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McIntosh that sat for 20+ years......


Forte Too

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Hi Everyone -

I have several pieces of Mac gear.  All works great!.  This weekend I picked up a MX-113 and a MC 2505.  They were purchased at an estate sale.  (The guy had 3 mc2505's and in hind site, I should have bought them all, but didn't.  I bought the cheap one without a cabinet. The two I left were in slant leg cabinets 😞).  I took the units home, hooked them up to my LaScala.  I only had a short 18" piece of cable laying around, so I hooked up only one speaker.  The sound was disappointing, to say the least.  At full volume, full gain, the sound was low.  Not whisper low, but not wall shaking either.  I hooked the source directly to the amp and used the gain for the volume control and it was no better.  I started looking and calling getting service and rebuild prices the next day.  I bought some speaker wire.  That evening, I turn the amp back on and lost the left channel after 15 seconds.  I unhooked the preamp, and hooked the source directly to the amp.  Left channel is still out.  I get frustrated and go eat dinner.  I went back to the garage and turned the amp and preamp back on and go for an hour walk.  I get back, the left channel is sill out.  I fiddle with the balance knob and bam, it's back.  And so is the sound.  Wall shaking sound at 1/4 volume.  I am afraid I may have woken up the neighbors sound.  It's a little muddy though but so much better!  This amp was not hooked to the preamp at the estate sale.  I am guessing this was an extra amp (he had 2 others) and it could have sat for 20 to 30 years without any power.  I am guessing the oil in the capacitors could be an issue since they sat so long?  I don't want my ignorance to destroy this unit.  What do I need to do here to bring this unit up?  I am guessing deoxit is safe on the switches.  I used it on my Marantz equipment without any issue.  Any thoughts?

 

   image.png.1270957997889c2aec135f20ac0d00f3.pngimage.png.d59f056d06a2a310a8453b3c84430fcb.png

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Sounds to me like your balance pot and likely the volume pot need a good cleaning with deoxit.  I would also clean all of your rear connectors, including all RCAs and speaker wire connectors.

 

I would definitely take both of these units in for a rehab to a reputable shop.  Where are you located?  Perhaps someone here can recommend a shop that is local to you.

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1 hour ago, jimjimbo said:

Sounds to me like your balance pot and likely the volume pot need a good cleaning with deoxit.  I would also clean all of your rear connectors, including all RCAs and speaker wire connectors.

 

I would definitely take both of these units in for a rehab to a reputable shop.  Where are you located?  Perhaps someone here can recommend a shop that is local to you.

Located in Shreveport, Louisiana

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3 hours ago, Forte Too said:

Hi Everyone -

I have several pieces of Mac gear.  All works great!.  This weekend I picked up a MX-113 and a MC 2505.  They were purchased at an estate sale.  (The guy had 3 mc2505's and in hind site, I should have bought them all, but didn't.  I bought the cheap one without a cabinet. The two I left were in slant leg cabinets 😞).  I took the units home, hooked them up to my LaScala.  I only had a short 18" piece of cable laying around, so I hooked up only one speaker.  The sound was disappointing, to say the least.  At full volume, full gain, the sound was low.  Not whisper low, but not wall shaking either.  I hooked the source directly to the amp and used the gain for the volume control and it was no better.  I started looking and calling getting service and rebuild prices the next day.  I bought some speaker wire.  That evening, I turn the amp back on and lost the left channel after 15 seconds.  I unhooked the preamp, and hooked the source directly to the amp.  Left channel is still out.  I get frustrated and go eat dinner.  I went back to the garage and turned the amp and preamp back on and go for an hour walk.  I get back, the left channel is sill out.  I fiddle with the balance knob and bam, it's back.  And so is the sound.  Wall shaking sound at 1/4 volume.  I am afraid I may have woken up the neighbors sound.  It's a little muddy though but so much better!  This amp was not hooked to the preamp at the estate sale.  I am guessing this was an extra amp (he had 2 others) and it could have sat for 20 to 30 years without any power.  I am guessing the oil in the capacitors could be an issue since they sat so long?  I don't want my ignorance to destroy this unit.  What do I need to do here to bring this unit up?  I am guessing deoxit is safe on the switches.  I used it on my Marantz equipment without any issue.  Any thoughts?

 

   image.png.1270957997889c2aec135f20ac0d00f3.pngimage.png.d59f056d06a2a310a8453b3c84430fcb.png

Expert Servicing is ion order. Know any good shops in your area? Or you COULD recap it and clean it yourself!

Unlike today's cheap disposable electronics! 😞

John Kuthe....

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They're the best, both AudioClassics and Craig (aka NOSValves). Craig's specialty is Tube Gear.  But AudioClassics will get you squared away, they've done a number of pieces for me.... and have never let me down, simply the best.

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