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General => Open Discussion => Topic started by: ggarms on January 07, 2015, 02:45:24 AM

Title: Just found this by the curb....
Post by: ggarms on January 07, 2015, 02:45:24 AM
And I don't know what to do with it yet! The image is from google- Mine isn't clean yet so I wanted you guys to see what it will look like shortly. It powers on but I am only getting white noise. Since my knowledge of tube based circuits is approximately zero, I'm thinking getting it working may not be worth the effort. HOWEVER. This would look killer as an amp enclosure ( i really want to build an amp). Anyone have any thoughts?
Title: Re: Just found this by the curb....
Post by: AntKnee on January 07, 2015, 04:09:07 AM
I would gut and put a modern mp3, bluetooth, or the like in it.
That thing is awesome.
Title: Re: Just found this by the curb....
Post by: Scruffie on January 07, 2015, 05:35:34 AM
What tubes have you got inside?
Title: Re: Just found this by the curb....
Post by: ggarms on January 07, 2015, 10:21:55 PM
They are tung sol from what I can read. Don't know enough about tubes to id further
Title: Re: Just found this by the curb....
Post by: m-Kresol on January 07, 2015, 10:25:31 PM
If you can bring it back to live, awesome. If not, you could easily fit a raspberry pi into it and use it as a media centre to stream your music, films and stuff.
Title: Re: Just found this by the curb....
Post by: Scruffie on January 08, 2015, 12:02:02 AM
Quote from: ggarms on January 07, 2015, 10:21:55 PM
They are tung sol from what I can read. Don't know enough about tubes to id further
I just wondered with what was in there if perhaps a decent mini tube amp could be made, no matter :)
Title: Re: Just found this by the curb....
Post by: pryde on January 08, 2015, 12:25:44 AM
Super cool.
I would try to get it going first, if no luck then make a little tube head out of it. lots of options like a fender F52a, etc.
Title: Re: Just found this by the curb....
Post by: mgwhit on January 08, 2015, 12:54:57 AM
I wouldn't bother with it as a radio.  If that's a Zenith K725, they're a rat's nest of point-to-point connections with seven tubes and no isolation transformer (== dangerous).  It does look awesome, though.  A Tweed Princeton (5F2A), a single channel Tweed Deluxe (5E3), a single channel 18 Watt or one of the Phat Ass variants they rave about on the Weber amp forums would fit nicely in that chassis, though.  You're gonna have to buy transformers, though.  Still I think gutting it and building a simple amp would be a lot easier than restoring it.  Just my $0.02.  Good luck!
Title: Re: Just found this by the curb....
Post by: ggarms on January 08, 2015, 03:58:32 AM
Quote from: mgwhit on January 08, 2015, 12:54:57 AM
I wouldn't bother with it as a radio.  If that's a Zenith K725, they're a rat's nest of point-to-point connections with seven tubes and no isolation transformer (== dangerous).  It does look awesome, though.  A Tweed Princeton (5F2A), a single channel Tweed Deluxe (5E3), a single channel 18 Watt or one of the Phat Ass variants they rave about on the Weber amp forums would fit nicely in that chassis, though.  You're gonna have to buy transformers, though.  Still I think gutting it and building a simple amp would be a lot easier than restoring it.  Just my $0.02.  Good luck!

That's exactly the advice I was looking for :) I was checking some of the various 5e3 kits out there. Seems like a good place to start with amps.
Title: Re: Just found this by the curb....
Post by: ggarms on January 08, 2015, 04:42:19 AM
Quote from: Scruffie on January 08, 2015, 12:02:02 AM
Quote from: ggarms on January 07, 2015, 10:21:55 PM
They are tung sol from what I can read. Don't know enough about tubes to id further
I just wondered with what was in there if perhaps a decent mini tube amp could be made, no matter :)

Yeah, it's definitely toobz, however my knowledge is so limited on amps and the unit is so old that I think it would be best (as suggested) to gut it and use as the basis for a cool first amp project. I'll keep you guys posted! It is winter and I have been itching for a big project...