In my Airline 14WG-806A, the original speaker sounds amazing, especially since I have reconditioned the cone with a mixture of neatsfoot oil with a couple of drops of dish detergent. It is so flexible now that I can push the edge in without it cracking at all. However, both before and after reconditioning, it does not reproduce crisp treble notes well. I don't listen to AM radio. There is nothing worth listening to in Milwaukee. Instead I use the convenient RCA input jack on the back of the radio to pipe in things like www.pandora.com. While some of the music I like is from the 30s and 40s, and might not carry up into the high treble ranges (though a lot does, actually), I also like some more modern music, and would like it to be reproduced faithfully. I found these neat little tweeter speakers on eBay, and like them because they can be bolted inside of the speaker where they are inconspicuous to the user.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&rt=nc&nma=true&item=160535174883&si=aLSqxLwy3YviPToh7XmX5f%252BF5%252FQ%253D&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_500wt_1156
To use properly, first check polarity of both the main and tweeter speakers with a dry cell. If the main speaker is an ED speaker, power up the radio so that the field is energized. Then wire up the tweeter in parallel, with a capacitor around 10 MFD in series with the tweeter. Adjust capacitance to your liking, or add additional components (chokes, capacitors, etc.) to create a crossover that suits your taste.
I also disconnected one lead of the .001 MFD mica capacitor within the amplifier to further increase high frequency response, added a few capacitors and resistors for negative feedback to my liking, and a couple of other odds and ends. Since I use this radio mostly for listening to Pandora or MP3 music, I want it to sound as life-like as possible. The nice thing about all of these modifications is that they can be easily removed, and, further, they show what a remarkable job of reproducing music these antique radios can do (for anyone who thinks that their technology is inferior).
T.
:
:In my Airline 14WG-806A, the original speaker sounds amazing, especially since I have reconditioned the cone with a mixture of neatsfoot oil with a couple of drops of dish detergent. It is so flexible now that I can push the edge in without it cracking at all. However, both before and after reconditioning, it does not reproduce crisp treble notes well. I don't listen to AM radio. There is nothing worth listening to in Milwaukee. Instead I use the convenient RCA input jack on the back of the radio to pipe in things like www.pandora.com. While some of the music I like is from the 30s and 40s, and might not carry up into the high treble ranges (though a lot does, actually), I also like some more modern music, and would like it to be reproduced faithfully. I found these neat little tweeter speakers on eBay, and like them because they can be bolted inside of the speaker where they are inconspicuous to the user.
:
:http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&rt=nc&nma=true&item=160535174883&si=aLSqxLwy3YviPToh7XmX5f%252BF5%252FQ%253D&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_500wt_1156
:
:To use properly, first check polarity of both the main and tweeter speakers with a dry cell. If the main speaker is an ED speaker, power up the radio so that the field is energized. Then wire up the tweeter in parallel, with a capacitor around 10 MFD in series with the tweeter. Adjust capacitance to your liking, or add additional components (chokes, capacitors, etc.) to create a crossover that suits your taste.
:
:I also disconnected one lead of the .001 MFD mica capacitor within the amplifier to further increase high frequency response, added a few capacitors and resistors for negative feedback to my liking, and a couple of other odds and ends. Since I use this radio mostly for listening to Pandora or MP3 music, I want it to sound as life-like as possible. The nice thing about all of these modifications is that they can be easily removed, and, further, they show what a remarkable job of reproducing music these antique radios can do (for anyone who thinks that their technology is inferior).
:
:T.
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: Good idea! Thomas,
I'm thinking I could use that on some $10 am/fm radios that I've been collecting. Definitely something to tinker with. Thanks!
Bob Masse
:
:
|
:: Good idea! Thomas,
::Some radio speakers, like the one used in the Stromberg Carlson Labrynth, with its aluminum voice coil, or the Magnavox speaker in my Crosley 1117, are capable of reproducing high frequency sounds with remarkable clarity. However, other radio speakers fall short of this, being designed merely to reproduce AM radio only, and hopefully to eliminate annoying static.
::
::In my Airline 14WG-806A, the original speaker sounds amazing, especially since I have reconditioned the cone with a mixture of neatsfoot oil with a couple of drops of dish detergent. It is so flexible now that I can push the edge in without it cracking at all. However, both before and after reconditioning, it does not reproduce crisp treble notes well. I don't listen to AM radio. There is nothing worth listening to in Milwaukee. Instead I use the convenient RCA input jack on the back of the radio to pipe in things like www.pandora.com. While some of the music I like is from the 30s and 40s, and might not carry up into the high treble ranges (though a lot does, actually), I also like some more modern music, and would like it to be reproduced faithfully. I found these neat little tweeter speakers on eBay, and like them because they can be bolted inside of the speaker where they are inconspicuous to the user.
::
::http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&rt=nc&nma=true&item=160535174883&si=aLSqxLwy3YviPToh7XmX5f%252BF5%252FQ%253D&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_500wt_1156
::
::To use properly, first check polarity of both the main and tweeter speakers with a dry cell. If the main speaker is an ED speaker, power up the radio so that the field is energized. Then wire up the tweeter in parallel, with a capacitor around 10 MFD in series with the tweeter. Adjust capacitance to your liking, or add additional components (chokes, capacitors, etc.) to create a crossover that suits your taste.
