I've read that most music uses just a few watts of power. It gets plenty loud before you are actually anywhere near "rated power." I have no equipment to test that but have read it multiple times. Your ears give up before the speakers do. The real problem is clipping--pushing the amp past ...

My tone controls are usually in the "flat" or middle position. I'll fiddle with them if source materials are not sounding good or if something else is unbalanced. I like good audio, but on my small sailboat I listen to music over an old RDF receiver with an FM band, via one of those little...

Sorry, can't give advice. I use a flip phone, which drives all my relatives absolutely nuts.

Chris Campbell

The tube chart that was posted in blurry to my eyes, but I'm betting that one of the octal tubes being called 6V6's is actually a rectifier, probably a 5Y3GT. I looked again. You are right. Two 6V6 and 5Y3. The chassis is very similar to my 1951 Magnavox in layout and tube complement. Chris Campbell

Looking at the tube chart--looks like a separate preamp for a magnetic cartridge, and then three 6V6 tubes. ??? Is one of them a single-ended driver for a tweeter, with the other 2 in P-P for the woofer? I seem to recall that Capehart made the changer, too. Using an automotive metaphor, it is a Pack...

I've seen an article on DIY permethrin recently and went looking for it. Not in the NYT, but they did have this article about using it:
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/revi ... Position=1

Chris Campbell

Permethrin is the current best choice, from what I have read. Need to buy some.

Chris Campbell

Maybe post some info about your other devices, with photos if possible. By way of encouragement, you can see my Edison cylinder phono here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-n4MC4u8aA&t=171s or my 1942 GE tabletop phono here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb48WobryxQ And if you dig farther the...

I just read about that red-meat sensitivity in the NYT. I've been off red meat for a few years because of cardiac issues, but the whole notion of tick-borne diseases is scary. They are spreading wisely because of climate change and, here in Michigan, our huge over-population of deer, which carry &am...

OK, all you doom-and-gloom guys. My Ranger is 20 tears old. It turned over 220K last weekend. When I graduated from high school (1965), there were no 20 year old cars on the road. If one had been maintained well enough to reach 100K miles with a functioning engine & transmission, the body would ...

I had to wear a jacket to ride the bike to the movie last night, and to work today. At lunch I walked down to the bank to get a cashier's check for the new truck (flying out to pick it up on Tuesday) and it was OK walking with short sleeves. But at bicycle speeds, some insulation helped. I left some...

Greg had posted about silver mica disease a while back but I cannot remember the category, so I'll post this here. The latest Michigan Vintage Electronics Chronicle has a nice short article about doing a repair in a late 40s RCA. I can scan and email the piece eventually (right now I'm trying to arr...

Fans are most effective when blowing out. That depressurizes the house and you can decide where you want some cool breeze and open windows there.

Chris Campbell

I've never lived in a house with AC. At work there's a malicious HVAC system. It's way too cold. We all put on sweaters or fleece. I have an electric heater in my office to counteract it in the winter. But I m grateful for the faithful red Ranger whose AC is still blowing cold after 20 years, no ref...

Here in Michigan it's in the mid-90s, not a welcome phenomenon. My niece and her family are coming from Montana to visit on the shore of Saginaw Bay.
It was 38 degrees at their home yesterday. Somewhere in the middle would be just fine.

Chris Campbell

My Ranger had the air bags replaced 3 times, or maybe just 2 and the 3rd (and 4th) were just inspections to see if previous replacements were done properly. It wasn't quite clear by the time I got to #3. They did #4 when it was in for brakes this late winter. My theory if they couldn't get it right ...

What's super-annoying is the complexity of the operations required to escape the "demo mode," which is an unnecessary function. It should be one that you must select if you want it (not sure what it is for....), not a default that you have to get out of (or find your battery run down becau...

Several years ago I replaced the original radio/cassette device in the '86 Mustang with a Pioneer DEH-3400UB, a radio/CD player. Last week I discovered that I had left a door open and the battery had gone to zero. After two tries, it took a charge and showed 13.4V. Today I decided to back it out and...

[quote="Motorola minion" post_id=26701 time=1750274286 user_id=57 I swear you make more by painting accent stripes and basically re-designing the looks of these to current trends, while just restoring the electronics like we all do. [/quote] I learned a long time ago that Americans are suc...

Those prices only make sense if you're hiring all the work out. For DIYers, it's a lot cheaper. Let's not discourage newbies by making the rescue of a console sound like a big-budget undertaking. But then I'm Scottish, and the reputation for frugality is merited. And besides, I think an old Ranger i...