High Fidelity System

[Dave]

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Do many of these exist, and if so, did the Philly have a supply plugin to accommodate one ? The earliest promotion I have found for these was the 1940 Built to Order pamphlet.

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Reason being, I’ve not seen a Philly PS with the Phantom’s 3rd plugin. I assumed all Philly tweeters only came by way of the pedestal speaker plugin ?

[Kent King]

Both Philly's and Phantom's have the "4 unit" speaker system using a crossover in conjunction with a 12 or 15 inch mounted speaker and two PM tweeters. Largely produced for the FM sets, I have an FM Philly with this same setup. The Philly does have an extra cable, and it uses the band switch to cut off the tweeters except when using the FM band. Most later Philly's came with the 4 unit arrangement. 

Kent

[Dave]

Thanks Kent. To clarify, the HFS (hi fidelity system), was always an option for the Philly and Phantom, ie in lieu of the standard 15” pedestal or phalange mounts ? The HFS itself had a specific woofer and tweeter with purpose built x’over, ie that’s it was the only way the x’over could be implemented ?

Secondly, did the Philly HFS system (if different from that for the Phantom) require a 3rd (as shown with Phantom above) PS outlet, than the two with the standard 15” speaker ? The 1940 sales brochure shows the FM Philly PS with only the 2 plugins and the Phantom, whether the AM or FM version, with 3. I assume when you ordered the Phantom, the PS was same regardless ?

Lastly, if the band switch cuts tweeters out except for FM selection, does the same apply when phono is employed ?

[David C. Poland]

To elaborate - I have several examples of the optional high fidelity speaker system in my collection. Apparently, this speaker system was developed for 1940 for the advent of FM reception models. Scott offered the FM Phantom early 1940 several months before the FM Philharmonic model. Previously, only the Philharmonic (and AW-23) had provision for tweeters. 

1) The optional high fidelity system became available for the 1940-41 Philharmonic, Phantom and the 1941 Laureate models, and into early 1942. These 3 models used the 6L6 output tubes.  Available for both the standard non-FM and FM version Scotts, this optional high fidelity speaker system is NOT compatible with the earlier Phantom models using 6V6 output tubes (different field coil and output transformer requirements).

2) There are 3 versions of the crossover  all of which have a single cable and plug for the amp speaker socket. A secondary smaller cable from the crossover connects to the receiver to turn off the tweeters on AM bands.  The first two versions appear to be electrically equivalent, the 2nd is just smaller overall with smaller top side components. The 3rd version is based on the 2nd version but has a 35Z3 rectifier for tweeters having field coils. Accordingly, the field coil tweeter cable  has a 4 pin plug rather than 2 pin. 

My non-FM BOL Philharmonic with logging scale has provision for that secondary  crossover cable controlling the tweeters - when I restore it I will learn if and how it switches the tweeters. 

3) The crossover holds the output transformer as well as coils and caps to direct high frequencies to the tweeters (6000 cycle crossover according to documentation). The main (12 or 15 inch) flange mount speaker and tweeters each have 8 ohm voice coils. Each speaker has its own cable and little plug to fit the crossover. The main speaker (12 or 15 inch) has the tapped field coil for the B+ circuit, a small 5 pin cable plug and does not have an output transformer. (In contrast, the standard 12 or 15 inch speaker for all 3 Scott radio models has a 38 ohm voice coil,  the output transformer is mounted in the flange mount speaker frame and makes no provision for tweeters.)

4) System speaker configurations:  The Philharmonic invariably was supplied a 15 inch main speaker and two tweeters. The Phantom, supplied either a 12 or 15 inch main speaker, and I suspect depended in part on the cabinet selected, and two tweeters. The Scott Laureate  sometimes 12 or 15 inch sometimes 2 tweeters or just one tweeter mounted inside the main 15 inch cone as a co-axial, like with my Laureate).

5) For tweeters with a field coil, then the crossover had the rectifier tube to energize the tweeter field coil. Appears Scott changed from permanent magnet tweeters to field coil tweeters by late 1941.

