Neo__04 Posted April 15, 2016 Posted April 15, 2016 Hey all, I've recently started getting into the diy audio scene with some speaker building and looking to make an amp soon. I was chatting tonight to my dad about this and he pulled out an old amp he made when he was 16, which would have been 1968. The amp has Playmaster Stereophonic on the front. Its a tube amp. Built from a kit purchased from Electronics Australia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronics_Australia Now i havent got too many more details as yet, he thinks he may even still have the circuit diagram somewhere. I haven't really looked through the circuit board for any model numbers or anything as i dont really want to touch its internal until i know some more about it. What im wondering is if its considered a good amp? And if its worth cleaning up and restoring? If anyone has any ideas, it would be a huge help. I've attached some pics.
trobbins Posted April 16, 2016 Posted April 16, 2016 See the diyaudio thread you started. What experience do you have with electrical/electronic circuits?
Neo__04 Posted April 16, 2016 Author Posted April 16, 2016 Not too bad with electrical. Done plenty of wiring 12v & 240v stuff in the past for projectes, but only just started in the world of speakers/amps
auditec Posted April 16, 2016 Posted April 16, 2016 It was a very basic push pull output using 6BM8 (I think, or 6GW8) with AM only tuner . It shouldn't be too difficult to restore. Due to point to point wiring, pretty easy to follow and trace. Your problem is not to restoring to working order but to rid of the rust and built up dirt.
trobbins Posted April 16, 2016 Posted April 16, 2016 (edited) The link may be useful to appreciate some of the renovation issues commonly encountered - it is for PA amps, but valve gear is valve gear I'd suggest locating the original magazine article, or articles that relate to the equipment, and work through whether your gear is exactly the same. Best to not jump in too fast and swap out this and that, or power it up - there is a good learning curve in checking what you have. You may have some test gear already? http://dalmura.com.au/projects/Renovating%20PA%20amps.pdf Edited April 16, 2016 by trobbins
djb Posted April 16, 2016 Posted April 16, 2016 << not sure why I'm alerted to this perhaps @@pulinap knows it to be designed by my grandson. Agree it was a quite basi push pull amp But you , and your dad, should rebuild it the experience will be perfect for the higher end amp you work on next Who knows what else is in the shed! Those old black fly screen doors might be Maggies
Neo__04 Posted April 18, 2016 Author Posted April 18, 2016 Not sure what i will do with it, My father has terminal cancer, not sure he will see it out if we started. It was more one of those conversations of all the bits and pieces he did when he was younger, building amps and speakers etc. Yeah it does look like there would be a lot of work in regards to rust etc.
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