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Posted to rec.audio.tubes
Bret Ludwig
 
Posts: n/a
Default Advice regarding a Stromberg-Carlson console

I picked up a Stromberg-Carlson console stereo at a Goodwill store this
week. Physically it's in great shape. It plays, but I'm not
particularly thrilled with the sound. Even though there are two 15"
woofers, the sound has hardly any bass compared to a modern stereo; it
has hardly any treble either. It gets loud, but the sound is flat.

Additionally, one channel is louder and better-sounding than the other.
I swapped the speakers to confirm that it's the signal that's louder
and not a defective speaker. I also swapped the tubes in the main
amplifier (left for right) but that didn't change anything.

Any advice on what I should do with this thing? Do I leave it as-is and
enjoy the "vintage" sound or should I try to fix it up? I've heard
people say that the Stromberg-Carlson tube amps are good amplifiers so
I'm leaning toward the idea of replacing the old speakers with better
ones.

You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. I would replace any
caps that leaked and get the thing working like it originally did if
you just want something to do, or have a home for it that will enjoy
it. Other than that you are throwing time and money and effort in the
toilet.

The amplifiers in these things have the same circuits and the same
output transformers as guitar amps, so if you want to build a guitar
amp out of it for your own amusement or to sell to some gullible yuppie
son of a bitch on eBay, you could. The speakers are also good for
guitar if played at low volumes, just like the speakers in early
Fifties guitar amps. Because they _really are just like_ those
speakers. Exactly like, if you get the hint.

What you will never get out of it is high fidelity. The amplifier will
never be a hi-fi amplifier. The changer will never be a decent
turntable. The speakers will never be anything but cheap utility
fifties speakers. We are not talking Klipsch, JBL, Altec or even Bozak.

I would troubleshoot it for the experience, clean it up, and get it
working as original if you are going to be able to give it a home,
(maybe a prop for a high school staging of "The Seven Year Itch"?) or
mercifully euthanize it otherwise. The amp chassis will make a guitar
amp for someone. The wood cabinet can be made into a wine cab or if it
has solid wood sections a guitar or violin maker might salvage the
wood.

There is a reason you see old consoles at Goodwill and on Freecycle,
and not Marantz and McIntosh amps and Altec 604s and Klipsch LaScalas.
They have the ACV-actual cash value-of tampons. (Used. By Margaret.)