Philharmonic Speaker Value

[Henry Tessier]

Hi,

 I am considering selling a pair of 5B63 speakers. They look good but I have never heard them as the Philly I picked up has no power supply. I have read that the value is in the $400-$600 range. Is that a correct figure? 

                                                         Thanks,

                                                                Henry

[David C. Poland]

May require patience for an amp.

It will have four 6L6's and two 5Z3's (a later 1941 example two 5U4's)

Note, early production amps used 83V rectifiers, instead of 5Z3's, which is also satisfactory.

But careful, the Phantom Deluxe amp looks the same, but has only two 6L6's and has the 6J5 drivers adjacent.

And avoid the really late version amp with the rectangular Jones sockets.

Consider also - the amp is out of sight behind the speaker on the bottom shelf.

So a rough amp may clean up better than you expect and be good enough given its out of sight location.

As a teaser, here is mine, extensively restored. my base was in pieces due to water damage.

[Kent King]

If your only concern is the amp, we will find one. I have an extensive graveyard to work from, including at least two large Phantom amps which can be modified to be a Philharmonic amp if it came to that...but amps DO turn up. Please, try to keep what you have together and restore it (or find someone who will) - it's too nice a set to part out.

Kent

[Henry Tessier]

 Gentlemen,

   Thanks for all your comments and concerns.

 You have made me reconsider my current position with this radio.Truth be told I have seen more Philly parts turn up lately although I don't really feel I have what it takes to complete the project at hand. ( ambition, expertise or space.)I will hold off on parting it out for the present. I am located in Ma appx 15 miles south of Boston and will take all your comments under advisement.

                                                                   again,

                                                                    Thanks,

                                                                         Henry

[David C. Poland]

As for expertise - folks here can help you resolve issues.

Your 1937 Philharmonic incorporates the ultimate prewar sophistication in radio design - arguable the best radio ever for combined audio quality and DX reception quality. Features include a powerful amplifier rivaling 1950's hifi in frequency response with the the optional tweeters, variable sensitivity (to control background noise) and variability selectivity (for wide band high fidelity AM radio broadcasts or to minimize adjacent station interference). It was designed to make the most of AM broadcast quality, in the era before FM radio first appearing in 1940. And the chrome plating is the frosting on the proverbial cake. 

The Philharmonic is a rugged, well designed radio, built to withstand international shipping to far off places.

But it is much like any 5 tube radio - But with expanded circuits: instead of a one or two stage IF (intermediate frequency amp), it has 4 stages for detecting weaker signals. Instead of one driver tube for a single output tube, it has 3 stages of audio driving a 4 output tubes in a push-pull  circuit to drive a larger speaker with far less distortion to handle loud music avoiding distortion. Rather than one circuit for AGC (automatic gain control) to level out the room volume between weaker and stronger stations, it has an additional AGC circuit in the radio frequency circuit to keep really strong stations from overwhelming this very sensitive radio.

Additional features include a voltage rectifier VR-150 to stabilize the oscillator to minimize drifting as the radio warms up or household voltages vary. A 2 tube dynamic record scratch noise suppressor circuit to reduce record scratch of 78 records during low volume music passages and which can help suppress some noise during short wave radio listening. A 5 tube volume expander circuit to restore the full dynamic range of a musical programs to counteract the recording engineer efforts to reduce loud passages and increase quiet passage volumes. A tapped volume control  "loudness" circuit like 1950's hi-fi to increase bass frequency response at low volume setting.

Taking one section at a time, restoration is doable. The first step is to replace all the many old paper/foil/wax caps with modern caps. Suggest you do a search on this website for "Philharmonic" to get a sense from past threads. Meanwhile, if you haven't already, read the 22 page owners manual available in the archive section set folder of this web site.

[Henry Tessier]

David ,

 Thanks for the encouragement however this project is not real high on my current list of things to do.Blasphemy! This is not a radio that I searched but rather it sort of searched me out as a rescue. Once caught up I may consider it but worst of all my eyesight is not as good as it used to be.

                                              Thanks,

                                                   Henry

[Y2K Bruce]

David C. Poland said:

Yep - Including mine, only the 4 th large TASMAN I am aware of. A California collector has a nice one.

[Y2K Bruce]

I also have a jumbo Tasman with the 30 tube pointer Philharmonic. I got it from Willie who acquired it from a Scott collector in Minnesota was what I was told. It plays and looks nice but has some veneer crazing on the front. I already had planned to sell the Scott Tasman Philly this year if anyone was looking for one. No tweeters in mine.

Ironically this was a free cabinet as a Christmas bonus so one would expect alot more jumbo Tasmans to have survived.