Pilot console
- Thread starter hammondcrazy
- Start date
hammondcrazy
Well-Known Member
Yeah and the thing is I never throw my back out and it is on the verge and if I am not careful,,,, it could go out. that is the heaviest console I ever ever had.
as far as the turntable this will never be gutted and will stay all together. But I may have a spare A-1 if so,, I will let you know.
jhtstone
StarShine 10/23/2014
I've the "63 version of the same console. It has a 602a receiver in it and Garrard tt. The only difference is mine has a gold mesh over the speaker grills. Can't say about the speakers as it is stored in a back room while the music room is being worked on.
Had it for years and have always loved it. Enjoy!
Had it for years and have always loved it. Enjoy!
perchdog
AudioDouchebag
Here is some pic's of mine... I would like to get an companion speaker for it, I have not seen any listed since just before I picked it up. It was a Bartertown deal, form great seller whow I borrowed these pics from. Have not had a chance to do any refurb yet, not exactely sure if it I will get around to it untill winter or if the mercury stays at present level
BTW I have two Executives that I shuttle about the house every once in a while, either pails in comparison to the shear mass of this thing
BTW I have two Executives that I shuttle about the house every once in a while, either pails in comparison to the shear mass of this thing
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hammondcrazy
Well-Known Member
I have that same Garrard in a custom built console. how do you like that Garrard? I love the separate tuner/pre-amp and amp set up. I tried to lift the thing and it is so heavy. I can't, I got to get some friends over to move into it's permanent location.
hammondcrazy
Well-Known Member
I took out one of the speaker enclosures. It has a 12 inch woofer two mids and a tweeter that is 4 speakers total per each enclosure. I carefully removed the woofer and it is indeed a Jensen. the magnet is nothing to write home about . looks like a dinky magnet. but whatever it is those speakers have a lot of bass.
guitbanger
Active Member
It's probably an alnico magnet Jensen. It'd be nice if you could post some pics of the whole thing.
hammondcrazy
Well-Known Member
Yes I will take photos of the console. the speaker enclosures are weird. made out of fuzzboard but sound great. My question is this. this console looks of high quality. the only thing I don't like about it is, that they used OSB for the side panels. why, I mean how much more would it have cost to use butcher block veneered panels? or is there another reason Then I think that this console is 51 years old. and looks to be in new condition so I know I am hung up on OSB. it seems better material than particle board or MDF. but still,,,, Most of it is solid wood though. the bottom the back etc. I will take pictures of the back too. The other thing is, I noticed that the one output transformer gets a little warm that is above the output tubes. would it be possible that the heat is from the output tubes? the radio section don't work very good and the eye tube is unresponsive. But have to figure out that. but the TT sounds awesome.
perchdog
AudioDouchebag
I will most likely replace the tt with something a little more modern. The tt is mounted to a board that uses (4) screws to fasten to console, it will be an easy conversion. I have several turntables that can be used, it all depends on how the preamp sounds once components are refurbed.
Hammond, if this unit has not been restored that should probably be done before unit is used, if those are the origanal 51 year old casps, they certainly are past thier prime. It would be a real shame to lose an opt, I do not the the Pilots are nearly as accesable as the Fishers due to number of origanal units pproduced
I wouldn't run it very much until you check out caps and resistors. Pilot used a wide range of suppliers for their caps and probably many of the originals will be out of spec and will give you potentially serious problems. So, do your tubes and transformers a favor and check those things out before you run it for extended periods. There's probably 30-40 paper caps in there that ought to be replaced.
hammondcrazy
Well-Known Member
What I am going to do, since I love the console,,,, is take out the receiver and hope to find someone where I live that don't want me to send their kid to college or something and while I wait, temporally install my McIntosh preamp in it and a small power amp (Schober) and enjoy the console and not worry about caps, at the moment. I know that McIntosh will fit in that space and not mar anything. I love the turntable and the sound those boxes have. So I am toying with that idea. I don't have the funds to recap the receiver. and no-one to help. I will carefully remove it and pack it in a sturdy box till I can get it capped.
hammondcrazy
Well-Known Member
Is there anyone in the Springfield area that can recap this receiver??
KGBMAN
Well-Known Member
I will eventually start my own rebuild thread but, since everyone is having a Pilot lovefest... here's mine:
Receiver is a model 402. I'm in the process of replacing resistors after recapping it. Sounds pretty sweet but I know it can sound better.
Turntable is a Garrard with ceramic cartridge.
Yes, these speakers do sound awful. I will replace the caps and reevaluate
Receiver is a model 402. I'm in the process of replacing resistors after recapping it. Sounds pretty sweet but I know it can sound better.
Turntable is a Garrard with ceramic cartridge.
Yes, these speakers do sound awful. I will replace the caps and reevaluate
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hammondcrazy
Well-Known Member
I like the sound of the speakers in mine,, but maybe there are better options but my desires is ti keep it orginal.
KGBMAN
Well-Known Member
I'll recap those speakers and see how they sound. If I still don't like them, I'll come up with something else but I won't cannibalize the originals.
s-petersen
Scott
that is interesting how they grounded the control shafts(like Mcintosh)with the spring wire,for noise
hammondcrazy
Well-Known Member
what don't you like about the sound? this reminds me of a side note, I have a Fisher Royal electra built in the early 70s that is solid wood, and the original woofers were blown, I have a 1976 Magnavox theatre, that was water damaged (mdf and much cheaper than I am sure the OSB used in this pilot) I took out those woofers and installed them in my Fisher and I can't I STILL can't believe how damn good that rig sounds now.
hammondcrazy
Well-Known Member
Is it a good idea to temporally install my McIntosh in this console whilst waiting for the Pilot receiver to be recapped and it will be quite a while. This pre-amp was rebuilt from what I was told and it sounds like brand new. It receives stations without an antenna. the pilot,,, nope. I don't want to blow the transformers. So it is not going on anymore. I love the size of this thing. it is huge. I mean HUGE!!!!! the bigger the better.
hammondcrazy
Well-Known Member
Here are some pictures of my console. I noticed that the output transformers are much larger than the receivers I see online. I took a picture of the wood support that is OSB and wonder if this is good material as the side panels are made of the same stuff. the rest is wood.. opinions would be cool.
