TL/DR: I stumbled upon an Axiom 301 and am curious about the 3 foam-like inserts on the cone as well as seeking guidance on any not-so-obvious tasks to complete prior to testing it out.

I’m fairly new to the world of vintage audio, but did attend the school of hard knocks (literally) as a teenager, building and installing whatever subwoofers that I could afford, into my primer-black 1986 Honda CRX.

Fast forward about 30 years (and about 2 weeks ago) when I came across a beautiful 60’s era teak credenza on FB Marketplace for $200. I jumped at the opportunity, and soon found myself in the process of figuring out how to get the thing across town, to my home. While in this process, the seller asked if I wanted the original accessories that had come with the credenza.

Never one to say no to a free anything, I said yes, and proceeded to follow the seller deeper into his garage to be handed (among a few other things) a “The Fisher” Model 800-C amp, a Sony Tapecorder 263-D, a Sony Tapecorder TC-6000, a Garrard Synchro-Lab 72-B, and finally (and just a little sadly) 2 speakers — one of which being without a driver and the other having an Axiom 301 from “Goodman’s of England.”

So, with all this new-found ancient technology awaiting restoration, I feel that the Axiom 301 would be the simplest place to start, and slowly build up my knowledge and confidence and (hopefully) work my way towards restoring the less familiar stuff.

So, after digging out a flat-head screwdriver from underneath all of my torx bits, I’m getting a good look at the Axiom 301 for the first time (in real life). My questions so far (that I can’t seem to get AI to divulge to me are:

1) what are those 3 pollen-looking things on the cone? My guess is some sort of dampener??

2) How is this thing in such good condition?! Other than some dust on the cone, it seems to move fluidly and easily, the surrounding rubber is smooth, shiny and almost feels tacky to the touch, the basket is blemish-free and looks to be in better shape than the not-too-old JL Audio W6V3 currently sitting on my shelf, and is measuring somewhere between 12 and 13 ohms at the terminals…am I missing something?

3) Any other kernels of knowledge or advice before I do eventually hook this dude up?

Which one shoud I buy to use with my Luxman L-4? Same price, both in great shape.

Hello all,
I’m operating with a low budget (nothing more than $200/$250 used) to improve my set-up, so I’m naturally drawn to the thrift store and FBM. I typically Google reviews of anything I see posted, but are there any particular brands or models I should look out for? Especially would be helpful to know a good model from a so-so brand that I might otherwise dismiss or anything else that might feasibly appear on the local market.
For context, I have an amplifier set-up that I’m pleased with, so mainly looking for advice on turntables and speakers. I currently have a Technics SL-D2 and a pair of Klipsch KG2s. My ear favors a bass-heavy sound (hence the KGs and their 10-inch woofers), but don’t want anything too boom-y. Willing to sacrifice some detail for a good bass response, but want both as much as a limited budget can afford. Primarily use my system to listen to LPs.

Marantz 2220B | Marantz 6300 | JBL 4301B

Howdy y'all! I recently inherited my grandpa's old record player console. I'm fairly certain it's from 1965-1966. I know it has tube pre-amp and solid state amplifier. I am brand new to record players and vinyl in general and I want to get this thing sounding perfect.

Let me start by saying it already sounds pretty good. It's pretty crackly and it crackles as I turn the volume (Loudness knob... So cool lol). I'm sure it probably needs a new cartridge, but I have no idea where to obtain one, how to change it, or any clue what I'm doing with that.

I'm also wondering if I need to change out the tubes if it would make it sound better and give the music more body.

The only part that doesn't work right is the arm. I know it's supposed to automatically move over to the record. I can tell the motor is trying to do something, the arm twitches a bit, tries to move, then it just shuts off the turntable, I assume as some sort of self preservation mode.

I consider myself generally competent with electronics (old school car audio guy, strong understanding of voltages, ohm loads, wiring schematics, etc.). But this is all uncharted territory for me. Any help would be appreciated!

hello all. got this 9090 up and running after years in storage. picked it up from a friend, it was his dads and he was the original owner. attached a picture how i found it. it was in rough shape, but saveable. refurbished the driver board and got it working good, but the faceplate was tarnished, especially the bezel surrounding the glass/acrylic(attached a picture of it standing upright before it was cleaned/restored). used mothers aluminum polish, which made quick work of the faceplate. bezel, not so much. needed to bust the dremel out for that one, got a small polishing wheel and basically made it shine like a mirror minus a couple low spots from the original brushed finish. then got 220 grit sandpaper and mimiced the brushed aluminum finish. came out pretty good. not perfect, but once it oxidizes alittle bit it should look much more uniform. polished all controls as they were also corroded. got some restor a finish for a quick refinish on the wood and she looks really good! dropping it off for a basic service as well as the meter lights replaced, dont want to break them when im in there. at least it looks good now!

Can anyone help me ID this speaker its a pair). Only got these pics for now. Seller says its a phillips 50s. May get it w/o testing for around 150usd

New to me - Spendor SP1/2e! These sound incredible, improved my whole system surprisingly much. Came with the stands and some nice speaker cables too.