6) Sometime in later 1941, Scott appears to have changed over to Jones plugs for set cables and speaker cables for both Phiharmonic and Phantom models, as does the Laureate introduced mid 1941.  So,  there are Jones Plug versions of the crossover. Note also, the Jones plug speaker plug has a 115 volt ac jumper from pin 1 to 2 serving to prevent powering up the radio without the speaker.  Oh .. and there is no practical  way to change components between older Scott plugs and  Jones plugs used later. The Jones plug sockets require a much larger hole in the amp chassis and, now days, finding correct Jones sockets and plugs is a hit or miss proposition  (I have looked)

7)  The crossover has an additional socket with plug wired as a jumper, for use adding an auxiliary speaker with 8 ohm voice coil. The crossover will not works without this additional plug inserted. If missing, be difficult to find that plug.

[Dave]

“There are 3 versions of the crossover all of which have a single cable and plug for the amp speaker socket. A secondary smaller cable from the crossover connects to the receiver to turn off the tweeters on AM bands. ”

So the smaller cable feeds the receiver turn off circuit via the 3rd and smaller 4 pin amp receptacle, is this correct ?

[Scott Seickel]

You are asking about the smaller 4 pin socket on the amp/power supply which connects to the tuner chassis.  I think you are confusing it with the small 4 pin connector that David P mentions that turns the tweeters on and off.   The amp/ps 4 pin connector serves to turn the set on and off  where the tuner has the power switch built into it.  It also supplies 24v to the tuner when the tuner is equipped with the optional remote control.

And yes, Philharmonics were delivered with this extra 4 pin socket on the power supply/amp.  

Dave said:

“There are 3 versions of the crossover all of which have a single cable and plug for the amp speaker socket. A secondary smaller cable from the crossover connects to the receiver to turn off the tweeters on AM bands. ”

So the smaller cable feeds the receiver turn off circuit via the 3rd and smaller 4 pin amp receptacle, is this correct ?

[Scott Seickel]

Just to help you out here, as a picture is worth a thousand works, this is a Philharmonic tuner chassis rear.  The 4 pin male plug goes into the power supply.  The very small 4 pin female receives a cable from the crossover, and the large 7 pin plug goes into the amp like on all sets. 

On this chassis without the optional tuner, the 4 pin male plug is used for power on/off.   The 4 pin plug on the amp/ps has nothing to do with the crossover/tweeter setup. 

[Dave]

Thanks David and Scott. Pictures do wonders for us “visual learners”. I’ve come across a mish mash of parts and PS. What I would like now is a restorable Philly as complete as possible. Need not be pretty. For now a dial glass and bezel would do nicely, I know, “good luck”.

[Scott Seickel]

Dave, best to wait for a complete set to come up, or at minimum, a complete chassis set including the tuner, correct speaker and a power supply/amp.  If you are very patient, you can collect the parts, but you may be measuring the time required in years.  Tuners are by far the easiest to acquire, then the amp, then the speaker.  Many 15" speakers have been sent over to Asia for the audiofools who think they sound better than modern speakers.  A lot of amps have been sent that way also.  A little luck is helpful, but staying on the search is the most important thing you can do. 

[Tom Jardine]

I have an FM Philharmonic in a Georgian cabinet with the high fidelity option. It must be an earlier version since it has the PM tweeters and the passive crossover network without the 35Z3 and round connectors, not the Jones Cinch connectors. I've had this radio for 57 years and always assumed it was the later version. I've seen a picture of an FM Philharmonic tuner chassis on line that does not have the accompanying small four pin socket for the tweeters to be cut out or the wafer switch on the range selector switch shaft. It obviously could not easily accommodate the high fidelity option. Bill Liers recently sold me his custom made FM convertor to receive modern FM on this set. It works extremely well after very carefully re-aligning the FM tuner section on the Scott. Thank you for the detailed information on the high fidelity speaker option. It seems to me likely that Jensen produced the option and integrated speakers and crossover for Scott. My only complaint is the woofer cone is strangely trumpet shaped and projects a beam of sound into the room that seems to get louder the further back the listener is. The Tauscher sound board seems to stifle some of that when used but it also blocks some of the sound creating another problem. I listen to the radio without the Tauscher board.

[Robert Feenstra]

Is Bill still making the converter?  I'm going to need one when I get my FM Philharmonic going.

[Tom Jardine]

Bill is a member on this site. Send him a note. He's a little reluctant to spread the word in that it requires a top notch FM restoration and alignment to work well.

Tom

[Robert Feenstra]

Thanks Tom.  Friend request sent to Bill!  I have a couple of the TV tuner subbers that some have converted to an FM converter.  I was planning on going that route, but if Bill has a better way, I'd love to hear about it.