Old phone too quiet

Hi all,
I have a Western Electric 2500 phone (the standard desk phone) and the
sound is too quiet. The speaker measures 37 ohms with all the wiring,
which I think makes sense. Is there something I can do? Or am I just
used to modern phones that have preamps in them?
-Max

 

[Rein Wiehler]

nospam-me53@cornell.edu wrote:

Hi all,
I have a Western Electric 2500 phone (the standard desk phone) and the
sound is too quiet. The speaker measures 37 ohms with all the wiring,
which I think makes sense. Is there something I can do? Or am I just
used to modern phones that have preamps in them?
-Max

remove (unscrew)the earpiece and mike and clean the spring contacts.
rw

 

[JURB6006]

Also if it is a dial type phone, try reversing the wires, newer phones have
polarity protection, actually I mean don't care about polarity and you never
know when it's reversed. Old phones used a zener I think to reduce transients
and if the polarity is wrong will do this. I don't know the device to be a
zener, it might be a diode with an MOV, but I know if it is reversed you get
very little sound.

JURB

 

[Fred McKenzie]

<< I have a Western Electric 2500 phone (the standard desk phone) and the
sound is too quiet. >>

Max-

Do you mean the party at the other end is not loud enough, they don't hear you
loud enough, or you don't hear your own voice loud enough?

If it is the latter, there is a transformer in the telephone, called a
"hybrid", that balances the send and receive audio. It cancels the sound from
your microphone from getting back to the earphone.

The hybrid is normally unbalanced slightly to let you hear a percentage of your
own voice, called "sidetone". The percentage is chosen to get you to speak at
the proper level. If it is to low, you will speak too loudly and vice versa.
Occasionally the balance is too good, resulting in a dead-sounding telephone.

If this is the case with your telephone, there may be a resistor value that can
be changed to upset the balance.

If this isn't the case, then you may be able to swap earphone or microphone
elements with another phone to find a better combination.

One thing about the older carbon microphone elements, the carbon granules
sometimes become packed and need to be shaken-up. Giving the microphone a good
rap on the table may all it takes!

Fred

 

[Bill Janssen]

JURB6006 wrote:

Also if it is a dial type phone, try reversing the wires, newer phones have
polarity protection, actually I mean don't care about polarity and you never
know when it's reversed. Old phones used a zener I think to reduce transients
and if the polarity is wrong will do this. I don't know the device to be a
zener, it might be a diode with an MOV, but I know if it is reversed you get
very little sound.

JURB

Also check for tape over the holes in the receiver (or transmitter) cap. It was
common to reduce volume by taping those holes.

Bill K7NOM

 

I mean that I don't hear them loud enough but they hear me (and I hear
myself) just fine. Also, the dialtone is loud enough and some
connections are loud enough too. Others I can barely hear at all. It's
almost as if it depends on the distance of the caller or something like
that.

In article <20030721214905.03043.00000514@mb-m01.aol.com>, fmmck@aol.com
says...

I have a Western Electric 2500 phone (the standard desk phone) and the
sound is too quiet.

Max-

Do you mean the party at the other end is not loud enough, they don't hear you
loud enough, or you don't hear your own voice loud enough?

If it is the latter, there is a transformer in the telephone, called a
"hybrid", that balances the send and receive audio. It cancels the sound from
your microphone from getting back to the earphone.

The hybrid is normally unbalanced slightly to let you hear a percentage of your
own voice, called "sidetone". The percentage is chosen to get you to speak at
the proper level. If it is to low, you will speak too loudly and vice versa.
Occasionally the balance is too good, resulting in a dead-sounding telephone.

If this is the case with your telephone, there may be a resistor value that can
be changed to upset the balance.

If this isn't the case, then you may be able to swap earphone or microphone
elements with another phone to find a better combination.

One thing about the older carbon microphone elements, the carbon granules
sometimes become packed and need to be shaken-up. Giving the microphone a good
rap on the table may all it takes!

Fred