Custom Pioneer SK-550

[blu_fuz]

After seeing Superduper's 550, I have WANTED IT! I probably should have just asked him if he wanted to trade or sell it - oh well. I picked up this one on fleabay with intentions of doing my own 550 customization...... Here is progress from tonight.

Taking it apart for paint and to see how the upgraded speakers sound......

Kenwood's in a Pioneer!?!?!?! - Too bad, gonna do it anyway .

Original speakers are 3.5ohm at 5w and the Kenwoods are 4ohm at 35w. These help quite a bit with the 3/4 volume distortion and add some deeper tones for sure. The box closes just fine with these but the left speaker must be touching on something because I could smell electrical smoke on my test fit..... Nothing was damaged, but I need to straighten that issue out or go back to the original speakers with new surrounds after the case is painted...... stay tuned dudes .

 

[monchito]

yeap i like that

 

[DrmZ]

How much power got the amp? Because the speakers might be to powerfull for your amp, which is bad.
The rule of thumb is, that the amp always should have 25% more power than the speakers.
Because an amp that is working with maximal power produces clipping which comes with rectangular sound peaks. These are the worst signals for speakers and they will kill them!

I would say you will need a better amp for these speakers. At least thats what I know from PA soundsystems.

 

[blu_fuz]

^^^^^^ That's kind of what I was afraid of - I will probably switch back to the originals just to be safe. 30w jump is quite a bit and I don't want to hurt anything.



Just a FYI, the amp heatsinc in this Pioneer is almost twice as big as the one in a Wheely

 

[Superduper]

How much power got the amp? Because the speakers might be to powerfull for your amp, which is bad.
The rule of thumb is, that the amp always should have 25% more power than the speakers.
Because an amp that is working with maximal power produces clipping which comes with rectangular sound peaks. These are the worst signals for speakers and they will kill them!

I would say you will need a better amp for these speakers. At least thats what I know from PA soundsystems.

In this case, I disagree. The Pioneer SK-550 is a pretty powerful boombox for it's size. The important thing here is sensitivity and if the speakers are sensitive enough for the amps to drive them, there is no reason to drive the amps to clipping. Anyone stupid enough to listen to music for any sustained period of time where the signal is clipped deserves to have their speakers damaged. The distortion would clearly be audible. The tendency for the amps to clip therefore, is more a function of the amps being overdriven and I'm talking about pushing too many watts. The watts rating of the speaker is their maximum handling capacity, not their minimum requirement. I have Sansui home speakers rated at 160w/c that is very much at home being operated at 1 watt, and small receivers love them because they don't need to be pushed to get good volume.

 

[blu_fuz]

I am more of a 1/2 volume listener, but like to check the performance at higher volume once in awhile. The kenwood speakers actually move more than the originals but are much clearer obviously.

So, we will see which ones I will use I guess - I can figure that out later.


I would like the cassette deck to work somewhat. All belts look to be in place and in good condition. Norm, I read through your thread on your resto of the 550. Mine doesn't play but will rewind after I lower the heads.

"The tape deck was rebelted and it would play fine, but it would not want to release so that was going to be a problem since I had to unplug it to stop any function, be it play, FF or RW. That was a bugger to find and the PCB is difficult to work on since there is no real chassis to speak of and so everything had to come out to get to the back of the board to desolder. But to test, everything had to go back in. Obviously, it is hard to do "live" tests on this model. I eventually tracked it down to a blown fusible resistor hiding beneath a fiberglass shield and a power transistor was reseated -- a few caps were replaced. That fixed it."

 

[Superduper]

You probably missed a belt or two, or the belts that are in there are slipping.

Oh, and that industrial soldering Iron in the photo? I have a similar one in my Snap On tool chest. It's a 230watt bugger that will solder the heck out of anything. I use it primarily for heavy guage automotive connections.

When used in electronic applications, that is a dangerous tool to use. Widow maker is an expression used to describe a condition, situation or item of such dangerous potential that it likely results in the death of the individual (male). If there is a term used to describe DEAD or destroyed electronic components, I would be using that name to apply to that tool.

