Thorn Majorca Restoration - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

Spanish_Rose · 9th Jul 2021, 7:06 am

Have recently purchased a Thorn Majorca Solid State Radiogram on the cheap and am looking for any hints as to solving a speaker problem, as they crackle when adjusting the volume and most importantly, are not generating much volume.

Interestingly, the natural louder volume of the speakers can occasionally kick in in the process of turning it off, which leads me to believe it would be a wiring issue. The crackling of the speakers is very loud, leading me to believe they are capable of a great volume that isn’t close to being achieved in its current state.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as my local restoration shop said they would not accept models so large for the next few months. Have no experience in restoration nor any necessary tools, however happy to get a bit of both if fixing is realistic!

stevehertz · 9th Jul 2021, 7:49 am

The faults you describe are highly unlikely to be attributable to the speakers or wiring. The crackling is almost certainly to be a need for the volume control to cleaned using proprietary electronic switch cleaner. The changes in volume may also be cured by this, but may also be due to another separate fault eg, dry joint or intermittently faulty component. In all aforementioned cases this would be a job for someone with experience of working on audio equipment.

stevehertz · 9th Jul 2021, 11:08 am

An afterthought... The speaker could have a loose voice coil connection or even foreign material in the magnet gap that gets worse as the volume increases and shakes the speaker more. But that wouldn't (so much) explain the crackles you get when you adjust the volume, that is much more likely to be a dirty volume pot as I described. If I could hear it and twiddle the volume knob myself I'd instantly know the difference between a dirty pot and a speaker with an intermittent coil connection!

9th Jul 2021, 7:06 am	#1
Spanish_Rose Diode Join Date: Jul 2021 Location: Carlton, Victoria, Australia Posts: 1	Thorn Majorca Restoration Have recently purchased a Thorn Majorca Solid State Radiogram on the cheap and am looking for any hints as to solving a speaker problem, as they crackle when adjusting the volume and most importantly, are not generating much volume. Interestingly, the natural louder volume of the speakers can occasionally kick in in the process of turning it off, which leads me to believe it would be a wiring issue. The crackling of the speakers is very loud, leading me to believe they are capable of a great volume that isn’t close to being achieved in its current state. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as my local restoration shop said they would not accept models so large for the next few months. Have no experience in restoration nor any necessary tools, however happy to get a bit of both if fixing is realistic!

9th Jul 2021, 7:49 am	#2
stevehertz Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Rugeley, Staffordshire, UK. Posts: 8,831	Re: Thorn Majorca Restoration The faults you describe are highly unlikely to be attributable to the speakers or wiring. The crackling is almost certainly to be a need for the volume control to cleaned using proprietary electronic switch cleaner. The changes in volume may also be cured by this, but may also be due to another separate fault eg, dry joint or intermittently faulty component. In all aforementioned cases this would be a job for someone with experience of working on audio equipment. __________________ A digital radio is the latest thing, but a vintage wireless is forever..

9th Jul 2021, 11:08 am	#3
stevehertz Dekatron Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Rugeley, Staffordshire, UK. Posts: 8,831	Re: Thorn Majorca Restoration An afterthought... The speaker could have a loose voice coil connection or even foreign material in the magnet gap that gets worse as the volume increases and shakes the speaker more. But that wouldn't (so much) explain the crackles you get when you adjust the volume, that is much more likely to be a dirty volume pot as I described. If I could hear it and twiddle the volume knob myself I'd instantly know the difference between a dirty pot and a speaker with an intermittent coil connection! __________________ A digital radio is the latest thing, but a vintage wireless is forever..