Beautiful 1961 Bogen Challenger CHA-10 Vintage amplifier. Completely restored plug and play ready! Glorious single ended 6L6 sound! Think way louder Fender Princeton. Amp is mostly stock with a few useful mods. The tone switch has been changed to way more useful tweed Fender tone pot circuit. The phono pot is now a master volume. 1/4 input and speaker out jacks. 4, 8 and 16 ohm outputs. I added a 3 prong power cord and fuse for safety. Still has the original hang tag from the power cord! All original high testing Bogen tubes-6AV6 (Blackburn Mullard), 6AU6 (RCA), 6L6GC (GE) and EZ81 (Blackburn Mullard). I haven’t done one of these for awhile, so video is of one I did while ago the same way so you can hear how it sounds.
Perfectly restored and optimized McIntosh MC240. NOS RCA 6L6 tubes. Performance & tech verified and restored for top sound. Power capacitors and only necessary’leaky’ capacitors changed by a certified tech. Paper in oil capacitors used when appropriate by Aerovox and Duelund! Input RCA’s changed to CMC high copper input jacks, Twin Amp (dual mono volume controls) only for top performance and sound. Recently checked for balance, performance and all voltages see tech picture of vanishing distortion! This got all the treatment like a classic car, and far more time and tech and NOS tubes used when appropriate to get this sounding top notch. An amazing’endgame’ classic as used by Brian Wilson on Pet Sounds.
Console pulled The Fisher 460A vintage EL84 tube amplifier approx late 1950′s or early 1960s (See label and serial number in photos). This amp has been fully restored electronically w/ modern capacitors + modifications to account for fact that stereo tuner is no longer present in the console, thus a bias resistor modification is made to properly bias the tubes (See 20 watt gold power resistor mounted to underside chassis). All capacitors and components are top quality such as Nichicon electrolytic and classic “Orange Drop” coupling caps, etc. The original top-side “MULTI-CAN” large capacitors were left in-place for vintage aesthetics while all new capacitors for the DC tube supply voltages were built into the underside as shown in the photos. New rectifier diodes were also installed as shown. A thermistor was added to the A/C input side to soften start-up current surge to the tubes and also add slight voltage drop to account for higher line voltages in today’s homes. The tubes are (2) Sovtek EL84 + (2) Russian 6P14P (EL84) for the power output + (2) 7247 for input stage : The amp, since it hadn’t been run in a while was “burned in” on the bench for approx 2 hours and ran perfect. I re-checked the bias and supply voltages and everything was in-spec. No hum, no sound issues – it’s running great. I will include a marked-up schematic and an original un-marked schematic to show the modification(s) and resistor values performed and needed to make these Fisher console amps run properly in stand-alone mode as was done to this one. An ON/OFF power switch was added (it appears the green LED light in it is out, but does not affect the power switch function). There is also a custom mesh steel plate bottom w/ plastic feet that was added allowing proper ventilation to keep the tubes running cooler. The bottom plate is steel – I left it un-painted as a new owner may want to paint it a custom color or build a wood case for the amp etc and thus it shows a bit of light surface rust as it’s not coated at this point. This amplifier is intended for a vintage tube amp collector or similar who is fully aware of what they are looking at in the photos and how to safely handle a tube amplifier if they remove the bottom cover etc as dangerous voltages are present.
This is a very rare Berlant Concertone MCM-2 Tube mixer. (4) 12ax7 preamp tubes and a single 12at7 in the line section. The original schematic is under the original bottom panel. This is berlants version of the Ampex MX-10 and goes with their tape machines. After testing this unit with a plug in transformer I found the frequency response was better in the low end and high end without transformers. In the original manual it states to simply use jumpers if you do not have the transformers, I personally soldered jumpers underneath which allows this unit to shine and sound amazing on all 4 mic inputs. I did the same on the output as well. I much prefer this unit to an altec 1567 and the berlant sounds REALLY good. I changed all the electrolytic capacitors and some resistors to have this unit running strong and sturdy and safe. I left ALL the original coupling caps for tone and all the vibes you want. I cannot promise you how long these vintage caps will last in spec and they could drift after some time, but for now it sounds great. The unit has some light floor noise but it is very low in comparison to the volume of the mics. I had to replace a few of the xls on this unit but I used the same kind as original so they blend in. A few of the xls are missing the little push button releases, which I actually prefer because they tend to stick, but all work as they should for removing them easily. I added a 3 prong chord and I did nice clean work on the restoration I did. I used all vintage tubes which all work great but again I cannot promise how long they will last, so it is always smart to have spares around in case one becomes too noisy. Video: I ran through each channel 1-4, I set the volumes diff so that you get seem diff tones, breakup and textures. I ran it mostly kinda hot, cleans up nice too. Using Electrovoice 666 mic, gibson amp, Silvertone guitar. I WAS distorting my amp a bit and the mic which is right on the grill. The Berlant will get excellent clean and distorted sounds.
This Little Powerhouse Player was amazing for 1950. A wonderful Sounding Player that millions of People have enjoyed throughout the Decades. With Great feathers like single wheel drive, Bearing Platter (increased from 5 bearings to 9). Radio Tube, Amplifier with a 4″x6″ Alnico style Speaker. American engineering will handle its seamless mechanical operation of record stacking up to a Dozen 45 Records. All aspects of this Player has been addressed. Completely Disassembled, Cleaned Repaired, repainted, And or Rebuilt. Painstakingly reassembled calibrated, adjusted, Tested and Tested again. I can’t think of a better use of American technology to bring back to life, for people to enjoy for the next eighty years.
Beautiful McIntosh MC 240 amplifier totally restored, no expensed spared in restoration. Amplifier includes a matched set of Tungsol 6L6 GC STR output tubes, all other tubes are tested NOS. Amplifier tested at 42 watts per channel.
Excellent working condition and cosmetically very good plus. The BEAUTIFUL 1957 Eico HF-20 Tube Amplifier is a vintage audio gem that has been carefully restored and serviced. This amplifier, made by EICO in the United States, is a classic piece of audio history perfect for high-fidelity sound enthusiasts. With the option for 4, 8, or 16 Ohm impedance and a power output of 20W, this vacuum tube amplifier delivers a warm and rich sound that is sure to impress any audiophile. Ideal for those looking to add a touch of nostalgia and vintage charm to their audio setup.
Marantz Model 5 Amplifier. Serial #’s: 2718, 2732. These amplifiers were restored as a pair in 2016 by AEA (Analog Engineering Associates) Audio Inc. The company founded by audio pioneer Ken Leonard. Full Gold Level restoration with power supply upgrade. Chassis hand polished and sealed. AC Line cords replaced. All coupling and bypass caps upgraded to modern” audiophile” polypropylene types. Power supply upgrade installed with 500% increase in capacity. High capacity surge suppressors added. Transformer blow-out protection added. NOS RCA 6BH6 driver tubes installed. Output tube bias supply filtering improved. Bias supply Selenium rectifier replaced with modern silicon type. Bias was critically adjusted using a spectrum analyzer to minimize odd-order harmonic content, especially minimizing the 5. The last pictures show the test report details the performance. NOTE: One of the Amps is missing an external oil can capacitor. Restoration was completed with a new capacitor placed internally. A near match of the capacitor is included and can be placed for aesthetics (see pictures). Tubes will all be removed and packed separately.
Pilot model SA-300 EL34 push pull amplifier. This was restored with new electrolytic caps, orange drop caps, resistors, diodes, new line cord, new EL34 sockets. Please check all pictures for condition and underside on the chassis. Tubes tested my calibrated Dan Nelsen TV-7/U, see picture for reading. This is a heavy unit.
