"Geo" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 2 May 2008 15:18:55 +0100, "eu.thundernews.com"
wrote:

Thanks for your reply, the radio is a valve job made in 1950. The
circuitry
appears to the eye to have aged well but of course with something this age
there could be all sorts of things that need sorting. But I guess the
audio
output device is valve based.

I see that it has a gram (PU) input. Try this to eliminate the radio
section.
If the volume is still low then you only have the last two stages to
consider
(and of course the power supply - but I suspect that will be ok unless the
main
smoothing caps are leaking very badly and pulling the HT rail low).
Assuming you have not caused the fault yourself (all bets then off) and
that the
audio is low but NOT distorted, my first test (after checking voltages on
the
valve bases) would be putting another cap across the output stage cathode
resistor.

Geo

Thanks for your reply. The Gram input is low. I haven't caused the prob
myself unless it was by moving it or something which would suggest that it
was going to happen anyway. And the audio is not distorted. I will follow
your advice and see what I come up with.

I started this project with the intention of replacing the components but I
realised that I wouldn't learn much about how the whole thing works. Now I'm
more motivated than I've been about anything for a long time!

I really appreciate your help as it is this sort of advice that is already
helping my understanding and showing me what I need to be studying up on.
I'm much obliged!
(by the way I'm on a different pc that's why my 'from' name is different)