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Old 28th Jun 2017, 12:58 am   #1
Catwooduk
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Default Sony SS 3300 beasts, little help required!

Hi all, I was put on to this forum by a friend who is also here somewhere occasionally.

I was helping someone with a house clearance last week and stumbled across this pair of Sony SS 3300 from 1965-1970 (I think?). She had to clear the whole house, attic, garage etc and neither knew the value or had the time or space to move such big pieces of 'furniture' so said I could have them as it would save her the hassle of moving them, they weigh 41kg each. At this point I didn't know their value or what they were either, just thought they looked pretty cool and vintage. I also got an Akai 4000DS mk1 I rescued after I stopped her rolling it end over end down the hallway to go on the 'for the tip' pile!

From what I can tell the late owner was an old chap who had his own audio electronic store/service at some point in his career. The speakers were all wired up to a stack of various Sony equipment (I'll post the amp etc later as I have that stuff as well). I gave it a listen and the sound is phenomenal! All the speakers within both units worked beautifully.

However, I had them tied together in the back of my van not as shown in the picture below, and for all my careful driving is seems one of the units now has an issue. The two tweeters and the mid range speaker have stopped working. On the back is a knob to adjust either bass or squawker volume individually, and flipping the squawker up and down does make them crackle a little as if trying to work.

My guess is that there is a loose connection somewhere. The boards and wiring all look very good, and I assume the previous owner had given them a good overhaul at some time or other. I don't really know what I'm looking for and don't want to do any more damage by poking around too much.

Can anyone possibly give me a pointer about where to start looking and what steps to take? I'd love to get it working again, then try and convince my girlfriend to let me keep them - "we don't have space for those!!" yada yada

The cabinets are in very good condition, one or two tiny little marks, seems they were cared for and much loved. I can post more pictures later.

Thanks for reading!
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Old 28th Jun 2017, 7:53 am   #2
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Default Re: Sony SS 3300 beasts, little help required!

Switches are often the source of faults in electronic equipment.

I would start there. A contact cleaner like Servisol may help.

If the switches are rotating easily you can usually clean the contacts by just rotating them many times. I usually put a little bit of Vaseline or grease on the ball bearings in the indexing mechanism of the switch.
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Old 28th Jun 2017, 8:24 am   #3
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Default Re: Sony SS 3300 beasts, little help required!

Thanks. Is it just a case of putting a tiny bit on a toothbrush and giving it a little wipe over? I assume I just apply it to all the contact points, and avoid getting it all over everything?

Sorry to sound stupid but I have never really played with any electronicS so I don't want to mess these up - baby steps!
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Old 28th Jun 2017, 8:29 am   #4
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Default Re: Sony SS 3300 beasts, little help required!

Servisol comes in an aerosol with an extension tube. Spray it onto the electrical contacts of the rotary switches (clearly visible in your fourth picture) and then work the switches back and forth several times.
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Old 28th Jun 2017, 9:32 am   #5
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Default Re: Sony SS 3300 beasts, little help required!

You might also want to protect the adjacent areas with rags or kitchen towel to stop them being spattered with switch cleaner.

This is what you need: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/servisol-s...er-200ml-jp17t
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Old 28th Jun 2017, 10:26 am   #6
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Default Re: Sony SS 3300 beasts, little help required!

Brilliant, that is gents! I'll give it a try today and report back
Can't believe how good these things sound even with the high end only coming from one unit!
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Old 29th Jun 2017, 5:16 am   #7
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Default Re: Sony SS 3300 beasts, little help required!

Nice speakers! Those cross overs ( boards with all the switches, capacitors (big silver cans) and inductors (big round things) are more complex than your run of the mill Xovers. from what i can glean off the net your speakers can be bi (tri?) wired so it may be you only have the tweeters connected. A pic of the back of the speakers would help. Are the speaker terminal posts labelled?

At some point those capacitors will need checking out to make sure they're ok.

A bit of info here - http://www.thevintageknob.org/sony-SS-3300.html

Andy.
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Old 29th Jun 2017, 10:58 pm   #8
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Default Re: Sony SS 3300 beasts, little help required!

