the top.
-----------------------
The Power Unit
The power unit consists of a Leviton duplex outlet (avalible at any hardware store for usually less than $1) and three N.O.S. General Electric GE7630-2 interchangable (Despard-style) outlets (however any interchangable sockets can be used, though extra pigtails may be required). This part of the build can make a good extension cord when used externally, however if you're on a budget when building a similar console, I recommend buying an old power strip like a SurgeMaster or QVS (especially one with a heavy duty metal housing). See below for a parts list and schematic diagram and photos.
Parts List:
The Head Unit & AM/FM Stereo Radio
The head unit & AM/FM stereo radio is a NuTone 2071 Stereo Intercom from 1966. While this may seem a bit strange, I was given it by my grandparents and it has a number of inputs for Phono (stereo), Tape (stereo in and out), and TV (mono). For more information about this model, you can visit this website or Northside Service Co. I have re-capped the system as stated in this article and it now works.
Documents: Owners Manual, Service Manual, Service Supplement avalible at nutone.neocities.org
The Turntable
The turntable is a Garrard A70 record changer that can play 16 2/3, 33 1/3, 45, and 78 R.P.M. records. It uses a Garrard M8 head shell (also shared with the Lab 80) or a Shure M80E head shell (if there are any other compatible shells, e-mail me).
Documents: Owners Manual, Garrard Catalog
The Tape Deck
The tapedeck is a Advent 201A from the 1970s. It may not be the most Hi-Fi deck ever produced (that would probably be a Nakamichi Dragon), however it was $15 from RE-PC and is widely regarded as a reliable, decent sounding stereo deck. Any recordings that I will make will be made on Maxell UR-60 or UR-90 normal cassettes, so most audio quality remarks will be made about the deck in the "Normal" tape setting. Likewise, the deck will be set to "Stereo" because the receiver is a stereo ("Transistor Stereophonic" as the faceplate puts it) intercom.
Documents: Schematic, Service Manual (for 201 & 201A)
The Bluetooth Receiver
I used the following video to add this UGREEN Bluetooth receiver from Amazon.
Documents:
Putting It Together
Documents:
Future Plans
I have some future plans for the system, such as adding a CD player and re-finishing the top of the cabinet. Another is replacing the Advent with something a bit more Hi-Fi from 1978-1986 (such as one listed here).