When I was a young man (early 1980s) I had a little music room in the pool shack in my parents' back yard. My prize possession was a Packard Bell console stereo tube hi-fi. It had crossovers with a big 15" bass speaker in the middle and mid and tweeter on each side. It sounded phenomenal. Needless to say I have never been able to find another one.

Today I looked at a GE console stereo hi-fi someone was selling. Not only did everything work pretty well (I tested the turntable with the Exile vinyl, Side 3), but it's a gorgeous piece of furniture. It had a little hum and some crackes, which I think a few shots of compressed air in the tube sockets and pots will take care off.

My question: It does not have AUX inputs, but does have Tape inputs. I want to run my DVD/CD player and TV stereo outs through this, maybe using a splitter. Are tape inputs the same as AUX? Anyone know about these things? I figured this would be a good place to try. Thanks!

Added later: It also has a weird single extension speaker (not hooked up) in a little enclosure with an open back. This thing has its own pots and electronics. Not sure what it was supposed to do.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-01-10 03:21 by 71Tele.

Are tape inputs the same as AUX?

YES ...... just don't use the phono input



ROCKMAN

Quote
Rockman
Are tape inputs the same as AUX?

YES ...... just don't use the phono input

Knew about the phono, but thanks for clearing up about the tape inputs. I can pick this baby up for $100 US.

It had a little hum and some crackes

If it's hum your getting from Turntable try isolating it and maybe
running an earth wire ........... If crackles are coming from volume
control just remove control-knob and spray a contact cleaner into volume pot



ROCKMAN

A while back I bought myself a Rogers Cadet III Tube amplifier from the 60s and had it completely overhauled. Everything worked fine but I had one problem.
When I ran a CD or DVD player through it, one channel seemed much louder than the other. I did not have this problem using my turntable or reel to reel.
I got some very helpful advice from a guy on the Zappateers site and this worked for me perfectly. Now I have my cd player running through it, along with my turntable and Reel to Reel. This is the info I was given....

The problem is not with the CD/DVD (their high voltage analogue outputs are remarkably load-tolerant) but with the amplifier, which has an overloaded input stage. A lead with the correct resistors attached will correct it, and one can easily demonstrate it with a passive volume control. Plenty of Cadet III users are very happily listening to CD players running through their amps.

So, using cables with the correct resistors fitted to drop the incoming voltage seemed to solve the problem I was having. Not sure if you will even have this problem, but if you do, this may be of some help.

So, using cables with the correct resistors fitted to drop the incoming voltage seemed to solve the problem I was having. Not sure if you will even have this problem, but if you do, this may be of some help.

This is great information Vudicus for those who work with old amplifiers.....thanks

__________________________

Quote
vudicus
A while back I bought myself a Rogers Cadet III Tube amplifier from the 60s and had it completely overhauled. Everything worked fine but I had one problem.
When I ran a CD or DVD player through it, one channel seemed much louder than the other. I did not have this problem using my turntable or reel to reel.
I got some very helpful advice from a guy on the Zappateers site and this worked for me perfectly. Now I have my cd player running through it, along with my turntable and Reel to Reel. This is the info I was given....

The problem is not with the CD/DVD (their high voltage analogue outputs are remarkably load-tolerant) but with the amplifier, which has an overloaded input stage. A lead with the correct resistors attached will correct it, and one can easily demonstrate it with a passive volume control. Plenty of Cadet III users are very happily listening to CD players running through their amps.

So, using cables with the correct resistors fitted to drop the incoming voltage seemed to solve the problem I was having. Not sure if you will even have this problem, but if you do, this may be of some help.

Thanks Vudicus. I have not brought it home yet, so have not hooked up the DVD player, but I was not aware of the potential voltage problem. But how do you fit resistors to the cables?

I managed to adapt the cables I was using. They had ends that screwed off and I just had to remove the rca connector and solder the resistor between that and the cable itself. It looks rather crudely done, but it works perfectly.

I was lucky to find info regarding the amp which told me the inputs resistance and I was then able to buy the resistors with the correct resistance and use them on the leads, job done.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-01-10 03:25 by vudicus.

Can you please post some pictures? ... I'm pretty curious about it!

Tube Hi-Fi!!

Go for it!