Expert Senior combined radio

Discussions on Talking Machines of British or European Manufacture
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chunnybh
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Re: Expert Senior combined radio

Post by chunnybh »

It's a bit strange to have the vent holes at the back and in the base as well as the two rectangular holes. Perhaps there were two rectangular speakers mounted in there. There are no fixing holes at the back, perhaps they were fixed from the outside. Any guesses to what type of speakers may have gone there?
I cannot decide whether to strip the case or not.

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Steve
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Re: Expert Senior combined radio

Post by Steve »

chunnybh wrote: Thu Feb 16, 2023 4:30 pm It's a bit strange to have the vent holes at the back and in the base as well as the two rectangular holes. Perhaps there were two rectangular speakers mounted in there. There are no fixing holes at the back, perhaps they were fixed from the outside. Any guesses to what type of speakers may have gone there?
I cannot decide whether to strip the case or not.
As its mahogany veneer I personally wouldn't strip it. Unlike oak it is very difficult to restore the colour and correct finish and also mahogany fades terribly so trying to get back to a "faded glory" but honest appearance will be next to impossible. At best, it'll look like a reproduction cabinet. I've never seen any refinished mahogany surfaces that look right. It's a skill even the best tradesmen seem to lack.

There is also the argument that an original finish can never be put back once removed. For posterity I'd keep it as it is but just tidy it up.

IainW
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Re: Expert Senior combined radio

Post by IainW »

Could it be that the rectangular holes were for access to the thermionic valves and that an external speaker was required.

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chunnybh
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Re: Expert Senior combined radio

Post by chunnybh »

Thank you Steve for the advice on mahogany veneer. I once made the mistake of stripping an HMV 12 with spider legs. There were so many different shades of mahogany throughout the cabinet that the only way to deal with it was to stain it very dark, defeating the choice to strip it in the first place.
I'm going to leave the cabinet alone and let it wear it's battle scars with pride.
Iain, I agree. I believe there was a mesh that fitted on the outside over the rectangular holes giving easy access to the tubes. I cannot see a speaker ever having been fitted to the cabinet.
I'll upload a video link once I have had time to re-build the soundbox.

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chunnybh
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Re: Expert Senior combined radio

Post by chunnybh »

Mystery solved.
The illustration (Fig 19) with the radio appeared in 'GRAMOPHONES Acoustic and Radio Compiled by G. WILSON’. Page 45. On further reading here is an excerpt from Page 54.
“Another form of radio-gramophone has just been produced in which a large external horn can be used to reproduce records by the ordinary sound-box, or the horn can be utilised as a loud speaker by interposing a moving coil unit in the acoustic system and switching on the radio set contained in the cabinet (see Fig. 19). In addition to the tone-arm and sound-box, a pick-up is fitted and thus one has the choice of either radio and the electrical or acoustic reproduction of records, and the speaker is high up in the room. “

So the moving coil was used in this model with the radio and second electrical pick-up.

I've uploaded a page on it at my site with a video link:
https://www.gramophonemuseum.com/expert ... binet.html

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