moray james Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 I just finished reading a bunch of posts on line from people who were stunned buy how much better their speakers sound with fresh caps installed. Same thing goes for your tubeamp or SS amp that is 20 plus years. If you have an amp that is worth the cost of a rebuild or you just plain love your amp have it rebuilt. Your ears will thank you and you may just save your speakers from getting fried. Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 If it's just caps troubling one, as long as you can solder you can DIY in most instances. Just copy down the values, get replacements, and remove and replace one at a time maintaining polarity (if required). I'm no tech but I've done this before in old radios and such quite successfully. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runninshine Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 I need to try it on some of my older SS gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennie Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 I just finished reading a bunch of posts on line from people who were stunned buy how much better their speakers sound with fresh caps installed. Same thing goes for your tubeamp or SS amp that is 20 plus years. If you have an amp that is worth the cost of a rebuild or you just plain love your amp have it rebuilt. Your ears will thank you and you may just save your speakers from getting fried. Best regards Moray James. Amen! [<)] Dennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted June 20, 2012 Author Share Posted June 20, 2012 Dave makes a good point if you can do the work yourself you can save a lot. It is still a good idea I think to cultivat a relationship with the local tech mod guy in your area and look into possible upgrades. Something as ordinary as a DH100 Hafler can be transformed int a SOTA amp for not a lot of money There are few amps which cannot stand some clean up work to the circuitry. You would be supporting local business and getting a new amp for a fraction of what a new off the shelf amp would cost and if your tech guy is any good at all you will get a better amp than you could ever afford to buy otherwise. Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tube fanatic Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Dave makes a good point if you can do the work yourself you can save a lot. It is still a good idea I think to cultivat a relationship with the local tech mod guy in your area and look into possible upgrades. You would be supporting local business and getting a new amp for a fraction of what a new off the shelf amp would cost and if your tech guy is any good at all you will get a better amp than you could ever afford to buy otherwise. Best regards Moray James. Moray, you have made my day!!! But, get ready for the comments about how incompetent local techs are! I have already covered that issue in great depth in previous threads, so I won't get back on the soapbox. Enjoy--- Maynard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Maynard, the worst of them are more competent that those making the comments... Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 What you really need to look for is a tech guy who is actually into design and capable of modifications to the circuit. Many modifier guys simply roll parts and thats not what I am talking about. If your guy can change the front end to something like a dual fet differential one then fully cascode the second stage perhaps play with your bias clean up the grounding adjust your compensation and feedback you will get to where you want to go.I realize it is asking a lot as you are likely to have to find a budding designer so you can afford to do this but that is who you are really looking for. Someone who is interested in learning why amps sound the way they do. These guys do exist. I have attempted to attach a schematic for an old Luxman SS mosfet designto me the basic design here is how an amp should be. This design works and sounds amazing and is well worth looking into for upgrades toyour mosfet amp or to any amp. Hope itattaches. Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adoremusic Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Those units are definitely something to lust after. Let me know if you ever come across another one in decent shape as I NEVER see any decent amps/integrateds for sale in the southern Manitoba area. Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 I had some of the caps replaced in my vintage Yamaha M 70 amp. The amps perform beautifully. I think they are good for another 30 years, lol. Incidentally, I seen the power usage on my power conditioner go down quite a bit after replacing the caps and having the amps reset to original factor spec. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 Joe not many of the L58 made it to N/A but there are some. Don't hold your breath. Closer to home an old Meitner amp is an excellent candidate to be turned ino one of these and a lot cheaper to buy easier to find andmuch easier to work on. You could turn an old DH 100 Hafler into one of these. Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adoremusic Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Moray, You over-estimate my capabilities as there is no way I could ever turn a Hafler into that . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 Well you can study the schematic and get some help to understand it well enough to go to a tech guy and tellm him that you want to turn one unit into the other. Not many tech guys in audio (at least that I have ever found) are interested in or capable of design changes but they are out there and yes this kind of work will cost more than the guy who specilizes in changing out parts. I imagine there are forum members woh can do this level of work. John Wright in Calgary does this kind of work and he has been my go to guy for decades. Ask around in the Electronics dept. at the local University. Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adoremusic Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 I was only kidding. I would consider doing that more if I had a competent tech around. There's only 2 shops in Brandon and the one guy I took my Marantz to installed a cap backwards and he only had ten to do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 There's only 2 shops in Brandon You talking Florida? My MIL lives there and we visit every couple of years. We were there this New Years... Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adoremusic Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Brandon, MB Canada. Oddly enough I sold something on ebay to someone in Brandon Florida. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 " south western Manitoba. Joe" Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hcnelly Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 My Dad has a Vintage Marantz 2275 that is in need of slight restoration and cleaning. He took great care of it and I want get it restored to its former glory for him. Would replacing the caps completely change the original warm sound of this receiver? I guess that I'm worried about that happening after reading that it would on certain ebay listings for these receivers. I live in Nebraska- does anybody know where I could have this done professionally? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted June 24, 2012 Author Share Posted June 24, 2012 Your question is a good one, answering it is a little difficult. New caps will sound much better than old ones but you are correct they will sound different.There is no simple answer other than to say that with the old caps you are courting disaster as the amp will eventually fail. Problem is that there are very many different kinds of capacitors each for different applications and they all impact the sound in different ways. This is where years of experience and listening come into play. I can also tell you that resistors will also impact the sound. The good news there is that there is generally no reason to change resistors unless they are fried or on their way and it is not hard to maintain the same type of resistors. For example it would not be wise to switch from all carbon composite resistors to metal film as you would loose a lot of warmth, this is because of character of distortion the carbon resistor has compared to the metal film resistors.I have found that if you have a compotent modifier do the workthey will do a lot of circuit cleaning up things like grounding and when they are done you have a better sounding unit than when you started. You could contact John Hillig in the St Louis area (http://www.musicaldesign.com/) he is one of the best modifiers in the country. Jim Strickland (Acoustat) and David Hafler chose John to breath new life into the Hafler line years ago so if thoses names mean anything to you you can ask if he will work on you amp or if he won't if he could recommend someone. Ols receivers and integrated amps are generally a nightmare to refurbush so it may take some research on your behalf to find a competant technician. I am sorry that I could not be more helpful but this kind of project is a bit of a can of worms finding new pot to fit with the correct values (sometimes impossible) and all manner of other things to deal with. Most tech just will not go there but there are guys. If you search you will find someone who can get you to where you want to be. Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hcnelly Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Thanks for the info Moray James- I really appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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