The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

OK, looks like you have the basics--a receiver and speakers. Can't make out the mfr., but it looks to be a vacuum tube amp, which means it's right up to the current audiophile fashion. If it hasn't been turned on for a long while, don't just plug it in and turn it on; bring it up gradually on a variac. Note that tubes are expen$ive to replace if they've gone bad. Be sure to put the amp where it gets plenty of ventilation; tubes run *hot*. Nice start!

[edit] By the way, in case you don't know, when you hook up the speakers, be careful to preserve polarity--that is, connect the + terminal on your amp to the + terminal of the speaker, - of amp to - of speaker, on both sides. If you connect + to - on one side and + to + on the other, the speakers will be out of phase and their bass response will suffer. Your cable will probably have some way of telling the sides apart--a ridge molded into the insulation, contrasting copper and aluminum wires, a stripe on one side, or the like. Pay attention to it. Speaking of cable, if you must supply your own, a lot of audiophile hoop-de-do gets spilled on the subject, but for my money good ol' lamp cord in a suitably heavy gauge is plenty fine. That's what folks universally used back when your dad's gear was new. Worked for them, will work for you.

Also, and this is important: do NOT allow so much as a single strand of wire to short across the terminals of your amp or speakers. You can easily blow the amp that way.

wow drh, you sure do know your stuff. Thank you for taking the time to explain everything.

Someone sent me a message saying they have a Califone school version they would sell me for a good price. Would this work with that setup? I am highly interested in that Califone because I have a ton of 16 inch records that I have not been able to listen to yet, but would like to.

travisgreyfox wrote:wow drh, you sure do know your stuff. Thank you for taking the time to explain everything.

Someone sent me a message saying they have a Califone school version they would sell me for a good price. Would this work with that setup? I am highly interested in that Califone because I have a ton of 16 inch records that I have not been able to listen to yet, but would like to.

Caliphones are typically self contained meaning they include an amplifier and speakers. I love my Caliphone as it allows me to play almost any format of disc records. I bought a school version on this forum too. It's a fun setup if you are playing 78s particularly.

travisgreyfox wrote:wow drh, you sure do know your stuff. Thank you for taking the time to explain everything.

Someone sent me a message saying they have a Califone school version they would sell me for a good price. Would this work with that setup? I am highly interested in that Califone because I have a ton of 16 inch records that I have not been able to listen to yet, but would like to.

Don't just assume that it will play 16" just because it's a Califone because most of them did not. If this is specifically a 16" version you are getting a whale of a deal.

All the Califones I have ever seen are a player- amp and speaker included.

travisgreyfox wrote:wow drh, you sure do know your stuff. Thank you for taking the time to explain everything.

Someone sent me a message saying they have a Califone school version they would sell me for a good price. Would this work with that setup? I am highly interested in that Califone because I have a ton of 16 inch records that I have not been able to listen to yet, but would like to.

Do you mean 16 inch, or do you mean 16 RPM? If the latter, a Califone probably will have the speed. If you mean the former, it probably won't handle the records. Leaving aside the question of whether there's enough clearance between spindle and arm base, to play a 16 inch record, you'd probably need a long tonearm, I guess 12" where 9" is more or less standard for good component turntables, almost universally so for those that come with a built-in arm. To get a longer arm, usually you'll be faced with buying a turntable that takes a separate component arm--read, spending $$$$. Most component arms alone, even used, will cost multiples of the $100 budget, and that's before paying to have them mounted.

Anyhow, I don't think a Califone is likely to have the arm and platter setup for such large records, which for the most part were broadcast transcriptions and the like, intended to be played on professional equipment in radio studios. By contrast, most modern turntables, particularly those at the low cost end of the spectrum, will lack the 16 RPM speed. For that matter, I don't think the Dual 12xx tables had 16 RPM, either. You might find an older BSR that did, but those were in general not all that well built, and by this late date they are likely to need repairs costing more than they are worth. (An ever present problem for "vintage" gear, I might add--as Peter F suggested earlier.)

Peter, thanks for the info. I was talking about 16 inch records. I bought a box of them from a guy on here last summer and have been looking for something to play them on ever since I turned down the generous offer that I received on the Califone because I need something that I can hook that aforementioned speaker/amp to and would rather it not be a portable.

Anyway, I am still on the hunt if anybody has anything. I could also throw in trade stuff (like records and Victrola parts etc).

Travis, I have a 4 speed Garrard changer with two cartridge heads I am not using. It's on a plinth, but no dust cover. It needs a deep cleaning and servicing, but otherwise "it ran when I parked it".

It's one like this:



If interested, PM me or email me at [email protected] and we can discuss. If I recall, mine has both spindles (regular and 45) for automatic operation.

This is the same era as your amp/ speakers, too, which is nice.