 

[blu_fuz]

Hahahaha

Yeah, I use that solder gun for everything. - probably shouldn't though

 

[blu_fuz]

Speaker grills are out and straightened, ready for blasting and some fresh black gloss powder coat. The front case and handle have been dismantled and cleaned. Tomorrow (hopefully) I can scuff and paint my Pioneer.

This will be the Blu's Blue 550

 

[blu_fuz]

Front case is painted a lovely Pioneer Blue Metallic and the speaker grills are powder coated gloss black..... My kenwoods now have a blue ring on them too. Might put everything back together tonight or tomorrow morning. Man this looks freaking sweet!



Teaser pic:

 

[neko]

Panting look great. Cant wait to see finnished Pioneer

 

[blu_fuz]

Finished! Only problem is that now it doesn't power up :'-( :'-( :'-( . I had everything in the box with the front case off to the side with the speakers hooked up. Playing my ipod via the line in and the power just shut off after about 30 seconds and I haven't been able to get it to come back on since. I ran this thing for over a hour with the new speakers before taking it all the way apart. I thought I was home free, but I was wrong. This is when I wished I had a Superduper as a next door neighbor and he could help me whenever I was feeling down......


So I put the box together just so I could look at it and enjoy the paperweight I just got done making :'-(

Enjoy:

Norm, I wish I could do what you do!

 

[Superduper]

Norm, I wish I could do what you do!

Nah. I take too long. Yours took days. I took months. Your power up problem may be related to the electrical smoke issue from your prior assembly. Maybe something burnt up. My first suspicion is the rectifiers in your power supply, which if memory serves correct, is on the left side. Maybe clearance issues with your speakers shorted them out.

Good copy though.

Here's mine again for those that forgot:
http://www.boomboxery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5391&hilit=550

 

[mellymelsr]

Nicely done...and I love that color blue. I really hope you get that one working...

 

[blu_fuz]

Your power up problem may be related to the electrical smoke issue from your prior assembly. Maybe something burnt up. My first suspicion is the rectifiers in your power supply, which if memory serves correct, is on the left side. Maybe clearance issues with your speakers shorted them out.

Good copy though.



- thanks Norm. I felt bad wanting to copy what you did with your red one. I figured the only way I would do one is if it was blue and I am glad I did!


The electrical smoke was on the left side of the boombox from the power supply area like you are thinking. After that happened I looked all over in that area for a spot that the speaker might have touched and I didn't find anything. I pulled the front case off and powered it back up and bumped this thing for another 1/2hr before taking it apart the rest of the way. All seemed well. Then after all the painting was done I played it again before putting the front case on and it played for 30 seconds and shut off and I havn't been able to power it up since via AC cord.


But, after dreaming about this thing last night I forgot to try batteries! It does work! . So this is better than nothing.


My cassette capstan (little metal peg in cassette deck) is spinning all the time. Not sure what that is about but it started after I pushed a couple keys for the cassette to see if the heads would stick up. My "head/door lock" is modified so that if it does get stuck up I can still open the door.

Either way, this baby jams loud with the new speakers! I can't turn this up past 1/2 volume when playing the radio. It is very very loud for its size.

 

[blu_fuz]

Nicely done...and I love that color blue. I really hope you get that one working...


Thanks Melly - I really look up to you guys and your skill in restoring these boomboxes.

 

[blu_fuz]

This box is up there with the SCR-8 for sure as far as sound goes. The battery life on this is really really great. We played it at about 1/3-1/2 volume for almost 9 hours straight yesterday! Some line-in and mostly radio. By the last hour in the night before everyone went to bed, someone asked "is that still running on batteries?"

You betcha, I said. It is still thumping like it was when the batteries were new, so we will see how long they last.

Still has tons of life left in it even after all that time playing and with the upgraded speakers. I would assume that it would last even longer with the original speakers because they suck less power.

 

[monchito]

wow i fell in love with that pioneer even the color wow ..DIBSSS

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

WOW! That paint job looks as loud as the radio! I love what you guys are doing with your radios. A good cleaning is one thing, but these custom paint jobs are just mind blowing.

Way to pick out a great color too. It really POPS!

 

[oldskool69]

Love the color Mel! And agree with Supadoop on the power issues. Often times with new speakers you may have a slight, though not apparent contact with a board or posibbly a wire pushed.

If you lived next to me I'd run her through the lab, but I'm in 'Bama.