[RexAeterna]

i know it's meant to be mandatory for some but i haven't had any issues with either my amps or tried recapping them. only way to test the caps is take them out and i kinda don't want to mess with it unless i was actually considering doing a recap job. i will consider recapping in the near future but for now i'm gonna take care of the smaller things and do bias adjustment and so forth. only thing i be recapping soon is some crossovers for my pioneer cs-77a speakers i found since the caps are way over 30 years old and past their time and the fb drivers used are really good drivers especially the woofers. i might even build a new wood cab for my 5000x and paint it black. i'm a sucker for wood cabs on receivers. 
 
Quote:

The general consensus on AudioKarma seems to be that outside of the main filter/reservoir caps (assuming those are OK), recaps are mandatory on older gear - out of spec caps will color the sound as much or more than new replacements would change it from what it was.  What is considered generally sacrosanct are the output devices.  If you change those, why bother buying the vintage piece other than the looks.  That makes sense to me, so that is the path I have followed.  Old caps can also pose somewhat of a hazard, too, so best to recap as needed.  And of course re-aligning the tuner is not replacing any vintage parts...
 

 

 

[scottiebabie]

IMO besides the ubiqitious cleaning & adjustments for proper function, theres no real "need" for any work to be done as long as theres music coming out of these amps. that said, i would say its a safe bet that 30-40yr old amps wont sounding their best or atleast as how they should sound when new as everything has a shelf life. plus technology has improved the materials used in electrolytic caps so a full recapping projects more than a good idea.
 
for me, the actual recapping is the easier part, its the disassembly/reassembly & perhaps getting the correct BOM list for the requisite parts thats the headache. as for using non factory spec'd parts eg.output transistors, i suppose its no different than tube rolling cap rolling or opamp rolling. 
 
IMO what makes these vintages 'special' besides the topnotch quality & purty casing (to my eyes anyways). machined alu knobs & faceplates, captain midnite lighting, etc etc, is the incredible (&beeeeeefffffy) power supplies. as an eg, just 1 of the 2 trafos in my 65watter AU-517 is bigger than the trafos used in most modern 100+ watters stereo amp/receivers. i do believe its this over built over designed power supplies that gives our vintages their special sonics esp in warmth, bottom end extension/fullness & the ability to drive almost any type of load. FWIW these power supplies are also the primary cause of the back breaking weight of our amps.
 
all that plus discrete circuitry, perhaps full discrete in most of these amps because they were built at any age before the invasion of cheap ubiqitous (&oft crappy sounding) opamps!
 
its the expensive way of building amps & we're lucky that that was how things were done back then. so lets keep our amps running for another 50yrs so our kids & grandkids can enjoy them too. 

 

[Skylab]

@RexAeterna - I'm the same about the wood on the receivers - I got the recommendation on AK to use some Old English Scratch Cover on my 1980's wood. I just did that and the results were STUNNING. I highly recommend it.

@ScottieBabie - No doubt man, the power supplies are a BIG reason these things are so awesome. the power supply on the 1250, 1980, and the Sansui 9090 are just the kind of thing you only see on VERY night end products today. Of course, those all WERE high end products, back in their day

 

[Frank I]

 
Quote:

really i was expecting in the 1000's. in a couple months if they don't sell it  i might check it out maybe...but i'm not positive if i would consider it. i never been to the store there. is all there gear in the hundreds? i see their store listed all over craigslist but it seems cheapest gear they carry are speakers and are in 250 range. i only know about barracks trading post and goodwill stores i usually visit to see if i can get anything for a fair price.


 

There are plenty speakers in their including vintage AR for 289.00 but I would offer him way less as the jpoint is closing. That 5590 has an issue in the left channel and its probably cap and solder so expect at least 150.00 or more to repair it plus antenna is cracked and its mssing two switches and the rear fin is cracked and missing a piece but my concern is the static in the right channel.
 

