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I signed a petition on Action Network telling Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to Tell the FTC: People just want to fix their stuff!. U.S. PIRG, Repair.org and iFixit are calling on the FTC to take real action to protect your right to repair, including: Enforce the law against companies who use illegal tying arrangements to force consumers to purchase connected repair services. Enforce the law against companies who violate the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act by voiding warranties when a consumer fixes something themselves or uses third-party parts or repair services. Enforce the law against companies who refuse to sell replacement parts, diagnostic and repair tools, or service information to independent… Read More

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UPDATE: MIT Flea cancelled until 2022 ! Details at their webpage https://w1mx.mit.edu/flea-at-mit/ It will be about 2 years since the last one in 2019 and that’s only if they have it in October 2021, traditionally the final Flea of the season normally held on the third Sunday of April – October Wanna talk about careful? MIT requires Vaccination, AND weekly testing AND masks for indoor access. Thing is, this event is in an open-to-the-elements garage way, way off Mass Ave. at the corner of Main and Albany . It used to be in an outdoor parking lot with the garage as sort of an indoor refuge for rainy days. Now… Read More

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Hey, it’s finally here. I had been threatening to do this mod for a couple of years, Everybody knows that the clock light on the Model Three is just too damn bright in a darkened bedroom. Here’s the story as to why it’s too bright. when other people had time on their hands and were doing the Getty Museum Challenge…. I was working my ass off doing IT support from home. This is what I do in real life when I’m not helping Bruce out with the Rockport Radio repairs. Then a customer asked me yet again if it was possible to dim the clock light. But wait. I needed… Read More

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Ever wanted to mount your Model One under a kitchen cabinet? Sure, but you can’t do it without ruining your wood veneer cabinet. We can show you how, and sell you a slightly used Model One cabinet that you can use for this purpose or keep in reserve if you’re scared to permanently deface the original cabinet. You can refinish these cabinets to a certain extent. All it takes is the right screwdriver and a little courage to change out the cabinet yourself (We’ll send you photos that illustrate the steps involved). The photo below indicates that I used a really beat up cabinet because I had doubts about how… Read More

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On a Model One/Model Two/Model Three, there are these plastic things that connect the front panel directly to the back panel. (OK, it’s about time for a photo) The four screws in the 4 corners in back of the radio basically anchor into extensions of the front panel. Sometimes these get stripped or broken if the screws are over-tightened, sometimes it’s the factory’s fault and the boss was not strong enough. Don’t Overtighten! Maybe it’s been tightened by somebody who thought it was a machine screw, when in fact it’s more like a sheet metal screw or a wood screw that bites into the plastic. If they break, usually the… Read More

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Bruce and JP will be at the World Famous MIT Flea market on Sunday Sept 16 with a collection of Tivoli Radios for sale.  We probably can’t bring all of them, but we will bring a representative sample. Please come and meet us. Rest assured that Bruce will be happy to offer opinions on all things Audio.  The Flea runs from 9AM to 2PM, but is pretty much burned out by Noon or so..  Print out the flyer for a $1 discount. MIT Flea Market Flyer PDF MIT Flea Market information and Map

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If you have a Model Three, and you actually use it as intended as a clock radio,  You may have noticed that the light in the clock is a lot brighter than it needs to be in a darkened bedroom.*  Well, maybe not for everybody, but soon after its introduction I had heard of people that wanted the light removed, and somebody showed me how to do it at the time, but I’ve since forgotten.  But Bruce knows how, in fact he says that he can dim it properly by adding a resistor in line (makes sense). but he’s too chicken to do it because it’s just too subjective as… Read More

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Bruce is hot on the trail of some CD Transports for the Tivoli Music System. This seems to be the most common problem with the Music System and Music System Two.  We’re also trying to figure out if the Phillips transport for the Music System is backwardly compatible with the Tivoli Model CD.  We think it is, but we’re looking for confirmations. The control cables are identical, but the transport for the Music System also handles MP3 and WMA files where the Model CD only needs basic music CD functionality. JP

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Some typical problems with Model Ones Tuner- variable capacitor needs replacement. You can turn it rapidly and repeatedly to clean it somewhat, but this won’t fix it for long.. Early volume knobs got noisy but were cleanable because they were open, later volume knobs were sealed and cleaning isn’t possible but service life was much better. Selector Switches can loosen up, get noisy or just fail. By the way there’s two distinct versions of the Model One Original Model One 2000-2004 From 2004 onward was the Model One (A)  differences were stereo from the output jack and the Selector Switch added the Aux position. There were some subtle changes after… Read More

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