I've finished rejunevating the internals of the amp and I must confess this is one very nice sounding amp indeed. Designed by Tim de Paravicini (now with
EAR Yoshino) back in 1987 this amp retailed for the princely sum of £129 ($228) and was sold exclusively through Hi-Fi News & Record Review.
My objective was to see what kind of sound £50 ($88) could buy you in this day and age if you shopped around. I did my shopping on ebay and the headcase cost me £42 which left me £8 for parts... here's the breakdown:
Headcase Amplifier: £42
6 x 1000uF NRSZ 105C capacitors: £1.50
1 x gold plated quad RCA socket: £1.10
2 x 2200uF Panasonic FC capacitors: £1.50
Metal film resistors: £2.00
Blue LED and bezel: £0.55
Total: £48.65
I haven't included stuff I already had like solder, heatshrink and soldering iron etc. so these items would have to be added to the cost if you didn't already own them.
So, under £50 for an amplifier but how does it compare to say an amplifier costing £250? The short answer is, extremely well. I defy anyone to walk into a shop and lay down £250 and come home with an amp that sounds "better" than this.... at just under £50 this shows that there are bargains to be had out there and you don't have to take out a second mortgage to buy one.
I could have just left the amp "as is" and it would have been £42 well spent but for a little extra I decided to fit new caps as the original ones were almost 20 years old and pretty much past their best... I also fitted an extra 4,400uF of capacitance to have a bit more juice on tap. The original carbon resistors could have remained intact but I decided to replace them with metal film varieties as they are less noisy... most of them I replaced with 1% types but some I replaced with 0.1% 15ppm types. I also socketed the TL082 opamp in order that I can roll in some different types but I'm not sure what the TL082 is doing in the circuit yet but as soon as I find out I'll try some other chips in its place.
So, all in all, I consider this £50 very well spent and for any of you who are on a tight budget then get looking on ebay, there are plenty of old amps for sale and with very little work you can buy yourself a real sonic gem for very little money and have great fun into the bargain!
For all you anoraks out there here are some pictures of the guts. Please note that I decided against fitting the ALPS RK27 as the original pot measured up very well and had plenty of life left in it. I'll get to work on the enclosure, as and when, and am looking at spending a maximum of £10 on it (either iron on wood veneer and varnish or spray paint finish) which will take the total cost of this lovely sounding amp to just under £60 ($106) not bad at all!
The amp gets the last laugh in that it sounds absolutely gorgeous!!
New NIC NRSZ series capacitors.
NRSZ caps and CD71 non polar output caps.
ALPS pot (now replaced with original)
Overhead view 1
Overhead view 2
TL082
Nickel plated quad socket replaced with gold plated quad socket
Additional 4,400uF Panasonic FC fitted to the board.
Long view
Potentiometer extension shaft runs the entire length of the amp.