 

[RexAeterna]

old english is amazing. i use it on my sansui 5000x all the time. borught the nice natural wood color right out and gave it an amazing polish as well. i like using brasso to polish and clean faceplates and knobs as well. brasso smells like straight up cat litter but works really well.
 
Quote:

@RexAeterna - I'm the same about the wood on the receivers - I got the recommendation on AK to use some Old English Scratch Cover on my 1980's wood. I just did that and the results were STUNNING. I highly recommend it.

@ScottieBabie - No doubt man, the power supplies are a BIG reason these things are so awesome. the power supply on the 1250, 1980, and the Sansui 9090 are just the kind of thing you only see on VERY night end products today. Of course, those all WERE high end products, back in their day

 

 

[RexAeterna]

dang i didn't know that bad. if they were giving it price of 150 or so i probably would consider it due to it's rarity maybe. i didn't know their gear had issues so that whole thing about everything being serviced by professionals is bunch of b/s they advertise huh? i give them a look. i know it's in maple shade but i need to find where. i'm looking for a nice yamaha receiver to get my hands on or yamaha power amps. do they carry headphones by any chance? i never been having luck lately finding headphones locally cause i do not buy from independent sellers online. been trying to find a pair of older akg 240 monitors. some reason i always wanted a pair. 
 
Quote:

 

There are plenty speakers in their including vintage AR for 289.00 but I would offer him way less as the jpoint is closing. That 5590 has an issue in the left channel and its probably cap and solder so expect at least 150.00 or more to repair it plus antenna is cracked and its mssing two switches and the rear fin is cracked and missing a piece but my concern is the static in the right channel.
 

 

 

[Frank I]

 
Quote:

dang i didn't know that bad. if they were giving it price of 150 or so i probably would consider it due to it's rarity maybe. i didn't know their gear had issues so that whole thing about everything being serviced by professionals is bunch of b/s they advertise huh? i give them a look. i know it's in maple shade but i need to find where. i'm looking for a nice yamaha receiver to get my hands on or yamaha power amps. do they carry headphones by any chance? i never been having luck lately finding headphones locally cause i do not buy from independent sellers online. been trying to find a pair of older akg 240 monitors. some reason i always wanted a pair. 
 


 

There were no yahama receivers and so you know they are not thought of too highly on audiokharma.. i would stick vintage to Sansui,Marantz,Pioneer. There were no headphones in there and I can tell you they service nothing but will tell you they do. Dishonest tones in there and he is to be frank a moron. So be cautious in there. They will be out of there in a month so I am not sure what happened but just be careful. If he dont want to put that amp on ebay its because of chargebacks because he sold on ebay before.. I know they service nothing because he said he sprayed all the controls but when he started to open it up he did not know how to take the cover off to get to the volume control so caught a little lie there
 
 

 

[Frank I]

Quote:

dang i didn't know that bad. if they were giving it price of 150 or so i probably would consider it due to it's rarity maybe. i didn't know their gear had issues so that whole thing about everything being serviced by professionals is bunch of b/s they advertise huh? i give them a look. i know it's in maple shade but i need to find where. i'm looking for a nice yamaha receiver to get my hands on or yamaha power amps. do they carry headphones by any chance? i never been having luck lately finding headphones locally cause i do not buy from independent sellers online. been trying to find a pair of older akg 240 monitors. some reason i always wanted a pair. 
 


 

He wont sell for that he wants 500.00 cash no credit cards another red flag
 

 

[scompton]

 
There were no yahama receivers and so you know they are not thought of too highly on audiokharma..
 

I've seen numerous threads on Yamaha receivers that are highly thought of in the CR-x10 and CR-x20 series.  Some of the amps, like the B-1, go for astronomical prices, but are unrepairable if a VFET goes.  They're also very highly thought of on the ortho thread.  A number of people over there have the CR-620 and love them.

 

[RexAeterna]

that's horrible and i thought barracks was bad. i still see what he got. i wonder what's gonna happen once the store shuts down. maybe everything get thrown in the dump? i be scoring some free LPs lol.
 
