Phonovox player - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

Jimmyhaflinger · 21st Jun 2009, 9:16 pm

Hi,

I'm trying to restore a late 50s Phonovox (italian made) portable record player, this one came out of a skip and was a real wreck, it was also a cheap, miserably designed player to begin with, the mechanism leaves the idler tire permanently engaged, so it gets indented by the motor shaft over time, the speaker baffle is a thin soft wood board with a speaker hole almost as wide as the whole board, and the heavy amp and transformers are mounted on it, but it had only two supports on either side, so it sagged down over time and "expelled" the speaker, also it uses a live chassis but the plastic snap-on knobs come off easily leaving you with bare metal potentiometer shafts at LIVE potential

It's a piece of junk, but i think it's worth preserving as i think this could be one of the last surviving examples, and its white and pastel green leatherette covered cabinet is also really cute

i had to glue together and reinforce the tonearm as it was broken in 3 pieces (made of really brittle plastic and had a sleek but weak shape too), then it needed a new idler tire, a new fully isolated power transformer (it was originally equipped with a burnt-out autotransformer), a new 12AT6 valve, a new rectifier and new capacitors, an additonal support to keep the speaker baffle securely in place, and a thorough clean.

Now it works but the original "RE-SON" crystal turnover cartridge has very little output and lots of distortion, and the usual green stuff around the output pins, it's an odd cartridge, it's going to be very difficult to fit a different cartridge in there, i temporarily wedged a BSR SC12M in its place, it works fine but it sticks out of the headshell and really looks ugly

Is there a way to obtain new crystal elements to rebuild the original cartridge?

Jimmyhaflinger · 22nd Jun 2009, 12:08 am

picture:

ben · 22nd Jun 2009, 1:39 am

try a ronette cart in there.

Jimmyhaflinger · 23rd Jun 2009, 2:58 pm

I tried to replace the original RE-SON with a mono Ronette (they're quite similar indeed) but this is not possible because the Ronette turnover shaft is way too short, i think the only way would be to replace the entire tonearm, but the ones i have (a LESA and an ELAC) are too narrow at the rear pivot, i actually tried this before as the original arm was in 3 pieces.

Anyway, i had a BSR SX6M which worked only on one channel, i tried to take the good crystal from it to rebuild the RE-SON but when i opened the BSR cartridge and tried to remove the crystal from its rubber mount it crumbled between my fingers, so i'm still looking for a new crystal element (or even better, a ceramic element)

ben · 21st Jul 2009, 12:58 am

just found this pic, and it reminded me of this thread!
hope you managed to find a suitable cart.

Jimmyhaflinger · 21st Jul 2009, 2:00 am

It looks very similar indeed but of course it's not the same, it's a Spanish-made player, right?

I've tried to replace the crystal in the original cartridge with one from a scrap BSR SX6M which worked only on the right channel (not rotten, one crystal was cracked), the BSR crystal was a bit too large and didn't fit well, i finally broke the crystal while trying to force it in place, so no success.

Hopefully, Rochelle salt isn't seriously toxic, because i managed to shoot a tiny speck of it in my mouth when it crumbled, it dissolved instantly and tasted salty

Next attempt will be to fit a small 80s stereo ceramic cartridge inside the shell of the old one, it won't work on 78s, though

ben · 21st Jul 2009, 3:04 pm

you could try these small, ceramic types. These were used mostly in japanese portables (sanyo et al) in the 70s, and were very slim.The one in the attached pic is just under 1cm wide , 2.5cm long and 1cm deep! Unusally for their era, the stylus' were a screw-fit in the style of BSR TC8, but of course with greater compliance.

the stereo stylus is sold as vacoluxor; you could if need be bung a tc8 78 stylus in.

a sonotone 9ta is also small, might not be high enough output though

Jimmyhaflinger · 21st Jul 2009, 8:56 pm

This is a cheap, miserably built player but surprisingly it has a 12AT7 preamp valve and works with low output cartridges.

