artto Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 HiFiAudio.com? He's seems to mostly be selling restoration kits for many vintage products, especially tube gear. I'm looking to do a capacitor rehab on my Audio Research SP6B. I still might send it to ARC to "get it done right" (hopefully). I also found a competent local electronics repair guy who could probably do the work for me but getting the right parts has been a problem. I figure if this eBay seller has the right parts it saves me some time & trouble. The SP6B has a 2x1500uF 50v electrolytic in the power supply that is no longer made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjptkd Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 9 hours ago, artto said: HiFiAudio.com? He's seems to mostly be selling restoration kits for many vintage products, especially tube gear. Seems legit, pretty big on Reverb: https://reverb.com/shop/hifiaudio1?sort=price|desc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWOReilly Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 He’s legit. I’ve purchased a few kits from them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWOReilly Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 Let’s also mention that the kits are typically only the capacitors. So they are good for recapping equipment that “works”. If your equipment has any other issues they should be diagnosed and repaired before the recap or you may cause more harm. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted February 17, 2023 Author Share Posted February 17, 2023 Thanks guys! Reilly - yes, the SP6B is in excellent physical condition (I'm the original owner). I haven't powered it up in a couple years anticipating cap replacement but the last time I fired it up it worked well. Just a little noisy. I'm sure it doesn't sound as good as it could after 40 years. I would like to get it back to it's original "colored sound" which always worked well with vinyl. I only use it as a phono stage. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 Somewhere around 2000 or so, a guy brought over an SP6B. I was shocked at how good it sounded. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted February 17, 2023 Author Share Posted February 17, 2023 29 minutes ago, Shakeydeal said: Somewhere around 2000 or so, a guy brought over an SP6B. I was shocked at how good it sounded. Yeah, if you like that classic vintage tube coloration, the ARC SP6B is certainly right up there with the best. I had an ARC SP6 & SP6A prior to the 6B. Quite frankly I wish I had the original SP6 back. It really made the Khorns sing! The subsequent models (A, B, etc) became increasingly "cleaner", less "sweet". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted February 18, 2023 Share Posted February 18, 2023 On 2/16/2023 at 4:36 PM, artto said: HiFiAudio.com? He's seems to mostly be selling restoration kits for many vintage products, especially tube gear. I'm looking to do a capacitor rehab on my Audio Research SP6B. I still might send it to ARC to "get it done right" (hopefully). I also found a competent local electronics repair guy who could probably do the work for me but getting the right parts has been a problem. I figure if this eBay seller has the right parts it saves me some time & trouble. The SP6B has a 2x1500uF 50v electrolytic in the power supply that is no longer made. Don't you think that if you do it you will really spend the time to make everything perfect? Treat yourself and pick up a Hakko de-soldering tool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted February 18, 2023 Author Share Posted February 18, 2023 4 hours ago, tigerwoodKhorns said: Don't you think that if you do it you will really spend the time to make everything perfect? Treat yourself and pick up a Hakko de-soldering tool. 😇Actually, yes. But like I mentioned, I found a local "old time" electronics repair shop nearby so I may have him do it. Just finding/getting the right parts seems to be more than half the work with these kinds of projects. So this seems like an easy way out. I just hope it's the right parts. ARC quoted me $700 to $1000 a couple of years ago. That still might be the "right" way to go. What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the real Duke Spinner Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 On 2/17/2023 at 9:15 AM, artto said: Thanks guys! Reilly - yes, the SP6B is in excellent physical condition (I'm the original owner). I haven't powered it up in a couple years anticipating cap replacement but the last time I fired it up it worked well. Just a little noisy. I'm sure it doesn't sound as good as it could after 40 years. I would like to get it back to it's original "colored sound" which always worked well with vinyl. I only use it as a phono stage. Put a 60-100 watt light bulb in series to lessen the current inrush 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 a local , old time repair shop , a technician with decades of experience , yeah . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted February 23, 2023 Author Share Posted February 23, 2023 On 2/21/2023 at 11:30 AM, the real Duke Spinner said: Put a 60-100 watt light bulb in series to lessen the current inrush Yes, I made one of these & use it with a variac when powering up tube amps that haven't been turned on for a long time (years). However, I believe the bulb wattage needs to be around 10 or 15 watts to actually act as a "catastrophic fuse" on startup, at least when using a variac to slowly bring up the line voltage. 