Vintage jukebox restoration help needed!!! (1 Viewer)

[illegalsmile]

Hello all,


I recently started refinishing an old motorola hi-fi stereo system (large box/table that had a record/cassette player, radio, speakers, etc...) which includes the gutting of old electronics, wiring and sanding/staining the surface. When it's done I will have a 20" touchscreen display where the record player used to be, new audio components and a computer to control it all in addition to connecting to the wall mounted tv in the living room. This is an example of what i'm working with but is not the actual table.




I have little experience with audio equipment, I have wired my car for new speakers, amp, head unit etc... but this seems like a different beast so I have many questions.


There were 2x10", 2x4" and 2x3" speakers in there so I'd like to keep the same size speakers and configuration which shouldn't be a problem. I want the computer to control all aspects of this device and unless there's a receiver which can be controlled by a computer I think I'd like to simply use amps instead of a receiver. However, I will want multiple inputs into the speakers (aux, computer sound input, television) so I'd imagine I need some sort of splitter?? box.


1. What type of speakers should I use? Car or home theater? I don't want to pay for cabinets since these will be mounted into the cabinet.


2. Are there amps with tos-link (that's the fiber cable correct?) inputs for sound?


3. I might possibly want to add side and rear speakers (surround) in the future, would this force me to buy a receiver?


4. If you were doing the same thing how would you do the audio?


5. Do I want a subwoofer even though I'll have 2x10" speakers?


6. Has anyone converted old analog dials/knobs to digital so you can control settings on a computer (i.e. volume knob)? (I'm not too concerned with this at the moment as it should be fairly easy and I'm better with that than audio things)


I'm sure there will be more questions, any and all help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[illegalsmile]

here are pictures of what I'm actually working with...

 

[Birddog]

Looks like a very cool project. Post some pics when its complete. I don't have a ton of experience with this stuff but I've had good luck with parts-express.com. They sell all kinds of parts for builing your own AV equipment and speakers. They also have good support to help you figure out what you need, Good Luck.

 

[illegalsmile]

So no one has any audio tips or answers to my questions? They seem fairly simple? I really need to know what direction to go, amps or just a receiver and why?

 

[CB750]

Benjamin,


You did confuse us a bit by posting pictures of two entirely different old cabinets. I assume the unit you have is the second unit that includes both a front and back view. Is this the same GE unit that was posed under a different thread?


First of all I assume that you want to refinish the cabinet and turn it into a novelty item with upgraded electronics that sound better than the original. I refinished some pieces of furniture and it appears that it is made out of plywood over particle board which is a plus. This is no great piece of furniture it's nothing more than a standard stereo entertainment console for the 1960's but it doesn't mean you can't have fun project on your hands.


Second I assume that you want to keep the original look of this cabinet from the front. Speakers on the sides and fake cabinet doors in the center. To make those doors operational would require a lot of cabinet work as they appear to be one large panel that would have to be cut apart and reassembled as two doors with hinges.


Assuming you want to keep this as simple as possible here are my recommendations:

1. Gut all of the existing equipment including the plywood the existing speakers are screwed to. Install a plywood floor on the base.
2. Purchase a pair of your favorite sounding book shelf speakers that will more or less fit the area behind the speaker cloth.
3. Purchase your favorite receiver. and build a wooden rack in the center of the cabinet to install it and any other equipment you want to add.
4. Mount your receiver and other equipment in the cabinet backwards so that you can get access to it. This may cause problems for access to a DVD or CD player which you may want to place outside of the unit. With a 7.1 receiver you could add a separate external sub and surround speakers, to create a 5.1 or 7.1 system. The cabinet may be a bit high to put a flat panel TV but it could work.
5. Purchase a Harmony RF remote to control things.
6. You may want to install some casters on the bottom so you can more easily move the unit away from the wall to get access to your gear.

I am sure that others might suggest building your own speaker system and cross overs. But I would keep it simple so that down the road if you want to ditch the cabinet you will have speakers and a receiver and other equipment that can easily removed and reused.

 

[illegalsmile]

Awesome, sorry for the confusion... This is not the same GE unit as posted earlier (have a link?), it's a motoroloa hi fi of some sort. I'm not going to mess with the doors, I've gutted it in it's entirety and believe it or not it's all solid good wood, I'm starting staining/finishing the surface tonight.


So what you're saying is dont buy individual speakers to replace the 10/4/3" speakers there previously, just go with bookshelfs with a similar configuration? I don't see any reason to spend more money on the cabinet if i'm just going to pull the speakers out anyways and put them in this table.


The cabinet is a perfect height to attach a flat screen above it on the wall (is what i'm planning) for movies and have the touch screen inside as novelty.


I've decided I don't care about surround sound now or in the future for this project. Do I absolutely need a receiver? Couldn't I pick up a 2ch amp for L/R and a 1ch amp for sub, buy all my speakers individually, control it all with the HTPC and do it that way? BR/DVD/CD will all be provided on the HTPC which can send sound to the amp. I don't have cable and probably won't watch any OTA TV so I don't need to worry about piping TV sound to the speakers... An aux input could be provided by a 3.5 to the soundcard. It feels like the receiver really won't be doing much other than being a cheap(er) amp as I don't need signal switching or decoding or anything like that.

 

[CB750]

Going with a two channel and one channel amp would simplify things. Just make sure the amps you look at are easy to connect to your sound card and that your computer can control your volume if you want to hide the amps in the back of the unit.