Sweet cabinet. I'm intrigued by the part-mechanical / part-electric nature of the original player. Cool iron platter casting. So it was a wind-up mechanically driven platter, with electric amplification and the output transformer mounted directy on the speaker. Is there some sort of coil mechnism cartidge inside the head of the TT arm which the steel needle fits into?
The pickup head is traditional in its size and weight. Its really heavy.
The arm is bakelite, and hollow out to the head. The head has some sort of processor in it that takes the needle motion and converts it to electrical signal.
I have not hooked it up, but, I did put a DMM on it, and found that I can create a DC voltage load by tweaking the needle sharply. So it seems to still work.
It is wired to a 1/4" audio plug. That audio plug went directly to the integrated tube amp, in a traditional connection. The radio is also built directly onto the amp, literally an early integrated amp.
Just last night I found that the pickup head rotates around about 90ยบ, assuming to get the needle to clear the record, or for needle changing. It also seems to disconnect the pickup, for what I assume to be feedback resistance in radio listening.
This is one of the earliest examples of an electronic pickup and electronic amplified audio systems. Its components are just totally dead, and I don't have the interest, nor funding, to throw at restoring the old amp - I can see that easily going over a grand.
As I do with all of my renovations, its all being done so that it can be brought back to original. I will box and save the old amp and TT, just in case I hit the lotto and can afford to OH it.
edit; to finish my thought,.....
You'd asked about the transformer as part of your thought.
The transformer is there, for what I assume to have been an attenuator for the speaker. When I first hooked it up to the amp, I had to go to 11 on the suck knob to hear anything at all.
When I removed the transformer, the speaker jumped to life. It had been silent for 15 or 20 years that this seller had owned it. So it sounded really stiff at first. Since then its loosened up considerably, mellowed, and is a really nice sounding speaker.
So, I'm guessing that the amp was too much for the speaker and it had to be attenuated via the transformer.
The speaker is really sensitive. I can tell that 10w is giving it plenty of a workout. Its a nice match of plenty of power to drive it, and nice detail at low levels.
Paper speakers are said to take a good 25 years to loosen up entirely. So if the voice coil is still loose, they'll last forever, if not abused. There is no foam surround, just paper.
A couple of mono enthusiasts have suggested that I give the cones a treatment of Franklins Tightbond II wood glue. Its said to be a major improvement in the woofiness of the bass.
There is a slight non-distorting tear in the speaker. They said to get a cigarette paper, and tack it to the speaker and then glue-paint the cone, and leave the surround uncoated.
I'll take these guys advice, as they actually grew up with the old vintage gear and have an encyclopedic mental database on the stuff.