Siera (Philips) SA8013A (1957)

The Model

This is a luxury radio + gramophone (record player) combo from 1957. It was manufactured by Philips and sold to the Belgian market under the brand Siera.

The record player is a Philips model AG 2004-75 with direct drive.

Schema

The Object

This was my first tube radio. I found it in the thrift store Het Goed in Eindhoven in mid-2020 and fell in love with it. It was a big beast, so first I got permission from the wife before picking it up from the shop for 45 euros. I think she regretted ever agreeing with it, but then it was too late, the "elephant" was already in the room.

The radio was working perfectly, but the record player was missing the element with the needle. It came with an old red vinyl record brush (to the right of the record player arm in the photos).

The Restoration

The radio itself needed no restoration. Someone had already recapped it (no old paper caps or electrolytics) and it just worked perfectly.

I attempted to restore the record player but in the end I've failed.

The first step was to find a new element + needle. The vintage elements eventually break down because of old age, so I needed a new one. Eventually I found a website that sells a very nice remake.

However, the record spun at the wrong speed. Eventually I tracked it down to a mechanical problem in the assembly that controls the plate speed. If I would push it with the finger as it played, all was good. But as soon as I removed the finger, it would fall back to the wrong position and spin slower.

Eventually I gave up and sold it at a loss on Marktplaats to a more capable person who fixed it.

Siera (Philips) SA8013A (1957)

The Model

The Object

The Restoration

The Result