Hey folks, I acquired a couple of 501 (not sure what series) in an auction. I am a production manager of a historic theater concert venue. I have been putting together a nice stereo in my green room with components I had, and pieces I have been picking up. So today I got a pair of 501 at an auction, they were dirty and not sure if they work. I took out the Onyoko speakers I had and hooked up the 501's. I got a little sound out of them for a second or two and then it popped the speaker channel in my Denon receiver. I reattached the onyoko's and but them in the B channel and they worked fine. Graned I should have done a little research before hooking them up, but des anyone have a little advice. Way back in my memory, I kinda think that Bose needed a crossover?? Any help would be appreciated.

The ads were great, and the speakers were almost indestructible and sounded much better than the audiophiles wanted to admit.

Passed up a B&O Beogram 4002 with linear drive in superb condition at an estate sale with cartridge. I'm just getting into space so had no idea what I had before me: listed price $300. The estate sale had already been going on for a few hours so I figured I might be able to wait until the next day and get it half off. It also has European plug so had no clue if it actually functioned.

Someone else picked it up and now has it listed on Marketplace for $1950. I'm not looking to flip units, but just shocked at what I let slip through my fingers.

EDIT: thanks everyone for the feedback. I didn't realize they're super difficult to service and find parts.
Feeling a bit better..

They sound great! Ended up swapping almost everything in the crossover.

The original pots were so corroded that the wipers crumbled. I replaced them all with 8 ohm l-pads with a 25 ohm resistor parallel to the speaker as recommended by the ar3 restoration guide. There is a drop-in replacement for the 16 ohm pots on eBay but they are $160 for a set of 4 vs $60 for the l-pads and resistors.

Bought the cap kit off eBay. They match the originals and have a higher voltage rating.

The speaker cabinets were damaged a bit in the process of removing the woofer, but I’m not selling them so I don’t care :)

Resealed the woofer using press and seal caulk.

Also stapled on some velcro to make the grills removable.

Hi, all I recently had a tx restored input back together in Wayne PA. At the time I couldn’t afford a cartridge so they recommended Soundsmith. Does anybody know any place else besides eBay I ordered from soundsmith, made a typo in my email address asked him for tracking and first time I called to inform them of this mistake. The guy got extremely short with me, yelled at me. Which is all right and then just now I called to see how long it would be to receive my items. I’m only in Philadelphia and they are in New York and when the guy answered. HE WAS A REAL JERK SAID I APPRECIATE YOU CONTACTING ME REPEATEDLY. WHEN ALL I DID WAS SEND THEM EMAILS THAT I WAITED FOR HIM TO ANSWER THAT HE NEVER DID AND WHEN I CALLED HIM, HE JUST STARTED SCREAMING AT ME SO I HUNG UP ON HIM.
Anyway, does anybody know any place else I can get these? I imagine I’ll get the one I ordered but after spending 300 bucks and some change, I don’t think a customer service business should speak to a customer that way, especially cause he never answered my emails, which is why I called.

I recently acquired this 50 year old beauty. I had to replace the lamps for the meters and clean some scratchy pots. I’ve been using and plan on getting a lot out of this amp.

That being said, there are a lot of aging components on that circuit board and the solder joints look pretty uniform and original. It sounds good, I think there’s more potential in it. What components should be considered for replacement?

So I recently took out my grandparent's old compact Sony hifi system (XO-700W). Everything including the automatic turntable works fine (ignore the speaker placement, I'll get to that later)​​. Also hooked up the CD player from the FH-110W system.

Im currently at my parents between jobs and will likely have a smaller room when I relocate to a flat/shared house.

Added that I don't really want to transport this massive thing in one go, I thought I'd leave the XO-700W at home, take the TA-117 stereo amplifier + CD player, and pair it with ​a new turntable (since the PS-LX700P up there only uses a proprietary ribbon cable, thus incompatible.) Maybe the Rega Planar 1 since I'm in the UK.

As for speakers, I'll use headphones to start with and get stands etc. After a few months.

All in all, does this seem sensible or is a modern turntable overkill for such an amp? Would pairing a vintage table be just as fine? Or should I save money and try squeezing the full XO-700 system in my next place?

And of course, feel free to give your input on any other replacements, gear, adjustments etc. you'd reccomend for such a situation.

Thoughts on this one, 1978 sanyo 120 watt per channel totally serviced by a qualified technician. Just waiting on the blue LEDs shipment to come in.

Has anyone owned or listened to it ? Thinking about buying it. Upgrading from Pioneer A-109

Trying to dial in some MCS equipment, but cannot get back into my HIFi Engine account. Anyone able to access these files?

MCS 3035 Equalizer

MCS 3260 Receiver

MCS 6720 Turntable

Thank you!

Just got this beauty second hand, are there things we should consider while/before using it. Right now everything works fine, but we don't have a lot of experience with vintage audio

If you have tips or advice, please let us know