Philips D8444 - just a bit of cleaning...for now
- Thread starter Line Out
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I already thought that I blew the bass! :'-( But today I tested it again and it worked Ok... Wheh! 
Also found a Sharp GF-700 from a local used goods -shop. First time I visited. There was also few others, small Aiwa and Panasonic, also a "long-but-small" -type Goldstar with vertical CD, some DUX sound machine and few others.
Now I'm fitting the amp inside the casing and start to think about rewiring and how to do proper Line In, using the original connectors. Should also invent a way to get the bass level knob in somewhere. Maybe I'll fit it in the voltage selector hole... will see. The amp fits like a glove, will fasten it with hot glue.
There is a lot of free space on the right side of the unit. I will remove the connectors and make direct wirings...
Removed the diodes, no use for them. In future, I may fit a higher amperage power supply. But for now, I'll see how it runs with the original...
EDIT:
Ohhh yeahh! Running on batteries now!
Not as loud as with the amps own adapter, distortion can be heard with "full blast". I did try with the original power adapter but I am having a bad noise problem. Will need to ground them together better and so on. Maybe I should remove the original amplifier circuits altogether, now they have the +voltage pin cut. Without the motor hooked up, no noise. Guess thats the culprit.
I took the line level (or should I say pre out) to the new amp from after resistors 3541 (R) and 3641 (L). They are located right before TDA2004 line inputs. Therefore I have full volume, bass, treble, balance and stereo controls!
Power led was not lid due to mixed leads
This was just the first try and I will try my best to make it as perfect as possible. Was thinking about fiddling with the switch on the side, to make "line in" -mode work like record would be pressed but motor wouldn't run.
And yes. The low end is a beast. I will do more testing tomorrow and crank it. Maybe a youtube too. Though no good microphone... or could I just use a boombox for it, make it record and use line out to record on a computer...
Also found a Sharp GF-700 from a local used goods -shop. First time I visited. There was also few others, small Aiwa and Panasonic, also a "long-but-small" -type Goldstar with vertical CD, some DUX sound machine and few others.Now I'm fitting the amp inside the casing and start to think about rewiring and how to do proper Line In, using the original connectors. Should also invent a way to get the bass level knob in somewhere. Maybe I'll fit it in the voltage selector hole... will see. The amp fits like a glove, will fasten it with hot glue.
There is a lot of free space on the right side of the unit. I will remove the connectors and make direct wirings...
Removed the diodes, no use for them. In future, I may fit a higher amperage power supply. But for now, I'll see how it runs with the original...
EDIT:
Ohhh yeahh! Running on batteries now!
Not as loud as with the amps own adapter, distortion can be heard with "full blast". I did try with the original power adapter but I am having a bad noise problem. Will need to ground them together better and so on. Maybe I should remove the original amplifier circuits altogether, now they have the +voltage pin cut. Without the motor hooked up, no noise. Guess thats the culprit.
I took the line level (or should I say pre out) to the new amp from after resistors 3541 (R) and 3641 (L). They are located right before TDA2004 line inputs. Therefore I have full volume, bass, treble, balance and stereo controls!
Power led was not lid due to mixed leads
This was just the first try and I will try my best to make it as perfect as possible. Was thinking about fiddling with the switch on the side, to make "line in" -mode work like record would be pressed but motor wouldn't run.
And yes. The low end is a beast. I will do more testing tomorrow and crank it. Maybe a youtube too. Though no good microphone... or could I just use a boombox for it, make it record and use line out to record on a computer...
Well, this one made its debut last august. We have a festival here where we are celebrating the end of "summer cabin season". Its called "the venetians". I have no clue what Venice has to do with it, don't ask. 
We rented a small cabin on a camping site and there was other cabins next to each other. Someone shouted something like "Hey mister DJ!" from the next door, there was a bunch of older people there but they sure enjoyed.
I ran through 2 sets of batteries in two nights. First set was Philips PowerLife
but then I switched to some better alkaline batteries that gave longer lasting juice.
Also I had an incident in the night where the box was confiscated from me by the camping site staff...
olice: Reason being a bit too much of 
and 
I haven't used the box much after that because it still has some really bad hum when hooked to AC. Don't know how I could get rid of it. The same problem seems to haunt my other project, the matt black Super Jumbo, that is still on its way.
We rented a small cabin on a camping site and there was other cabins next to each other. Someone shouted something like "Hey mister DJ!" from the next door, there was a bunch of older people there but they sure enjoyed.
