Rowe AMI issue

[klassickarguy]

Good morning, I am not sure this is the correct place to post as I am new to this. I just recently purchased a rowe jukebox that works except there is no sound (record selects and arm is function, however no sound on the speakers, I found a blown fuse on what I think is an amp, but I'm not sure. I try to attach photos (JPEG) and it says error..., but its a ROWE AMI Model JAO

[Ron Rich]

Morning backatcha ( only it's now night !)
Could be anything from no needle to now speakers, or nothing in between. A blown fuse probably indicates amplifier problems if it's in the amplifier circuit --- Ron Rich

[klassickarguy]

I can "hear" music playing, so I think the needle is ok. I tried replacing the speaker but no luck.  Whats the best way to check that amp and can it be "upgraded" to maybe a more modern unit?

[Ron Rich]

Got the Service Manual ? If so, see if there is a Trouble Shooting Guide in it-- Is the Volume Control "hooked up' ? You should not be "changing speakers" unless you understand what you are doing--the wrong speaker can damage your phono. If you do not have the correct manual, see our FAQ's for a list of suppliers of "books". Ron Rich

[wdln]

The amp very likely needs to be completely gone through. A blown fuse might just be a blown fuse (sometimes you get lucky), but it usually indicates a bigger problem as Ron said. Being an old unit, testing all the tubes and replacing all the electrolytic capacitors is the least of what would need to be done to make it reliable.

Start with the book... make sure everything is hooked up correctly, especially at the output. I've seen where people have disconnected all the internal speakers and because there are multiple taps for the output, it's not clear where everything goes back without looking at the diagram. Put the original speaker back in it too; that is most likely not the problem. I doubt that would have blown a fuse, but you could try replacing the fuse with the correct value and type. Make sure you either look up the fuse spec in the book or go with what is printed on the amp next to the fuse. Someone may have replaced the blown fuse with the wrong value, so that's not a good reference.

On a much newer Rowe-AMI juke I have, I opted to put a cheap off-the-shelf solid-state amp in it, driving the juke's own original speakers. I also had to install an external phono preamp, as the level and EQ coming from the mechanism's magnetic cartridge is not a simple line-level signal. Then I had to design my own muting circuit so the thing didn't buzz all the time when nothing was playing. The cool part is that the amp I picked has Bluetooth on it, which makes it appealing for "man cave" applications... you can play the jukebox through the speakers or run music from your phone. But it was a fair amount of work integrating a new volume control and figuring out how to make that muting circuit.

For a nice old specimen like a JAO, I think I'd want to keep it all-original.