[claybum]

Quote:

I've opened up my 907 and taken out the preamp board. I'm getting antsy. If I don't hear back from someone soon, I'm going to start doing my own surgery.

Good luck with the 907 moodyrn!!! My 907 just had a channel go out so it will be going into the shop soon. Eventually I would love to get another 907 or maybe a 650 as I am quite intrigued with the kenwood sound. Of course, your comments on the sansui you recently purchased has me thinking. There was a sansui 9090 receiver fully recapped for sale locally not long ago, but I passed up on it due to its horrendous cosmetic condition.
 
Keep us posted!!

 

[moodyrn]

I finally heard back from a repair shop, well actually a listing for various restorations on eBay. The user is amplifier_surgery. He has listings for various totl receivers and integrateds. They don't have a listing for the 907, but when I inquired about it, they responded saying they're putting together a restoration package for it and taking orders for the 1st week in July. I think they are near the Chicago area, has anyone heard or know anything about them?

 

[Silent One]

can't wait to learn more, moodyrn...

 

[moodyrn]

I was impressed with everything involved in their restore, which is much more than a recap. It also includes transistors, diodes, and resistors. Not all of them, but the ones that are bad or out of spec.

So I guess I'll be putting mine back together. The total cost is 395(before shipping), which isn't bad considering whats inside of that beast.

 

[Silent One]

 I'm still waiting for my phone to ring. However, your encounter has brought the thread joy. A rising tide will lift my boat as well.

 

[Skylab]

Really, near Chicago? Any more info? Do they have a store, or are they on AudioKarma, or anything like that?

 

[moodyrn]

They're located in downers grove, IL. I found they have a website, but it only provides very limited info. I also found a youtube link with videos highlighting many of their restorations. They have good feedback on ebay, but the fact not there's not much info about them online worries me a bit, but the youtube videos do look pretty good, and they do have very good feedback on ebay. But I'm not completely sold yet. He's been good with answering all of my questions so far though.
 
here's a link to their youtube page.http://www.youtube.com/user/AmplifierSurgery

 

[Skylab]

Well that's good info for me, always nice to know of a Chicago person who might do some work for me. I've been sending my Pioneer stuff to a guy in Ohio, who does great work, but the shipping is stressful and expensive.

 

[moodyrn]

Yeah the shipping has me a bit concerned. But his prices are good. But on the flip side, I did find out he's a one man operation that works out his house, so it is more of a risk than I want to take. His work on YouTube does look good though. It's just a tough call for me to make.

 

[Silent One]

 Your pause is understandable. Whatever you decide, you've a community standing behind you.

 

[Skylab]

The guy I've used is also a one-man shop working out of his house. It's the knowledge and quality of work that matters. The multi-person outfits in large shops tend to be good for basic fixes only in my experience. A full restore requires an craftsman/artisan!

 

[moodyrn]

 Your pause is understandable. Whatever you decide, you've a community standing behind you.

Lol, thanks.

The guy I've used is also a one-man shop working out of his house. It's the knowledge and quality of work that matters. The multi-person outfits in large shops tend to be good for basic fixes only in my experience. A full restore requires an craftsman/artisan!

Yeah, you're right about that. The popular repair people over at audiokarma are one person ops also. But at least they are well known over there.

I've had a couple of interesting conversations with some local repair guy today.. One of them who works for an authorized service center for a few electronic brands, told me if none of the caps are leaking, leave it alone. I would only be wasting my money. Another who is actually very familiar with the 907 told me, they used special caps in those that last 40-50 years. If it sounds good leave it alone.

He went on to say that it was one of the best amps ever made, and fooling around with it could make it sound worse and also damage it. Well I use to think the same as those guys. I only replaced caps that were leaking in the past. But what I've heard from a restored sansui has definitely changed my mind about that.

 

[Skylab]

My fully recapped SX-1980 sounds very significantly better than the stock one I had recently. That stock one is now in Ohio also having a full recap and restore. The difference in my experience is no subtle and always for the better.

 

[moodyrn]

Thanks for all of the advice. I'm definitely taking it somewhere. It would at least cost 100.00 to ship alone, but the total price would still be cheaper than having it done locally for something as jam packed as this one. The videos of his many restorations are growing on me though.

 

[johnman1116]

Hello, Vintage and audio newbie here. 
I had a few questions about Vintage Receivers. I read about 10 of the first and last posts on this thread and didnt find what i was looking for which mainly is information.

• What makes vintage so great? excluding aesthetics.

1. I heard that the benchmark performance is actually accurate compared to modern day receivers ( measuring wattage from the full spectrum for some period of time as opposed to 1khz for ~1 second.) but... 
2. I've read that a 500 watt, 5 channel amp actually only has about 64 watts per channel but isnt that still much more than what vintage receivers can produce? forgoing cost for a sec because i dont know the costs.

• Do people actually need true 100 watt speakers or will lets say 50ish pretty much drive everything to good levels?
•  At the beginning of the thread, a member posted that a Marantz 22XX should only cost at most $100 in 2011. Now I see them go for prices like $2-300 to 500. Are these still "worth it" at these prices which are pretty competitive to modern day receivers but still lack basic needs like hdmi, dolby, etc, etc.
• How would I know If said vintage gear is "good" or not.

1. its pretty difficult to find reviews on threads on various sites, there arent any big name reviewers that i can see.
2. also  typically most vintage people will say it sounds good. maybe based on general knowledge? 

• Based on my findings, it seems that usually there is a lot of work that goes into attaining a vintage receiver and bringing it back up to spec (replacing resistors, capacitors, lights, etc.)

1. You may be able to find random vintage receivers for cheap at yard sales, good will, etc. but the amount of labor that goes into it seems a bit high but i guess thats what a hobby is all about.

• Lastly, has anyone compared a up to spec vintage receiver to something like an emotiva or cambridge which are said to be audiophile manufacturers who report accurate specifications. 

 
 
THANK YOU.
 
 
Sorry for so many questions. I hope that it isnt confusing and that no one was offended. I just found out about vintage receivers like a week ago and am trying to acquire some knowledge about a series of products that was build many many years before my time.