Connect Record Player to a Philips Master 57 B5N63A radio.

[dorobos]

Hello! I am trying to connect a record player to my radio, but I cant get any sound. I have seen that it is possible to adjust the grounding (see attached picture). I then wondering if the grounding in the picture is correct for using the "pick up" input? I find it difficult to understand the ground/antenna illustration. Thanks in advance for any help to get sound from the "pick up" input.

[Station X]

A record player's cartridge should be connected to the pick up sockets and the radio switched to GRAM.

[dorobos]

Originally Posted by Station X

A record player's cartridge should be connected to the pick up sockets and the radio switched to GRAM.

Thanks! Do I switch to Gram when I turn the volume-wheel to the right? That volume wheel doesn't seem very logical to me.

[dorobos]

Thank you very much! Now it works! I just had to pull the wheel out.
The only downside I noticed is a lot of background noise. Is there any trick to reduce this? Could the grounding be bad?

[Station X]

All grounding means in this case is that if one side of the cartridge is grounded at the player end this side must be connected to the grounded side of the pickup socket. If this isn't done the input will be short-circuited and there'll be no sound.

[dorobos]

Originally Posted by Station X

All grounding means in this case is that if one side of the cartridge is grounded at the player end this side must be connected to the grounded side of the pickup socket. If this isn't done the input will be short-circuited and there'll be no sound.

Thanks! I get a lot of sound, so that's probably not the problem then. There is no annoying noise when I listen to the radio, so its strange. Record player also works well with other equipment. Do you think it might help to use a grounded cable for the power plug in wall socket? The one sitting on now is without ground.

[Ed_Dinning]

Is it hum or a radio channel noise?

If hum then some form of ground loop? If radio try adjusting tuning to a quiet spot

Ed

[Simon Gittins]

The "pick up" input is designed to amplify the very low level signals produced by a pickup (also known as a cartridge). When this radio was new, record decks were available that simply had a pickup with a lead connected directly to it that plugged into a radio and the radio did all the amplification.
It may be that the output from the record player you are using is at too high a level for this input. There may be an easy solution; some details of the record player would be useful.

[dorobos]

I love the sound of from the radio amplifier, so hope I will manage to get rid for the noise.
I have also tried to plug my electric guitar in and it sounds lovely, but unfortunately the noise is still there. There is no noise when listening to radio. Its only when using gramophone input/setting.

Yes, it might be a good explanation that it amplifies even the slightest noise.
It is the same type of noise as when you put the needle down on an empty area and have a the amplifier set on high level. I have noticed that the power-socket is very old and has broken parts. Should at least make an attempt to change this.

Some information about this radio can be found here:
https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/philip...ab_5_n_63.html

The noise is also only in treble range. If I set the treble all the way down, the noise is almost gone.

[Station X]

It's a pity there's no circuit diagram there. There's bound to be a near equivalent British set though.

[John10b]

With the record player disconnected and the Radio switched to PU with volume control at max what do you hear, lots of noise or silent?
John

[Simon Gittins]

Do you get the noise with the radio set to Gram but without anything connected to the "pick up" input?
If you do, then it points to a fault, possibly in the switching circuit. The switches that change between Radio and Gram may just need cleaning with contact cleaner (not ordinary WD40), however, a high voltage (HT) is often switched and there can be small sparks if the switch is faulty.

[John10b]

I was thinking along the same lines.
John

[dorobos]

Thanks for the good advice. The noise is minimal and acceptable if I don't have anything plugged in. Then perhaps I should try to improve the cable and plug I use to connect to my radio..

[Simon Gittins]

Screened lead may help, with the screen connected to the terminal on the left. I'm not sure whether that socket takes wander plugs or some other type as it has a slot in the middle.

[dorobos]

Originally Posted by Simon Gittins

Screened lead may help, with the screen connected to the terminal on the left. I'm not sure whether that socket takes wander plugs or some other type as it has a slot in the middle.

Thanks, I will give that a try. It takes wander plugs or europlugs. The slot in the middle seems to only be there for stabilizing the plug on the original one.

[Robert Gribnau]

What kind of cartridge are you using?

The input for record players on your radio is meant for record players that have crystal cartridges. The output voltage of crystal cartridges is relatively high (often much more than 0.1 V) compared to the more modern magnetic cartridges (around 0.005 V).

Also know that to play relatively modern records, RIAA correction (a correction for the way sound is recorded on records) is necessary. The way this correction is achieved differs between crystal cartridges and magnetic cartridges (mainly because their output impedances differ).

[dorobos]

Thanks for all the support. Now it works perfectly! I tested out the various radio functions and pressed all the buttons. When I later listened to a record, the noises were gone. I hope it continues like this. The sound is impressively good. When it comes to guitar playing, it sounds at least as good as my more expensive guitar amps. Is there any danger associated with playing guitar on this? Can you get shocked by the guitar if an old capacitor is malfunctioning? Maybe I should invest in a wireless connection..

[Simon Gittins]

Pressing all the buttons will have cleaned the contacts to some extent and the noise may stay away.
You mention in Post 9 that the power socket has broken parts. The sort of checks that improve safety and reliability are described in this section:
https://www.vintage-radio.com/repair...ion/index.html
As Graham says, it's a pity there's no circuit diagram. The first step to finding a similar Philips set is the valve line up. The link in Post 9 shows nine valves, eight of which begin with an “E” and a UL41 which has a different heater voltage to the others and may be a mistake, two EL84s seem more likely but with Philips anything is possible! In any case these are fairly complex radios which as you have found out are capable of very good results. The valves are listed on the back of the radio (part of this is shown in the first post) if you could confirm the valve list we may be able to find a similar diagram.
Using a wireless connection to connect the guitar sounds a good idea to me from a safety point of view. A loud guitar chord can damage a radio speaker as they are not as robust as guitar speakers.

[Robert Gribnau]

Likely the schematic will resemble that of the Philips B5X61A, which can be found here:

https://nvhrbiblio.nl/schema/Philips_B5X61A.pdf

If true, the two loudspeakers inside the radio are 800 Ohm types and are driven by the EL84 + UL41 without the use of an output transformer (OTL output stage).

The connection for an external loudspeaker is of normal impedance (likely 5 Ohm). For this the radio contains an output transformer.

Based on the schematic of the B5X61A, the risk of getting shocked when playing electric guitar through the gramophone input seems really very small to me.