Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Dedicated Source Components › Help needed: Old Lloyd's receiver
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Help needed: Old Lloyd's receiver

post #1 of 8
5/30/10 at 7:54am
Thread Starter 

A person asked me to take a look at his machine, a Lloyd's H430 stereo receiver. The machine has four RCA inputs and one headphone output (plus twin speaker outputs).

Problem: When I plug RCA cables into the inputs, right audio channel would be the left in the headphones, while the left channel doesn't work at all. (The inputs are: two Tape, one Phono, one Aux)

Without a manual, I have no idea how to diagnose (and fix) this problem.

Update/correction: The left and right channels in the amp are reversed.

Any suggestions?


Edited by 3602 - 5/30/10 at 8:47am
Reply
post #2 of 8
5/30/10 at 10:30am
Thread Starter 

What's more: There is a Balance dial. When turned to Left, the right channel becomes louder in the headphones. Vice versa.

I can indeed open up the box (again) to re-solder the L/R channels on the headphone-out, but I consider that a choiceless-choice. No idea how a 70's soldering point responds to a modern iron.

A bit more info: This model could be a rebadged Marantz or Fisher. The old Fisher 500-C has a reversed headphone-out.


Edited by 3602 - 5/30/10 at 10:32am
Reply
post #3 of 8
5/30/10 at 10:48am

Have you tried the sound with multiple inputs (aux, tape in, etc)?  Are they all switched?  If not just rewire the source that is flipped.

 

If it happens with alll sources, does this happen only in the HP jack or also the speakers (A and B)?  If everywhere, the simplest thing to do would be to rewire from board to outputs if everything else is working properly.   Probably a good thing to replace whatever speaker connection hardware with something more recent (multifunction with banana plugs etc) to get better contact with the speakers and it would eliminate the problem of old corroded terminals.  Replacing the HP jack also might not be a bad idea.

 

Just out of curiosity, how does it sound overall besides the flipped channels? 

Reply
post #4 of 8
5/30/10 at 12:46pm
Thread Starter 

Weird: Got an iPod -> RCA line-out cable and did not have the reversed problem. However, the Balance dial now kills the left channel when turned to the right, vice versa.

I don't have wires-required passive speakers, so I don't really know. It's not a banana plug station, it one of those early stick-the-wire-in-and-push-the-tab-to-secure-it kind of thing. Doesn't look corroded. The HP-out looks about as good as a cheapo new RadioShack DIY thing.

Sound: Well, this thing (40lbs brick) has STK080's, Elna and Fujitsu-Towa caps so I expected it to sound pretty good, 70's wise. Sound positioning, directionality and dimensionality are most incredible. Treble is very realistic, a bit smooth I'd say, not screeching or howling at all (listening using DT880-32, a normally very sibilant 'phone). Haven't really tried vocals on it. Bass is weak, so I turned to bass dial to +2 (max +10, was at 0) and I heard full, tight, controlled and detailed bass. Excellent for classical, large symphonies. Modern compressed rock just sounds like cr@p with this thing.

Reply
post #5 of 8
5/31/10 at 5:48am
Thread Starter 

OK, more and more I am noticing that bass is stronger in the left channel. If I turn the Bass dial over +6, the left headphone speaker starts to rumble while the right one, not as much (or shall I say much less). Even when I turn the Bass dial back to 0, the left side still has 'more bass'. This does not happen when I use my HeadRoom amp. However, mids and treble are about the same and I'm quite sure that nothing is going into ground when it shouldn't (left and right channel separation is distinct, nothing appears 'mono' or 'in the middle').

Reply
post #6 of 8
5/31/10 at 5:25pm
Thread Starter 

Hit the Loudness button and the bass problem is cured. Am I doing a monologue here? Anyway, just to let you know, if anyone's interested. I'll let this post sink into the pages.

Reply
post #7 of 8
5/31/10 at 9:25pm

I've read caps can degrade over time; perhaps that is part of the problem?  I guess you could get some schematics and do a refresh if you were so inclined.  With the other issues of inverted balance etc. it may not be worth it.  Did someone else try fixing it to your knowledge?

Reply
post #8 of 8
5/31/10 at 10:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3602 View Post

Am I doing a monologue here? 

You know, people don't usually respond if they have no idea how to fix something.  Just a friendly suggestion.  You might want to toss a similar question into the DIY forum instead. 

 

For the receiver, you might want to get a good look inside.  I'd look particularly for solder blobs that look they were not aprt of the original build.  There are far too many things going wrong with this and I suspect old caps and some miswiring going on.  The L and R channels being reversed is odd since it only occures with specific inputs.  If it were all inputs, then just the headphone out would be wrong.  But when you mention the bass getting a little flaky...something else is really not right.

 

For the 70s joint responding to a new iron?  No worries.  Temperature is temperature.  Keep the heat reasonable, don't leave the iron on the joint too long, you'll be good.  There are people who work on original radios from the 1930!  If the iron is on the joint for more than a few seconds and the solder still hasn't come loose, stop, and let it cool.  Add a bit more solder (because there's probably flux in the solder) and try again. 

 

Good luck!

Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Dedicated Source Components
Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Dedicated Source Components › Help needed: Old Lloyd's receiver