After taking a drill and a very coarse wire brush to the bare iron surface I was able to remove most of the rust. The iron was still severely pitted because of the rust that had been on there for what was probbably years. Definetly no trace of the original chrome on this beast! The electronics of this werent in that great of shape either, all of the big caps needed to be replaced, along with the soft start thermistor which was a challenge to track down. Also the Selenium Rectifier was replaced along with adding a power switch and new power cord.
I must give credit where credit is due, this was my first attempt at anything like this and I had a very kind person whom I met on AudioAsylum talk me through the whole repair, He even ordered the proper parts, tested the tubes, and had a bottom cover fabricated for me. Many many thanks go out to you. In the end after putting $100+ worth or parts into this thing we never could get it working because of a shot output transformer which we had not detected with initial tests. Its too bad, we both wanted to see this thing work. After it was all said and done he offered to take the unit to use as a spare parts, or possibly repair peice. He didnt charge me for the parts or the cover and i just gave it to him. Hopefully he has a use for it.
Thats what it finally did end up looking like after I had painted the transformers and chassis. trust me, it looks alot better in the pic than it does in person! And with that bottom cover on there it was looking awesome.
The CD ROM CD Player
This Project was something I made out of Curiosity, There are a few people who have done this sort of thing before but I dont think they have gone to the length's I have to build cases for the equipment. This Project was a bit stupid when I look back on it but I suppse we all have those moments.
For this project I needed a cd ROM Drive, I chose a Plextor unit because they are supposed to have better quality build and possibly better sound outputs than others. I also needed a power supply for the cdp so I used a regular computer power supply which was a huge mistake because when it was all said and done the power supply is Huge. The CD ROM unit is sized fine but thats about it.
The power supply is the standard ATX type, which can be turned on and off by shorting the green and black wires on the motherboard connector. The yellow is +12v and the Red is +5v, both of which are needed for the CD ROM. The Audio output of the cd rom is coming from the standard analog audio outputs, which means I am using the internal DAC circuitry in the drive. It would be better to convert it to send out digital and use a outboard DAC but I didnt. I also had to convert the fan inside the power supply from the 12v that it was wired up with and I simply hooked it up to one of the 5v outputs of the supply to keep the fan running slower and therefore quieter!
This Drive I believe is a 24x speed, or something to that effect but when you place a regular audio cd in, it only reads at 1x speed. The main thing you need to know about selecting a drive is to get one with the play/stop and next track buttons to have SOME sort of control as to what the drive is doing. Some people have even gone as far as making displays and programming to make the drives more functional.
THE SOUND!
Well.... It plays cd's just fine but dont expect any revalations. I didnt, and not surprisingly i didnt hear any. At any rate it does look sort of neat. However unpractical.
DIY RECORD CLEANING MACHINE!
This Project Stems from my aquisition of a Turntable, The Sansui SR838, Which I Installed a Grado Black cartridge on. I hadnt ever really heard vinly records but Its pretty well known in the audiophile community that they have as good or superior sound to cd's, However they have one major drawback that is worse than the others.. Getting Dirty! Any dirt or dust on the record can add pops anc clicks along with degrade the sound. There are more than a couple products out that can cost upwards of 1,000 dollars simply to clean records. Although i would be SHOCKED if mine worked as well as those, its pretty simple and effective.
Basically All it really is, is a base which is made out of some oak and pine I believe, which houses the motor unit I tore out of a cheap sansui TT because I needed something to spin the platter on. I also threw in the electronics out of the old TT but the motor is not strong enough to turn the platter while in the process of cleaning. The heart of the cleaner is the vaccumme attachment which i had cut a slit down the underside to suck up the fluids from the record surface after cleaning. I was able to design an arm which swings out right over the record at the perfect height by using a handle attachment from a power drill which worked perfectly. I also added a soft surface to protect the record on the arm tube which is really only a paint sponge replacement.
When I clean records i need to spin the platter by hand while i brush the record clean and then hold it down and spin it while I have the vacuume on to suck off the liquids. I also use a old platter mat when in use. Maybe not the most automatic cleaning machine out, but hey. For just a little time and less than 15 bucks, it works pretty good.
AIR MASS ISOLATION PLATFORM
This Project comes from the many different designs for isoation devices on the market, everything from cones to wooden blocks that have been seasoned (with pixie dust?.... perhaps...) And 6 inch thick granite slabs that need to be shipped on a pallet.
Well this design isint as simple, or complicated as some of them out but I would say that it works pretty good considering the amount of time and money it takes to build one. And I dont need any special test equipment to measure the results, because they are so pronounced that I can feel them with my hand. The first design I started with was simply a peice of plywood which is an inch larger than the component I was isolating on all sides. Then I added what I called "retainer" peices around the edges on the bottom so that it would hide a good majority of the Innertube which goes underneath along with keeping it in place.
The size innertube That worked best for me was a 20", These are readily available at pretty much any walmart or hardware store for about 3-4 dollars. As you can see in the photo above I later added a peice of Granite tile to the middle of the platform to try and combat any acoustic energy that could be turned into mechanical vibration. I didnt bother to listen if it made any audible difference or not but again, A simple wrap with the knuckles confirms that it quite a bit more deadened than it was previous to adding the granite.
I would not reccomend this type of design for something that had an unbalanced weight distrubution as it can tend to be weidhed down more on one side and look stupid. Or for heavy amplifiers. I do not use very much pressure in the tube for the cd player, I would think that with the kind of pressure necessary for most big power amplifiers that the innertube would expand to much and rupture. But thats just a guess.
THE SOUND!?
Well, whats to say about this one, Does it make an audible difference? Ah dunno! I guess I could talk myself into believing it does but seeing as how i spent a grand total of about 5 bucks on it, I really couldnt care less. I do know that it does reduce vibrations that would otherwise be going into the player if I did not have the platform because I can feel the reduction. This is enough proof for me to use it.