1962 Philips B5X14A Bi-Ampli stereo AM/FM 10 valve plano radio

[howard]

Hello again,

This cost just £11. This is almost certainly the next model on from my 1960 B5X04A but unlike that one which has Spanish/English lettering this one has French/English markings. Cosmetically it was in good condition, a small bash on one rear corner, a little paint rubbed off the leading edge of the bakelite trim under the dial, and it was filthy dirty. I plugged it in and it worked well on AM, its EM80 magic eye was very dim but I couldn't tune FM cos the clutch wasn't working and it was permanently stuck on AM but operating the FM cord from inside revealed that not much was being picked up on FM. The mono push button on the far left was also broken and a trim was missing from one leg.

The chassis come out the front of these (see write up on my earlier B5X04A) - I always place masking tape on the case around the dial before shifting the chassis to avoid the sharp edges of the dial glass from scratching the case. I replaced the ECC85 which brought back full FM operation and a new Russian 6E1P (Leningrad factory 1969 - best quality) to replace the dim EM80. I replaced the black pitch caps on the two output transformers (both were leaky) with LCR 1500 volt axials. The diffuser was broken so I made up a new one from PVC material obtained from PWH. I repaired the broken switch by sticking it back together with Superglue - I was surprised how well that worked on Paxolin. One other push button was loose so I stuck that back on with Evostik. The AM/FM cord clutch was completely jammed and I was worried that it might have to come out for repair but having read Richard Newman's account of this problem with a similar plano I squirted it with switch cleaner which quickly freed it up and then oiled it and it works perfectly now (these clutches are all metal, no leather/rubber parts as in the Grundigs). All pots and switches received a quick squirt of Servisol 10.

I cleaned the case with upholstery cleaner, soaked the little bash in the rear corner of the left-hand plywood side panel with water which lifted it nicely and then polished all the wooden panels with medium Topps scratch cover. All the sponges around the dial and under the trims were rotten so I replaced them all with new black strips of sponge. I pinched a replacement trim for the leg from a scrap B4X23A and then reassembled the set.

It was straightforward restoring this B5X14A as there was very little wrong with it as it's full of top quality 1960s Philips/Mullard components. This one doesn't have an FM decoder but thankfully on mono radio the same sound comes out of both speakers unlike the earlier B5X04A. This is a very sensitive valve set and picks up everything on all MW/LW/SW and VHF 88-100MHz wavebands and sounds quite nice with its light and airy sound.

Howard

[Sideband]

Hi Howard. Another great restoration,

Squirting the clutch carefully with switch cleaner seems to free these up quickly and save a lot of time. A drop of 3 in 1 oil afterwards keeps them smooth and, so far, I've had no come-backs.

Enjoy!



Rich.

[howard]

Thanks Richard,

I will enjoy it !

I have one mild criticism of these plano sets, their bass quality is a bit boomy on FM when the bass boost button is engaged. It effects them all to a certain extent except for the Reverbeo where one can override the preset tone controls. When the bass boost button is disengaged they sound fine but then they lack bass, to my ears anyway. Is this a common feature of these Philips sets or maybe it's due the cones in the speakers deteriorating a bit - perhaps they may benefit from a little stiffening with PVA around them ?

Howard

[Sideband]

I suppose it's all subjective really. The last one I did sounded fine with the original speakers. I sometimes wonder why Philips opted for 800 ohm speakers with tiny output transformers on these sets. I think the versions that use a completely transformerless output stage sound better.

You could be right about the speakers. Trouble is, if you try it and it makes things worse....!

Rich.

['LIVEWIRE?']

I am in the process of repairing one of these, so the pics. and tips are useful. Was I right to replace the original mains lead with a 3-core one, earhed(with difficulty!) inside the set close to the on-off switch). IMHO all items(other than AC/DC sets, obviously)having a metal chassis, should have a mains earth. What do others think?

[howard]

Originally Posted by 'LIVEWIRE?'

I am in the process of repairing one of these, so the pics. and tips are useful. Was I right to replace the original mains lead with a 3-core one, earhed(with difficulty!) inside the set close to the on-off switch). IMHO all items(other than AC/DC sets, obviously)having a metal chassis, should have a mains earth. What do others think?

I think if I was to sell any of my AC mains sets to members of the public rather than to other radio collectors then yes I would fit a 3 core mains cable to those. I have fitted one to my Philips B3G63A which was straightforward.

Howard

[geofy]

Finding it hard to keep up with all these success stories Well done with them all, the recaping work looks very good, nice to know all these sets are being looked after.

regards

Geof

[majoconz]

Quote "This one doesn't have an FM decoder but thankfully on mono radio the same sound comes out of both speakers unlike the earlier B5X04A."
I have an NZ variety AM only but couldn't locate a schematic so I used a downloaded B5X04A and used Nelson's eye on the FM - the AM parts are remarkably similar. After recapping and fiddling I did find that the left speaker had no bass whilst the right was good. Delving into the under chassis wiring I found a wire tucked back into the cabling. A bit of sleuthing found that this wire in the left hand side was across a network in the grid of the EL84 from the switch bank, but the right hand side had no wire shown. Physically the wire was there but not on the schematic. More detective work and I connected the unterminated wire and now equal sound from both speakers! I guess it may have been a modification due to no FM here so that you had 'pseudo-stereo'!

Incidentally if you put these radios across the corner of a room, the treble is enhanced to get rid of the "bass-boom" effect.

['LIVEWIRE?']

In point of fact the radio I am in the process of repairing is a B7X14A, which is very similar to the B5X14A, with Reverb(Philips called it 'Reverbio') The schematic for the B7X is available from Pauls' service data website, if it helps anyone

[mark pirate]

Yet another fab restoration Howard, i would love to find one of these sets
(with decoder!)

Mark

[howard]

Originally Posted by 'LIVEWIRE?'

In point of fact the radio I am in the process of repairing is a B7X14A, which is very similar to the B5X14A, with Reverb(Philips called it 'Reverbio') The schematic for the B7X is available from Pauls' service data website, if it helps anyone

I have a Philips B7X14A Reverbeo as well, this is the largest of my Bi-Ampli plano sets and definitely the best of them. Mine needed no repairs, it's as new.

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...9&d=1176307705

Howard