I think i have that same cartridge in the stereo version, but i'd still have to unscrew and swap the stylus to play 78s,

i'm probably going to try a Ronette cartridge+bracket assembly from Musonic (i have several Ronette cartridges but no brackets)

21st Jun 2009, 9:16 pm	#1
Jimmyhaflinger Heptode Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: La Spezia, Italy Posts: 834	Phonovox player Hi, I'm trying to restore a late 50s Phonovox (italian made) portable record player, this one came out of a skip and was a real wreck, it was also a cheap, miserably designed player to begin with, the mechanism leaves the idler tire permanently engaged, so it gets indented by the motor shaft over time, the speaker baffle is a thin soft wood board with a speaker hole almost as wide as the whole board, and the heavy amp and transformers are mounted on it, but it had only two supports on either side, so it sagged down over time and "expelled" the speaker, also it uses a live chassis but the plastic snap-on knobs come off easily leaving you with bare metal potentiometer shafts at LIVE potential It's a piece of junk, but i think it's worth preserving as i think this could be one of the last surviving examples, and its white and pastel green leatherette covered cabinet is also really cute i had to glue together and reinforce the tonearm as it was broken in 3 pieces (made of really brittle plastic and had a sleek but weak shape too), then it needed a new idler tire, a new fully isolated power transformer (it was originally equipped with a burnt-out autotransformer), a new 12AT6 valve, a new rectifier and new capacitors, an additonal support to keep the speaker baffle securely in place, and a thorough clean. Now it works but the original "RE-SON" crystal turnover cartridge has very little output and lots of distortion, and the usual green stuff around the output pins, it's an odd cartridge, it's going to be very difficult to fit a different cartridge in there, i temporarily wedged a BSR SC12M in its place, it works fine but it sticks out of the headshell and really looks ugly Is there a way to obtain new crystal elements to rebuild the original cartridge?

22nd Jun 2009, 12:08 am	#2
Jimmyhaflinger Heptode Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: La Spezia, Italy Posts: 834	Re: Phonovox player picture: Attached Thumbnails

22nd Jun 2009, 1:39 am	#3
ben Dekatron Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Madrid, Spain / Wirral, UK Posts: 7,498	Re: Phonovox player try a ronette cart in there. __________________ Regards, Ben.

23rd Jun 2009, 2:58 pm	#4
Jimmyhaflinger Heptode Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: La Spezia, Italy Posts: 834	Re: Phonovox player I tried to replace the original RE-SON with a mono Ronette (they're quite similar indeed) but this is not possible because the Ronette turnover shaft is way too short, i think the only way would be to replace the entire tonearm, but the ones i have (a LESA and an ELAC) are too narrow at the rear pivot, i actually tried this before as the original arm was in 3 pieces. Anyway, i had a BSR SX6M which worked only on one channel, i tried to take the good crystal from it to rebuild the RE-SON but when i opened the BSR cartridge and tried to remove the crystal from its rubber mount it crumbled between my fingers, so i'm still looking for a new crystal element (or even better, a ceramic element)

21st Jul 2009, 12:58 am	#5
ben Dekatron Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Madrid, Spain / Wirral, UK Posts: 7,498	Re: Phonovox player just found this pic, and it reminded me of this thread! hope you managed to find a suitable cart. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Regards, Ben.

21st Jul 2009, 2:00 am	#6
Jimmyhaflinger Heptode Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: La Spezia, Italy Posts: 834	Re: Phonovox player It looks very similar indeed but of course it's not the same, it's a Spanish-made player, right? I've tried to replace the crystal in the original cartridge with one from a scrap BSR SX6M which worked only on the right channel (not rotten, one crystal was cracked), the BSR crystal was a bit too large and didn't fit well, i finally broke the crystal while trying to force it in place, so no success. Hopefully, Rochelle salt isn't seriously toxic, because i managed to shoot a tiny speck of it in my mouth when it crumbled, it dissolved instantly and tasted salty Next attempt will be to fit a small 80s stereo ceramic cartridge inside the shell of the old one, it won't work on 78s, though

21st Jul 2009, 3:04 pm	#7
ben Dekatron Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Madrid, Spain / Wirral, UK Posts: 7,498	Re: Phonovox player you could try these small, ceramic types. These were used mostly in japanese portables (sanyo et al) in the 70s, and were very slim.The one in the attached pic is just under 1cm wide , 2.5cm long and 1cm deep! Unusally for their era, the stylus' were a screw-fit in the style of BSR TC8, but of course with greater compliance. the stereo stylus is sold as vacoluxor; you could if need be bung a tc8 78 stylus in. a sonotone 9ta is also small, might not be high enough output though Attached Thumbnails __________________ Regards, Ben.

21st Jul 2009, 8:56 pm	#8
Jimmyhaflinger Heptode Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: La Spezia, Italy Posts: 834	Re: Phonovox player This is a cheap, miserably built player but surprisingly it has a 12AT7 preamp valve and works with low output cartridges. I think i have that same cartridge in the stereo version, but i'd still have to unscrew and swap the stylus to play 78s, i'm probably going to try a Ronette cartridge+bracket assembly from Musonic (i have several Ronette cartridges but no brackets)