Yes from what I can see they can be tri-amped. That page you linked was the first source of information I came across when I looked up the model on the back

I haven't had time to even go and get any servisol yet unfortunately.

I'm sure all the speakers are connected up - the second unit is producing sound from all 4 speakers - sub, midrange and 2 tweeters. I'm fairly certain the other unit was fully working when I played some music through them before I packed it all up and brought it home. I think I've probably loosened something while they were in the van, at least I hope that's the case.

I'll hopefully have time to get some servisol and have a clean up this weekend. If that doesn't work I'll be requesting some really, really broken down steps to figure out the problem. I just about know what a capacitor and resistor is, don't ask me to identify which is which though

I'll take the back off again tomorrow and post some more pictures of the wiring if possible.
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Old 30th Jun 2017, 11:47 am   #9
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Default Re: Sony SS 3300 beasts, little help required!

Switches and pots to control the various drivers were very popular in the 60s and early 70s, particularly in speakers primarily designed for the American market (which these were). They do give trouble. Many people who use similar vintage speakers today tend to bridge the contacts in a single position, or remove them from the circuit.
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Old 2nd Jul 2017, 10:10 pm   #10
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Default Re: Sony SS 3300 beasts, little help required!

Today I managed to give everything a good air dusting, then used some Servisol on all the connection all over the boards. Gave all the switches a good working.

I've managed to get the tweeters working but the mid range speaker still isn't making any noise

The second speaker was sounding a little dodgy at certain volumes so I did the same on that one then slowly increased the volume to get them moving. Wasn't sure if it was a good idea but it seems to have done the trick and that unit at least is sounding perfect.

I'm at a loss as to where to start with identifying the problem with the mid range speaker. At least I got the tweeters back!

I've also been told that unless I'm planning on putting a nappy changing station on top of them in the living room then they have to go
Got a baby due any day now so unless I can figure out where the hell to put them then it looks like I'll be selling them
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Old 3rd Jul 2017, 5:43 am   #11
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Default Re: Sony SS 3300 beasts, little help required!

Tut, women are so unreasonable, the new baby will love them! : ) Baby changing stations are what new parents buy but don't need, an armchair is far better, I speak as a veteran nappy changer. I doubt this advice will sway the boss though. : )

Back to the speaker. Have you got a test meter? If so put on the ohms range, take a lead off the mid and see if you get a reading, something like 4 - 16 0hms.

If no meter use a double A battery to see if the cone moves in or out. Doesn't matter which way round. Both these tests will confirm if the speaker is ok ish.

Failing that get a bit of wire and bypass all the switches and what have you to see if music comes out. Then try hot wiring the switches out of the circuit and using just the Xover. Really it's a case of sitting down and tracing out what wire goes where and if you can draw a schematic. This will be a valuable resource for other SS3300 owners.

If you want/have to get rid of them consider the forum for sale section, quicker than ebay.

As it is it sounds like the Mrs has put her foot down, so it's bye bye lovely speakers anyway. Look at it this way, your exchanging a vintage sound system for a brand new one. Congratulations Dad.

Andy.
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Old 3rd Jul 2017, 3:39 pm   #12
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Default Re: Sony SS 3300 beasts, little help required!

Well I say baby changing station but she means just sticking a changing mat on top of them because they're the perfect height for it

I have a multi-meter I can use, although I'm not sure which setting to put it on. I can't see an 0hms bit to select? I think I've used it maybe 3 times in the last 10 years to test the alternator on my old MR2 which had a tendency to kill itself!

Do I just put the black test pin on the black wire where it connects to the speaker and then the red pin on the blue wire? (see original pictures)
I assume the speakers need to be playing as well to see if there is any current passing through?

As I said, I've never played with any electronics at all really so you'll have to dumb it down to fisher price level of step-by-step sorry!

I can have a go at bypassing some switches with a bit of wire but I'm worried I might short circuit something if that's possible... Drawing up a schematic, probably no chance I can handle that, I don't even know what all the things on the switches are. I tried to work out which connections are being made when turning them to the different positions but couldn't.