I ran through 2 sets of batteries in two nights. First set was Philips PowerLife
but then I switched to some better alkaline batteries that gave longer lasting juice. Also I had an incident in the night where the box was confiscated from me by the camping site staff...
olice: Reason being a bit too much of and I haven't used the box much after that because it still has some really bad hum when hooked to AC. Don't know how I could get rid of it. The same problem seems to haunt my other project, the matt black Super Jumbo, that is still on its way.
Noticed that all the images from first post don't show anymore... Here they are.
Right speaker is now in mint condition
Woofer was very dusty
I used a toothbrush for the excess dirt
Then I found out that the shiny "topping" on the surround had lost its shine under the dirt. I took 100% silicone oil and put it on
Dust cap cleaned
Here is the finished woofer
Washed the front cover, also cleaned the deck door and tuner dial window with microfiber and APC (no pics)
Right speaker is now in mint condition
Woofer was very dusty
I used a toothbrush for the excess dirt
Then I found out that the shiny "topping" on the surround had lost its shine under the dirt. I took 100% silicone oil and put it on
Dust cap cleaned
Here is the finished woofer
Washed the front cover, also cleaned the deck door and tuner dial window with microfiber and APC (no pics)
Simply stunning. I had no idea these actually had any potential until I read this. I couldn't sell mine fast enough, now realizing that was probably a mistake..
Great to see that it is still performing well!!
Great to see that it is still performing well!!
Oh. I don't know what has happened. I should get the box from my folks and try to finish it as good as I can. In the meantime, here's a little something from last summer.
The biggest problems are the humming (cant use AC at all) and the radical ALC on the line-in. Muffles out the sound on very bass-heavy music....
The biggest problems are the humming (cant use AC at all) and the radical ALC on the line-in. Muffles out the sound on very bass-heavy music....
I had one of these & mine made a humming sound too on AC Power I cleaned the Voltage Selector Switch & the hum went away maybe it will work on yours too
That was a very nice post!
Great cleanup job!
Very nice looking box!
Congratulations!
I am a big fan of Q-tip and cotton ball cleaning followed by microfiber cloth!
Great cleanup job!
Very nice looking box!
Congratulations!
I am a big fan of Q-tip and cotton ball cleaning followed by microfiber cloth!
Very nice clean up job!
It's nice to see what's beneath all the years dust and grime.
Makes the time spent cleaning well worth it!
It's nice to see what's beneath all the years dust and grime.
Makes the time spent cleaning well worth it!
For those who are interested, here is how I took the line-level from the original amp to the external one. The blue tape is protecting the cut power pins so the amp wont power on.
Next thing that I will try, is to cut the pin no. 7 of the TA7658P chip. That's the preamp for the tape deck with integrated ALC (automatic level control).
http://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/view/164207/TOSHIBA/TA7658P.html
In the datasheet, pin 7 is named as "ALC control input". And I figured it could possibly disable the ALC so we could get the box working better with "Line in".
Next thing that I will try, is to cut the pin no. 7 of the TA7658P chip. That's the preamp for the tape deck with integrated ALC (automatic level control).
http://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/view/164207/TOSHIBA/TA7658P.html
In the datasheet, pin 7 is named as "ALC control input". And I figured it could possibly disable the ALC so we could get the box working better with "Line in".
Yess! Cutting the pin no. 7 seemed to disable the ALC altogether. Though cranking the bass knob (at over "6" or three o'clock) muffles the treble, but only if treble knob is turned up.
I'm not sure if I should add all progress to the eternity thread or this.
I think this is kinda huge deal to everyone who owns one of these! I can post pics if needed, but right now, I have my box hooked to the other 3. And yes, the Line Out works also like a charm!
I gotta say, I was surprised how loud the thing goes with the 11.1V li-po, its running on that battery right now. But can't test right now because 2 AM and tower block (or whatever it's called)
Also one plus side is that it does not need much level on the line-in now. So a lower powered mp3-player should also be enough to get a good volume. These are just based on a few minutes of playing but will test more and update, but for now, seems reeeeaally promising!
I'm not sure if I should add all progress to the eternity thread or this.
I think this is kinda huge deal to everyone who owns one of these! I can post pics if needed, but right now, I have my box hooked to the other 3. And yes, the Line Out works also like a charm!
I gotta say, I was surprised how loud the thing goes with the 11.1V li-po, its running on that battery right now. But can't test right now because 2 AM and tower block (or whatever it's called)
Also one plus side is that it does not need much level on the line-in now. So a lower powered mp3-player should also be enough to get a good volume. These are just based on a few minutes of playing but will test more and update, but for now, seems reeeeaally promising!
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