Phonoland

Hello everyone hope all is well. Well before I start asking for help it would only be proper to introduce myself. I am from Indianapolis IN. in the US my name is Zack, spell it zach and we will have problems lol I am a married man which makes me a man of many hobbies woodworking, motorizing bicycles, and paintball to name a few. Well having back and knee surgery at 25 has ended my paintballing days and put a damper on riding motorized bicycles. My wife being the amazing woman she is and knowing my love of classic rock got me a record player. Boy was I ecstatic. It is very nice and my favorite thing in the house. The day we got it we went to a local record store where I went crazy and bought a ton of records. This was probably around late July early August. I looked online for any information I could find about it but it was to no avail. The radio has Symphonic written on it and the record player Garrard, the only other think i know about it is that it uses tubes. Well flash forward a few months to late November. I went and bought a Christmas album for my wife to play when we decorated the tree and the house. She was all excited which made me feel pretty awesome, go to put it on and the player turns the record and it plays but the speakers don't play the sound, just what you hear from the needle hitting the record. I switched it over to the radio and I got no noise at all. I have turned it on with the back opened and all the tubes seem to glow as if they are working and every thing seems to be in working order just no sound from the speakers. So if you guys have any ideas on how I could fix this it would be much appreciated. Also, any help with identifying my record player and tracking down an owners manual and where to get new needles would be much appreciated.
Thank you so much,
Zack

Hey Zach, Welcome to the Board!

Check out the FAQ about where to get needles and cartridges, all the old posts about recapping etc. You're posting something redundant that has been asked a gazillion times.

I don't know what kind of electronic knowledge/skills you have, but If you peruse the old postings, you will get an understanding of how these old relics work. Replacing electrolytics seem to be the main problem, which solves many issues, but the turntable is another issue...many moving parts with some that need to be be lubed while others are dry and clean.

I had to take out about an hour last night reading the old postings, and can't believe the contributions and wealth of knowlege that came forward. With snippets of postings offered here and there, you could almost compile your own manual to service just about anything. And there are some very knowledgeable service Techs that frequent the board. If you don't know a light bulb from a hand mixer, PLEASE, have a professional/knowledgeable person check out your unit.

I offer my personal thanks to all who have contributed over the years. You can't put a price on the knowledge gained here. Again, search the old postings. Just about anything you need to know will be found here. --BB

Bobby Basham
Tucson, Arizona

Nice gift from the wife!

As a professional electronics repair tech, I have to state that anything "vintage" should be gone over by a knowledgable tech to insure reliability and safety.

Even though the wife got it for you, and it plays (or played), the first thing you should have done is get it worked on.
Now, you're seeing the results of neglect and aging.
Hopefully, using it in that condition didn't cause more issues now - some critical parts like transformers are very costly to replace.

Virtually all of these sets including table radios, need attention. - it's mandatory.
The tubes run out of specification due to aged, dried-out capacitors - causing them too to fail.
The changer's 50+ year old grease has now turned to glue, the rubber motor mounts get hard, and the drive tire rots.... and patsy cline will sound like Barry White.

You certainly wouldn't drive a car for a long trip if it wasn't serviced in 40 years, and had original tires, oil, and gas in it, would you?
Same applies here.

Best advice from me is - unplug the thing before more damage is done, and get someone local to work on it.

Does anyone recognize the cabinet I'm still trying to find a manufacturer. I have searched the serial number along with all the other numbers I could find to no avail. I have looked at a ton of pics trying to find something that looked like it but no luck there either any help would be appreciated.

"and patsy cline will sound like Barry White."

Perhaps it's a "Symphonic"??

Zack wrote:Does anyone recognize the cabinet I'm still trying to find a manufacturer. I have searched the serial number along with all the other numbers I could find to no avail. I have looked at a ton of pics trying to find something that looked like it but no luck there either any help would be appreciated.

The "manufacturer" is Symphonic.
It was a low-end brand from the 60's usually sold in department stores.