1965 Admiral record player

[radiotvnut]

Yesterday, I spotted this Admiral solid state record player from 1965 at the flea market. The flea market owner claimed he paid a guy $20 for it and he'd sell it to me for what he paid for it. This one is in better shape than the usual ones I've been finding with trashed cabinets that they want more money for; so, I went ahead and got it. The flea market owner said that the guy he bought it from claimed that it was in working order; but, we all know how that goes.

One strange thing about this one is that it's the same size as a full sized stereo unit; but, this is only a mono unit with L and R speakers wired in parallel. That's not a big problem because most of the cheaper stereo models had seperate L and R volume controls; which, I don't like. Given the small size, there wouldn't be much stereo seperation, anyway.

Sure enough, the changer runs through it's cycle and it does play a record; but, the original 3V crystal cartridge is nearly dead and the volume has to be turned all the way up in order to get anything. I tested the amp by touching the cartridge terminals and I get a loud BUZZ from the speaker; so, the cartridge is shot.

This unit uses a Varco TOH-46V cartridge; which, is an oddball turn-over cartridge that's mounted in a holder that's held in place with a single screw that's hidden under a decorative peel-up label on top of the headshell. www.thevoiceofmusic.com does not show this cartridge; but, I'm going to contact him anyway to see if he has a substitute available. It would have been nice had they used a standard 1/2" mount; but, they didn't and I'll just have to see what options are available.

Looking at the amp, it is line driven (no power transformer) and appears to only have two transistors (the output mounted on a heatsink and one preamp transistor on the circuit board). This amp has very few components; but, looking at the PC board, it's evident that they used this same basic chassis for their better stereo amplifiers. Also notice that it still retains it's original cardboard tubular multi-section filter cap; which, seems to still be good. However, it will be replaced to help insure against future failure.

The changer is an Admiral Ensign changer. I've seen a few of these in Admiral products, as well as a few store branded record players; and, these changers seem to be decent. I don't recall any major problems with the ones I worked on.