Antique Tube Radio & Audiophile Tube Amplifier Repairs
Whether it’s an antique tube radio or a modern audiophile tube amplifier I can usually repair it.
WARNING: Do not power on your old tube radio. You could cause damage if you power it on before replacing the capacitors. There are several flavors of capacitors but the ones that typically decay with age are the electrolytics (usually found in power supply and on audio output circuit) and the wax-paper coupling capacitors. Test the radio using a dim bulb tester, which is a 60 to 100 watt lightbulb wired in series with your radio’s line voltage. If the bulb glows dim after a while then there are likely no shorts across the B+ lines within your radio. You might even hear a crackle or some signals coming through. Check out these links on ‘Phil’s Old Radios’ site for more information:
Dim Bulb Tester
Replacing Capacitors
Basic Tube Radio Service Includes:
Replacing the power cord, adding a line fuse, adding line safety capacitors, replacing all power supply capacitors, replacing all coupling capacitors, replacing all other wax-paper capacitors, cleaning all tube pins and sockets, testing all tubes in a B&K Tube Tester, cleaning and testing with a Dim-Bulb-Tester. This will take more than the minimum 1 hour service fee (typically 3 to 6 hours) and can take 2 to 8 weeks for the new capacitors and/or tubes to arrive. If the radio does not work at this point I will contact you to discuss going further, as it could get time consuming and expensive or the parts may just not be available.
Bluetooth?
Want to stream music through your Antique Radio from your Smartphone, iPod or MP3 Player? A “Bluetooth Music Receiver” can be installed so that your smartphone’s Bluetooth will connect (wirelessly) and you can play your music, Pandora, ITunes, etc., through your radio.
Antique Tube Radios:
Modern Audiophile Tube Amplifiers:
Tube Testing:
Tube do wear out and break down so bring them in for testing on the re-built and re-calibrated B&K 700 tube tester.