arco Posted October 1, 2002 Share Posted October 1, 2002 Well guys, today was the day! First, after a rather long RD & building period, my 45-VT52-SV811-3 amp sent some veery promising sounds into my cornerhorns. All is not perfection, though: The thing (all 40kg of it!!!) has to break in a bit and - in the meantime - I will also have to debug a faint 100Hz hum that still finds its way into the speakers. The hum cannot be heard at the listening position but, still, it has to be eliminated. Then, I will have to fine-tune the amp by "playing" with some capacitor types and values and - finally - I promise you a full description with the necessary listening impressions. Second, I did receive my HF-81. Although I did not listen to it (as I have to build adaptors for the speaker terminals), I opened it up and was quite happy to notice that it's a very well built (probably by the factory) item with all original EICO - made by Mullard tubes. The transformers look perfectly OK and I would say that cosmetics are what the vendor claimed, i.e. 85%. Not bad at all! Next week, when back from a business trip, I will test the tubes and the amp as such, before giving it its first listen. Let's hope for the best... Bye for now, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynnm Posted October 1, 2002 Share Posted October 1, 2002 Looks like a honey Arco. Congratulations on your craftsmanship! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edster00 Posted October 1, 2002 Share Posted October 1, 2002 Great job arco...I am looking forward to your full review! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai2000 Posted October 1, 2002 Share Posted October 1, 2002 Arco, whow, that was fast (talking about your HF-81). Mine is still somewhere and I just hope I'll be as pleasantly surprised as you seem to be. BTW: I am looking forward to your comments on this amp. Wolfram Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanJ Posted October 1, 2002 Share Posted October 1, 2002 Wolfram, I got mine(HF-81) and looks "mint" from the outside but has a bug in the right channel. Extremely weak. So wrote down the caps/ballastR's ect and ordered them from Mouser/and A. Might as well rebuild it for the long run. Auricaps ect. I hope yours is in as good shape as the gent posting this thread. They always say "Caveat Emptor"!!! I will not give that guy any positive feed back, I'm still thinking about giving him some neg. Bryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai2000 Posted October 1, 2002 Share Posted October 1, 2002 Bryan, what really starts annoying me a bit is the lack of communication with the seller. I don't even know whether the amp has already left the US or not, so I decided to enquire and hope to receive a reply sometime soon. Sorry to hear about your technical problem, but at least you are able to help yourself, right? If there is anything wron with 'my' HF-81 I shall certainly need help (but luckily another board member currently in Germany is wiling to assist if he is still around when the amp arrives - that's what I call great support!!!) Wolfram Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanJ Posted October 1, 2002 Share Posted October 1, 2002 Wolfram, yes, I had the same "lag"time in reply but I think because I was on the do not answer fast list. Email is almost immediate all over the world for all practial purposes, immediate. I've complained about the unit not being "mint" to the seller on my side and all he wants to give me is a tube!!! Sorry, it is not a tube going to bring back my supposed mint Eico, going to take parts and time. I'm still considering giving a bad feedback. Mint to me means mint. 40 years old or 2. Guy is an ARSE! Won't order from Canada again! Takes too long:) Bryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arco Posted October 2, 2002 Author Share Posted October 2, 2002 Hi Wolfram, Yes it was fast, beyond expectation. I have paid USD 88 for Air Parcel post with insurance and the thing (shipped on 23/7) came yesterday to my door by courrier service. Apparently the seller discovered that prices were the same. Up to now, communication with the seller has been first class but, as they say, the "proof is in the pudding" i.e. the amp has also to work properly! If not, I will have to trace the faults and this could be anything, from a no cost cap to a busted output trans! Anyway, this situation will raise the cost of the item (in terms of manhours spent and eventual cost of spares - provided you find them...) and will also create - difficult to resolve - problems with the seller. So, let's touch wood, at least for the moment... You see, some years ago I bought from Ebay a tube tester which was advertised as OK, but had serious faults. It took me about 6 months (with the help of friends plus some hard to find spares) to rebuild it, with the seller disappearing into thin air... Only hope that this time my luck will close its circle! Aristidis www.aca.gr/pop_coumpas.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted October 2, 2002 Share Posted October 2, 2002 You see, some years ago I bought from Ebay a tube tester which was advertised as OK, but had serious faults. It took me about 6 months (with the help of friends plus some hard to find spares) to rebuild it, with the seller disappearing into thin air... Oh man! Don't say that, I just bought one off Ebay! Great amp! Nice work! Great looking! Are you leaving the trannies that way or are you going to paint them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 Arco (Aristidi), Did you have to pay duty on that when it came into Greece. I got nailed once on an order for SACD's from elusive disk. The charge was greater than the original selling price. Been very wary of ordering from the other side of the pond since then... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arco Posted October 7, 2002 Author Share Posted October 7, 2002 Mike, I cannot say I bought many things from Ebay but things like that may happen and if you live "on the other side of the pond", as Maxg says in a very British way, the only practical thing to do is to give the seller the negative feedback he deserves. As my (ex captain) uncle says: "Worst things can happen at sea"! As concerns the end caps of trannies and chokes of the 45 amp, I decided to leave them alone, as this gives a nice "vintage" look to the construction. Max, If importing from the USA, you are expected to pay 18% VAT plus 6% import duty on the CIF price. It is best, here, to use the postal service for shipping as courriers charge you also clearance fees, which might be quite high... EICO UPDATE: The thing worked! And I will have to join the HF-81 lovers, by saying that in terms of timbre correctness and general spectral equilibrium the amp is a little gem. Some problems, though, were apparent in the clarity and definition departments. Problems which, I believe, will be quite minimised once I proceed to the normal maintenance needed by this 40+ year old gentleman: i.e. testing and eventual changing of tubes, cap replacements, contact cleaning and eventual rewiring etc. I will be back after some time, given the fact that (according to my humble opinion...) whatever changes in (any...) equipement should be performed one by one. This is the only way, if one wants to enhance performance, without impairing the particular sonic characteristics of the amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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