Hi folks

i have a 573MA Radiola and it sounds like its a little distorted, just wondering how I could tell the difference between a broken speaker or the actual radio distorting?

thanks

Steven

If you have a spare speaker in a box, connect that up and see if the distortion is still present.

Once you have tried that. If it fails & it has distortion, We need to know what it has had done to it and possibly what equipment you have to find it.

1/ Replace the coupling cap to the output valve!!

2/ Check with a signal generator, inject a clean signal into the audio chain.

3/ If there is still distortion maybe front end or detector distortion.
Some BC stations now seem to overmodulate like hell so check the station with another radio.
(In Sydney I have overmodulate splatter with the studio booth feed on 2UE, their music feeds seems clean?)

4/ Anything non linear will make distortion, speaker as suggested.

Fred.

We don't know any of the history of this set. If the speaker is not guilty. and it still has old waxed paper caps & old electrolytics. I consider fault finding in a set like that time wasting (I do fix commercially) and proceed ruthlessly.

By feeding in IF signal early and using an oscilloscope as the meter, that is the fastest method of spotting distortion, & finding where signal has got lost.

Marc

Its been recapped, I can find a speaker for only $35 so might risk it and buy it anyway

Is the cone fixed properly to the rim of the speaker. These sets are well known for having dried glue in that section . If you can get a small screwdriver and lift the edge of the cone then this means the glue has failed. Just use some pva glue under the edge of the cone and clamp it back down.

The only real way to see of the speaker is poling, or has suffered some other malady, is to disconnect the voice coil & sub in a good permanent magnet speaker.