I've made an eBay listing to start on Wednesday so I might put them on here to see if anyone is interested first. They will need to go fairly soon!
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Old 5th Jul 2017, 6:10 pm   #13
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Default Re: Sony SS 3300 beasts, little help required!

The meter needs to go on resistance, take a pic of your meter if still unsure. Test is with no amp//music connected. Clip one probe, black or red doesn't matter onto a terminal on the back of speaker. Speakers have two connections, a + and - so to test, one lead of meter to - the other meter lead to the + of the mid speaker. that'll be the middle speaker, pic 2.

It helps if one lead is disconnected, but they look like they're soldered on, not clipped on, which may present problems.

Had another look at your pics. the mid has a blue wire and a black. The black is common to all the speakers, that's the negative. So you need to make sure you have a signal or music going to that blue wire.

Meter on AC volts (denoted sometimes by V wavey line), music on lowish, not full volume, probes of meter on the mid/suspect speaker, one on the black wire, the other on the blue. Doesn't matter which. You should get a reading that will go up and down a bit, but be more than 0.00v or whatever.

Hope that makes sense, Andy.
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Old 7th Jul 2017, 12:04 am   #14
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Default Re: Sony SS 3300 beasts, little help required!

This is the one I've got. I tried it on the ACV settings as I figured that was AC volts, but I didn't get any readings from any of the contacts with music playing or none.

I then tried it on this setting (ohms?) and initially had readings from the tweeters and the bass but not the mid range with music playing. Then every time after that I kept only having readings when I first touch the contacts with the probes, or if I moved the red probe at all it would make the readings jump for a second.

From what I could tell (if anything) I was getting readings from the bass and tweeters but nothing from the midrange. Does that tell me the speaker is dead or the connection is broken?

It probably tells me I tested it wrong though!
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Old 7th Jul 2017, 2:47 am   #15
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Default Re: Sony SS 3300 beasts, little help required!

The idea is to test the speakers speech coil. you need to disconnect the speaker (in this case the mid range) and measure its resistance on the meters ohms range. you do not test speakers in this way "with the music playing"
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Old 7th Jul 2017, 5:38 am   #16
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Default Re: Sony SS 3300 beasts, little help required!

The picture of your meter makes things easier to describe, though I'm concerned you may have killed your meter. These cheap jobbies have little or no protection.

To test if the midrange coil is ok, disconnect the blue wire to that speaker. If you have no soldering iron, you can use a heated screwdriver. Better to cut it just above solder joint. This test is done with NO music playing, EVERYTHING OFF/AMP DISCONNECTED. Set your meter to 200 on the ohms range, probes onto the midrange driver's terminal. You should get 4 to 16 ohms if the mid driver is ok.

If that's ok.... To test if a signal IE music is getting to this driver, set meter to AC Volts 200, put black probe to the driver's black wire. With the blue wire still unconnected, connect red to probe to blue wire. If you can play some speech only "music" to test. This is better for testing as your meter has a limited frequency range.

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Old 7th Jul 2017, 10:16 am   #17
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Default Re: Sony SS 3300 beasts, little help required!

Ok thanks for your help I think k can manage that! Am I ok I cut the blue wire a little further back from where it connects to the speaker? Just so it's easier for me to reconnect the two ends again. I don't have a soldering iron so I figured I could use a little 'chocolate block' or whatever they're actually called to reconnect the cuts.
Thanks
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Old 8th Jul 2017, 6:08 am   #18
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Default Re: Sony SS 3300 beasts, little help required!

Yep should be ok but leave wire from Xover as long as poss so someone in the future can resolder the wire to the driver. Make sure it is the blue/purple wire that goes to the mid, i gave it my best guess fro the pic. It's hard to see perfectly.

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Old 8th Jul 2017, 9:00 am   #19
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Default Re: Sony SS 3300 beasts, little help required!

Might I suggest shorting the meter's leads together on the 200R range and checking that the reading changes from infinity to short circuit (zero ohms) before carrying out this test. It'll show that the meter is OK or otherwise.

Please no "No reading" responses. It's meaningless where resistance measurements are concerned.
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