[OJNeg]

The real reason to replace capacitors on vintage gear is because you don't want them to fail and destroy other components in the circuit. And they will fail, or drift out of spec, eventually. Tracking down a replacement for a 40-year old transistor or IC is not fun.

 

[Speedskater]

Quote:

The real reason to replace capacitors on vintage gear is because you don't want them to fail and destroy other components in the circuit. And they will fail, or drift out of spec, eventually. Tracking down a replacement for a 40-year old transistor or IC is not fun.

This is for sure!  We know that electrolytic of some vintages are going to fail and repairing associated damage may be difficult. We also know that some legacy capacitors are way past expected life.  But these are maintenance operations, intended to restore original performance.
 
But now we see capacitor "rollers" expecting to find a better than  new level of performance.

 

[ukon16]

Quote:

The real reason to replace capacitors on vintage gear is because you don't want them to fail and destroy other components in the circuit. And they will fail, or drift out of spec, eventually. Tracking down a replacement for a 40-year old transistor or IC is not fun.

 
Funny you mention that....I held off recapping my newest unit....decided to test offset(too high -500mv) and adjusted it inside the amp.
 
So far 1-2 resistor connected to the coms  emitter during the dc offset adjustment has totally went up in smoke and seems to have screwed up my messed up up my dc offset settings totally....
 
Fun times indeed....

 

[bigshot]

Modern electronics performs to specifications far beyond the equipment of thirty years ago. It's much better to get current midrange solid state equipment and just replace it when it burns out. Time marches on.

 

[ukon16]

Quote:

Modern electronics performs to specifications far beyond the equipment of thirty years ago. It's much better to get current midrange solid state equipment and just replace it when it burns out. Time marches on.

 
 
It's fun to repair it and an elite $1-2000 amp from the seventies sounds pretty darn good. If somebody can't wrench it's a god awful PITA to buy vintage electronics though.
 
I'll admit, I scratch my head when I see some vintage pioneer recievers go for $1,500 fully restored though.....What.
 
Scouring craigslist and good will to find great audio classics can be fun.

 

[bigshot]

A $350 Yamaha receiver sounds better than a 1970s Macintosh amp. Why bother?

 

[ukon16]

Quote:

A $350 Yamaha receiver sounds better than a 1970s Macintosh amp. Why bother?\

 
Did I mention the price of many vintage amps is "free" or " $5" at good will. 
 
Given the belief " all amps sound the same" on this forum; would it really make a difference in SQ if an amp is properly restored?''
 
I've compared the audio quality of a vintage restored Harman Kardon reciever and one of their modern 7.1 AVR recievers circa 2008 on the same set of speakers(I own both). Both sounded awesome and roughly the same. I favored the vintage reciever for music but I'm ultra biased since I put so many hours into it. 
 
Now, if somebody is blowing $800+ on vintage stuff...I'd easily suggest they'd buy new. The "hunt" is half the fun of vintage.

Vintage speakers are a blast as well. Obscure high end audio brands get thrown out for next to nothing; they restore very well.

 

[bigshot]

Vintage speakers are MUCH better than current ones. That's a different thing altogether.

 

[ukon16]

Quote:

Vintage speakers are MUCH better than current ones. That's a different thing altogether.

 
Out of curiosity.....how is that possible? Is it due to the trend of "tiny/cute is better" speakers?
 
I haven't explored modern tower/loud speakers much aside from concerts where I worked....I'd have thought speaker design would have improved a great deal. 
 
I'm picking up some vintage  Norman Lab and Saras speakers soon....gonna be a nice weekend.

 

[bigshot]

Yeah. Speakers now make all sorts of compromises to "look nice" in the living room.

 

[OJNeg]

Modern receivers can be even worse in terms of serviceability. Such a massive cluttering of PCBs, wires and ICs. And most modern HT receivers are crap and won't hold their value on the used market. Bigshot's right; you might as well trash 'em when they die.
 
I remember when my dad was building his HT, he got a TOTL, pro-series Yamaha receiver. They didn't even sell this one in BestBuy, had to order directly. Oodles of power, functionality, the whole package. Within a few years it was "antiquated" because it didn't support 1080p passthrough, Internet radio software, or the Apple connectivity crap. Still a great amp though; he's still using the 720p plasma even though he's been wanting a 1080p. As soon as the 4k screens start coming out, he'll want one of those so I'll get to take it of his hands because it won't be worth crap on the used market. Oh yeah, and it sounds excellent in terms of audio because it was TOTL and the audio section was overbuilt.
 
An quality integrated amp from the 60's or 70's only needs an recap and a few replaced components and it's good for another 30-40 years. Plus, you grow attached to these things

 

[bigshot]

I had the exact same problem with my first AV receiver. It became obsolete before it stopped working. It really doesn't pay to spend a lot on amps. Just get the power and features you need and stop there. More money doesn't buy better sound.

 

[Steve Eddy]

Quote:

 
Out of curiosity.....how is that possible? Is it due to the trend of "tiny/cute is better" speakers?

 
Yeah, baby. No farting six inch "subwoofers" here.

 

 
se

 

[Steve Eddy]

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[Strangelove424]

I once had a subwoofer that farted during Pink Floyd's "Breathe" intro. I don't mean it sounded bloated or unclean, I mean it literally kept farting. Horrifically bad port noise issue. Sent it back.