::
::I also disconnected one lead of the .001 MFD mica capacitor within the amplifier to further increase high frequency response, added a few capacitors and resistors for negative feedback to my liking, and a couple of other odds and ends. Since I use this radio mostly for listening to Pandora or MP3 music, I want it to sound as life-like as possible. The nice thing about all of these modifications is that they can be easily removed, and, further, they show what a remarkable job of reproducing music these antique radios can do (for anyone who thinks that their technology is inferior).
::
::T.
::
:I'm thinking I could use that on some $10 am/fm radios that I've been collecting. Definitely something to tinker with. Thanks!
:Bob Masse
::
::
:
I also saw a speaker advertised, in the late 1940s by I believe Jensen, that had a hollowed out magnet and a separate treble driver mounted behind the magnet. The treble from this driver traveled through the hollow tunnel in the center, and was amplified by the whizzer cone.
One thing I am going to possibly try in the future, since the original voice coil form is kind of falling apart, is to make a new voice coil form with aluminum, which should hopefully transfer treble to the cone a bit more.
For now, though, the additional tweeter is doing the trick nicely.
T.
Whizzer cones. c'mon, Ya canna change the laws of physics. Who said that?
:Some radio speakers, like the one used in the Stromberg Carlson Labrynth, with its aluminum voice coil, or the Magnavox speaker in my Crosley 1117, are capable of reproducing high frequency sounds with remarkable clarity. However, other radio speakers fall short of this, being designed merely to reproduce AM radio only, and hopefully to eliminate annoying static.
:
:In my Airline 14WG-806A, the original speaker sounds amazing, especially since I have reconditioned the cone with a mixture of neatsfoot oil with a couple of drops of dish detergent. It is so flexible now that I can push the edge in without it cracking at all. However, both before and after reconditioning, it does not reproduce crisp treble notes well. I don't listen to AM radio. There is nothing worth listening to in Milwaukee. Instead I use the convenient RCA input jack on the back of the radio to pipe in things like www.pandora.com. While some of the music I like is from the 30s and 40s, and might not carry up into the high treble ranges (though a lot does, actually), I also like some more modern music, and would like it to be reproduced faithfully. I found these neat little tweeter speakers on eBay, and like them because they can be bolted inside of the speaker where they are inconspicuous to the user.
:
:http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&rt=nc&nma=true&item=160535174883&si=aLSqxLwy3YviPToh7XmX5f%252BF5%252FQ%253D&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_500wt_1156
:
:To use properly, first check polarity of both the main and tweeter speakers with a dry cell. If the main speaker is an ED speaker, power up the radio so that the field is energized. Then wire up the tweeter in parallel, with a capacitor around 10 MFD in series with the tweeter. Adjust capacitance to your liking, or add additional components (chokes, capacitors, etc.) to create a crossover that suits your taste.
:
:I also disconnected one lead of the .001 MFD mica capacitor within the amplifier to further increase high frequency response, added a few capacitors and resistors for negative feedback to my liking, and a couple of other odds and ends. Since I use this radio mostly for listening to Pandora or MP3 music, I want it to sound as life-like as possible. The nice thing about all of these modifications is that they can be easily removed, and, further, they show what a remarkable job of reproducing music these antique radios can do (for anyone who thinks that their technology is inferior).
:
:T.
:
:I'm not even going to bother with this response. Read the post. Then realize that your reply has nothing to do with what I posted.
:
I also did this to my 1940 Silvertone Radio Recorder, which plays 78s. The sound quality is very pleasing, and you'd be surprised at how high the frequency range is on 78s. The popular ones sound terrific, and my Columbia Masterworks and Victor Red Seals (from the 1940s) are unbelievable. I have one set, Kostelanetz does Cole Porter, and the frequency response is out of this world. The surfaces are also very quiet. Flutes and violins have all of the breadth and freshness that you'd expect to hear from a superb recording. 78s might not be the optimum medium for recording, mostly because of the surface noise, but they can sound great. I use a stereo cartridge wired mono, and a very nice diamond needle that still hasn't shown signs of wear, and I installed it over a year ago. I used to use sapphire, but sapphire chips easily, and would start tearing into my records after only a month or so of use. Not so with this diamond needle.
The phonograph also uses its original 6" electrodynamic speaker. I added a whizzer cone for the Kostelanetz records because I knew something was missing. When played on a high fidelity phonograph with appropriate speakers, the records will amaze you. Except for the surface noise (more of a soft rumble than hiss), it sounds almost like you're there in the orchestra. The speaker on my Silvertone isn't quite ideal, but it does a good job, and I really do not want to replace it. I also removed the small value tone capacitor from the plate circuit of the 1st audio for better high end. All of this can be changed back if you want a brute-force amplifier with excessive mid-range, and a stiff set-screw type cartridge with steel needles that gouge up the records, but I enjoy my records too much to limit myself like this.
My Crosley Super 11 impresses everyone when I play pandora.com through it. The neighbors complain and tell me to turn off my sub-woofer. The bass is overwhelming. I added a 2.5 inch whizzer cone to the original 10" Magnavox electrodynamic speaker. The speaker is capable of incredible treble response right into regions that you'd never expect from a 1930s radio speaker. Unfortunately the speaker has a bit too much upper mid-range, which I could trim off with either a crossover network or additions to the negative feedback circuit which I added to the amplifier (a few capacitors and resistors from the 1st output plate back to the plate of the 1st audio amplifier, with others to ground to trim out negative feedback at certain frequencies to accentuate those frequencies). Though the radio does have a bit too much mid-range in a very odd register, it sounds great once you get used to it, and I have heard far worse from several luxury brand car radios.
T.