Quote:

 
There were no yahama receivers and so you know they are not thought of too highly on audiokharma.. i would stick vintage to Sansui,Marantz,Pioneer. There were no headphones in there and I can tell you they service nothing but will tell you they do. Dishonest tones in there and he is to be frank a moron. So be cautious in there. They will be out of there in a month so I am not sure what happened but just be careful. If he dont want to put that amp on ebay its because of chargebacks because he sold on ebay before.. I know they service nothing because he said he sprayed all the controls but when he started to open it up he did not know how to take the cover off to get to the volume control so caught a little lie there
 
 

 

 

[RexAeterna]

i see the cr-620 sell all the time locally. was thinking about it but i passed cause i was looking for more power speaker wise. i gotten a trade offer for an vintage R-9 receiver for my sansui au-d7. while i was thinking about it he said he gave it to his dad. i found a cr-1000 as well for 75 bucks but owner says left channel is out so i might hit him up saying 60 is the highest i'll go.
Quote:

I've seen numerous threads on Yamaha receivers that are highly thought of in the SR-x10 and SR-x20 series.  Some of the amps, like the B-1, go for astronomical prices, but are unrepairable if a VFET goes.  They're also very highly thought of on the ortho thread.  A number of people over there have the SR-620 and love them.

 

 

[Skylab]

The main reason the AK crowd dumps on the vintage CR series of Yamaha receivers isn't the sound - it's that the are many unobtainable parts, and so buying one is risky in that many issues result in it being a doorstop.

 

[5aces]

i see he uses a gibson sg. good guitar.You introduce your son to some of the good stuff from some of the older albums?


 

He is an illustrator and wonderful guitar musician.
Whoever would draw Keith Moon when learning to sketch? And take pictures of EL 84 Tubes at a young age?


I know he would like the Gibson Reissue series guitar and has little faith in Sovtek guitar amplifier tubes...

I passed the entire vinyl collection to him,which was extensive.
Before Remixes,we had the notorious Disco,so he even must endure that in the collection.
Bit of a gap in Folk music,I still shudder at the thought of being locked in a girlfriends room when she reached for another shot of John Denver or America to que up on the turntable.
On the way home in the car,it was Rush and April Wine 8 tracks to hammer away the folk singers.

Plenty of time spent at Sam the Record Man on Yonge St. in Toronto.

 

[scottiebabie]

Quote:

Plenty of time spent at Sam the Record Man on Yonge St. in Toronto.
 

 
wow...Sam The Record Man sure brings back the memories! time of misspent youth on Yonge St, Eaton Centre, skating dates at city hall & last but not least, 24hr all nite kungfu flicks rite beside Sams. i remember the buncha us walking up & down Yonge to Yorkville & back just to window shop & yes....drool at the hifi gear we could never afford! too bad i hear Sams gone to record heaven. 

 

[RexAeterna]

very nice art. i wish i had those things available to me when i was younger i would of know a lot more today then i do now. i like to draw sometimes but not great at it. i'm more abstract type of guy. i really do like the drawing tho and he is very talented. also i would assume he is a great musician as well. i'm all self-taught in everything i do and so-so at it. hard finding good gear when being left-handed. i never liked flipping strings cause my arm would get in way of tone controls.
Quote:

Quote:

i see he uses a gibson sg. good guitar.You introduce your son to some of the good stuff from some of the older albums?


 

He is an illustrator and wonderful guitar musician.
Whoever would draw Keith Moon when learning to sketch? And take pictures of EL 84 Tubes at a young age?


I know he would like the Gibson Reissue series guitar and has little faith in Sovtek guitar amplifier tubes...

I passed the entire vinyl collection to him,which was extensive.
Before Remixes,we had the notorious Disco,so he even must endure that in the collection.
Bit of a gap in Folk music,I still shudder at the thought of being locked in a girlfriends room when she reached for another shot of John Denver or America to que up on the turntable.
On the way home in the car,it was Rush and April Wine 8 tracks to hammer away the folk singers.

Plenty of time spent at Sam the Record Man on Yonge St. in Toronto.