40+ year old caps probably need to be replaced regardless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted February 23, 2023 Author Share Posted February 23, 2023 On 2/21/2023 at 12:22 PM, OO1 said: a local , old time repair shop , a technician with decades of experience , yeah . Yeah, I walked into this place looking to repair a late 80's portable Sony Trinitron with a 5" CRT and on-board Video8 tape recorder/player. He knew right away how uncommon this unit is. But the best part was his shop. Small. Crowded. Cramped. With all kinds of electronics, tube & solid state laying around all over the place, opened up, waiting for repair, just like the old days. I showed him the SP-6B schematic and pointed out some of the parts issues (like the 2x1500uF 50v power supply cap) and he said "no problem". 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry4841 Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 3 hours ago, artto said: I believe the bulb wattage needs to be around 10 or 15 watts to actually act as a "catastrophic fuse" on startup, at least when using a variac to slowly bring up the line voltage. 40+ year old caps probably need to be replaced regardless. 300 watt for tube gear, 100 watt for SS is what I use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 On 2/18/2023 at 3:18 PM, artto said: 😇Actually, yes. But like I mentioned, I found a local "old time" electronics repair shop nearby so I may have him do it. Just finding/getting the right parts seems to be more than half the work with these kinds of projects. So this seems like an easy way out. I just hope it's the right parts. ARC quoted me $700 to $1000 a couple of years ago. That still might be the "right" way to go. What do you think? Finding a competent technician is the key. And finding the parts can take so much time. If the technician will put in the correct parts and do a good job you are all set. I have had so much trouble finding people that do a proper job. A friend of mine bought a new truck that included oil changes. He did the first one and marked the oil filter with the date as he always did in the past. He then decided to use the dealer's free service. After a few changes he took a look and the filter than he marked was still there. Really hard to find people willing to do a job correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted February 23, 2023 Author Share Posted February 23, 2023 OK. Then how about this...... I'm still reluctant to use the Audio Research SP-6B which I haven't powered up for several years - at least since before the pandemic. Today I opened it up to take some pics and measurements to send to Hayseed Hamfest who said they can make me the 2x1500uF 50v power supply cap. https://hayseedhamfest.com/ I've taken pictures of all the caps, I have a complete parts list and schematics. But quite honestly, visual inspection shows no indication of any caps failing. No bulging swollen tops, leaks, or crust/stains. There's quite a few caps in there, especially a lot of small mica (?) caps. All the electrolytic and film caps physically "look" good. For $1000 I'm still thinking ARC might be the best bet. Other than blowing this thing up due to a failed cap, my main concern is sound quality - after 40+ years. Not sure its as is condition would be a fair comparison to something equivalent/new. Is this something you would take a chance firing up as is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry4841 Posted February 24, 2023 Share Posted February 24, 2023 1 hour ago, artto said: Today I opened it up to take some pics and measurements to send to Hayseed Hamfest who said they can make me the 2x1500uF 50v power supply cap. https://hayseedhamfest.com/ There are plenty of available caps you need at Mouser. I assume you know the value does not have to be exactly 1500uf. Slightly over is perfectly alright. Same with voltage rating, higher rating fine as well. Many techs consider slightly higher values to be better actually. https://www.mouser.com/c/passive-components/capacitors/aluminum-electrolytic-capacitors/aluminum-electrolytic-capacitors-radial-leaded/?capacitance=1500 uF&voltage rating dc=50 VDC&instock=y&sort=pricing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted February 24, 2023 Author Share Posted February 24, 2023 16 minutes ago, henry4841 said: There are plenty of available caps you need at Mouser. I assume you know the value does not have to be exactly 1500uf. Slightly over is perfectly alright. Same with voltage rating, higher rating fine as well. Many techs consider slightly higher values to be better actually. https://www.mouser.com/c/passive-components/capacitors/aluminum-electrolytic-capacitors/aluminum-electrolytic-capacitors-radial-leaded/?capacitance=1500 uF&voltage rating dc=50 VDC&instock=y&sort=pricing Thanks Henry. Yes, I'm aware of that. That's actually a 2x1500uF, two in one can in the SP6 The problem I'm having is not only finding the correct type, I'm having trouble finding the right uF WITH the correct voltage, or vise versa. If I find the correct uF, then it seems the voltage ratings are too low. If I find the adequate voltage then the capacitance ratings are too low. Or the mounting type is wrong. This is a real PITA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry4841 Posted February 24, 2023 Share Posted February 24, 2023 Most techs figure out a way to physically install two separate caps instead of the dual cap in a case like yours. I never mess with trying to find a dual cap anymore when restoring old gear from the 70's or before. There are some that worry about the inside appearance and take the old can apart and install two caps in the old cap case. Being new caps are much smaller than the old ones makes this possible. Mostly seen in guitar amp restorations though where one wants to keep the original appearance. Anyway that is the way I have seen it done. Electronically the amp could care less. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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