17-05-2011, 03:43 PM
Hi Joe,
Just seen this; can't say I blame you for being a bit fed up with this set by now! The R600 was hardly Roberts' finest hour (the R606 performs much better), and they are pretty plentiful, as you say. I've restored one of them in the past for a friend, and didn't enjoy it one bit - the mechanical construction is pretty horrible. But then, I've been spoiled by another UK brand of portables
An active speaker is really very useful, and it's worth putting in a bit of effort to make it sound nice - I built one some 10 years back from free/scrap parts and ended up using it as a bedside radio in conjunction with a walkman-type radio. I don't know if you'd be able to get some ideas from it? http://www.mhennessy1.f9.co.uk/activespeaker/index.htm
The only change I'd make would be to have a little more gain - indeed next time I take it apart, I plan to add a switch to add 20dB or so to the input amplifier. Obviously mine isn't battery powered, but the amplifier is basically floating, so it doesn't cause hum loops.
Look forward to seeing a write-up of the project soon,
Mark
Just seen this; can't say I blame you for being a bit fed up with this set by now! The R600 was hardly Roberts' finest hour (the R606 performs much better), and they are pretty plentiful, as you say. I've restored one of them in the past for a friend, and didn't enjoy it one bit - the mechanical construction is pretty horrible. But then, I've been spoiled by another UK brand of portables
An active speaker is really very useful, and it's worth putting in a bit of effort to make it sound nice - I built one some 10 years back from free/scrap parts and ended up using it as a bedside radio in conjunction with a walkman-type radio. I don't know if you'd be able to get some ideas from it? http://www.mhennessy1.f9.co.uk/activespeaker/index.htm
The only change I'd make would be to have a little more gain - indeed next time I take it apart, I plan to add a switch to add 20dB or so to the input amplifier. Obviously mine isn't battery powered, but the amplifier is basically floating, so it doesn't cause hum loops.
Look forward to seeing a write-up of the project soon,
Mark
