Phonoland

Greetings from San Francisco,

I'm new to this forum, so hello to all!

I recently purchased a Packard Bell RPC-60 from the original owner in LA. It was working beautifully until I drove it back home to SF. One of the speakers was not working whether it was on radio or phono. I opened it up and tightened a few loose wires and now both speakers work and the radio sounds fine. But when it is on phono, it sounds like dead air space. When I play a record, you can still hear this sound. I'm wondering if it needs to be grounded perhaps?

I just bought a service manual on eBay. I doubt that would have any info, but I figured it would be good info to have. I wish I could find a user manual.

Also, does anyone know how to hook up external speakers to this using basic speaker wire? Below is a close up of the external speaker connector. Is there an adaptor that I can use?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Robert

The service manual would contain all the information needed to figure out the speaker wiring arrangement.
A lot of consoles used a propriatory system for speaker hookups.
The jack panel photo you posted should be identifiable in the manual as well.
Then, suitable arrangements can be made for connecting external speakers without damaging the system.

As for the improper sound on phono, it's difficult for me to troubleshoot over the internet - a number of reasons could cause the problem.
Defective cartridge or cartridge wiring, broken or loose wires or connections, etc, I'm not there to inspect it.
The Garrard changer itself will need a mandatory overhauling due to gummed up grease and dried up lubrication - if it's to perform well in the future.

Since this console has some issues, and simply moving it causes them, it's a good idea to have it gone over by someone knowledgable - like a vintage car, it's got miles/decades on it, deterioration has set in - would you rely on such a vehicle to perform safely on the highway without having it checked out and serviced?