Wonderbar Radio

[John O.]

Hi all

For the first time since I owned and had my Wonderbar Radio rebuilt, I turned it on to here it. I noticed the volumn is not very loud when turned up all the way.This is in a 1962 corvette.Thats with the engine off.Is that normal or is there something wrong here. Any one having this problem? Can someone help.

Thanks...John

[Wayne P.]

Re: Wonderbar Radio

Not normal. Contact the repairman.

[William C.]

Re: Wonderbar Radio

Do you have the correct speaker with the transformer attached?

[Jack H.]

Add on...

to what Clup is saying... If the factory original speaker with its attached matching transformer has been swapped for a conventional speaker without the matching transformer, two things will happen.

(1) The sound will be VERY weak causing you to have to crank the volume up to near maximum AND it'll sound 'tinny' and distorted.

(2) Continued use of the radio without the correct speaker, will result in the Wonderbar radio's final audio drive transistor (DS501) to 'blow' necessitating a major repair. Replacement transistors aren't cheap (the going rate is $25-30 each + bench labor cost to R&R)...

[Eric J.]

Picture of speaker

Here is a picture of the original speaker and transformer as well as a link to:

http://www.wonderbarman.com/Corvette.html

I have no affiliation or review of vendor other than he has a good description of how important it is to have the right speaker.

Eric

[Richard T.]

Re: Wonderbar Radio

John, there is also a trim screw adjustment on your Wonderbar. This has to be reset after you have had your radio rebuilt and reinstalled in your car. As little as a quarter or half turn of this adjustment screw can make a huge difference in the quality of reception and the volume.

[John O.]

Re: Wonderbar Radio

Thanks Rick and everyone for your response. Rick, where is that trim adjusting screw. I'll try that. My speaker is not original. It's a new speaker with a transformer on it.

Thanks...John

[Richard T.]

Re: Trim Screw on Wonderbar Radio

John, the adjustment screw is on the back of the radio on the passenger side. There is a hole in the back of the case for access to the screw. It is accessible with the radio installed. If you have questions about how to adjust the radio, you might try calling Charles Siegfried at 707-823-7927.

[Jack H.]

Re: Wonderbar Radio

The trimmer is on the back of the radio near the antenna plug-in as stated. You're turning a variable capacitor to 'tweak' the radio's capacitive coupling to match the specific impedance of your car's antenna + lead-in cable.

If you're in a major metro area, tuned to a healthy signal strength AM station, don't expect the triming operation to do much of anything... The adjustment provision is there to 'optimize' your radio for fringe area AM signal reception. Expect to see little/no difference under strong signal, metro area, signal reception.

To make the adjustment, you simply tune the radio to a high frequency radio station (in the 1400-1600 KHz range) that's comin in WEAK and twist the adjuster to maximize signal reception. That's it! But, you have to locate a weak/faint station at the high end of the dial to do the adjustment and there may NOT be one if you're in a major metro area...