[JSchmitz]

Originally Posted by george kujanski

I bought the Heathkit because it had an honest 600W RMS per channel, the kit, with walnut case was $300 in the mid '70's. It has a power supply issue, the front panel is a little dim. probably electrolytic caps need R&R. I need to get to that.

George

Wow! I haven't heard about Heathkit in decades!

[MarkS57]

Originally Posted by Dragncar

Nice equipment and a really, really nice electronics workbench you have there.

Originally Posted by Baron Von Zeppelin

What type of music do you generally play on that system ?

Thanks, keeps me out of the bars!

Generally, I'm a Prog Rock & Jazz guy. Definitely via vinyl if at all possible. The vinyl selection is getting better and better. I just landed a new "Allman Brothers Band At Fillmore East" the other day. Fabulous sound.

[poncho-mike]

I was relocated 150 miles away from home in 1992. We had a 5-year old that wouldn't leave the stereo alone, and I was tired of zip tying the doors on the stereo cabinet shut. After the move, I never set my system back up, it's still in its original boxes.

My system consists of a Harmon Kardon Citation 17 pre-amp with a Citation 19 amplifier, a H-K tuner and cassette deck, a Dual turntable with Infinity Reference Standard 1.5 speakers. I've been thinking about bringing it out of hibernation lately, but I've been reading that old electronics like that will often blow the caps on initial power on. Has anyone dealt with old electronics like this and have any suggestions? I found a guy several states away a couple of years ago who said he would bring up voltage slowly and replace any caps that fail, but I wasn't comfortable packing up my electronics and sending it to a stranger.

[MarkS57]

Originally Posted by poncho-mike

I was relocated 150 miles away from home in 1992. We had a 5-year old that wouldn't leave the stereo alone, and I was tired of zip tying the doors on the stereo cabinet shut. After the move, I never set my system back up, it's still in its original boxes.

My system consists of a Harmon Kardon Citation 17 pre-amp with a Citation 19 amplifier, a H-K tuner and cassette deck, a Dual turntable with Infinity Reference Standard 1.5 speakers. I've been thinking about bringing it out of hibernation lately, but I've been reading that old electronics like that will often blow the caps on initial power on. Has anyone dealt with old electronics like this and have any suggestions? I found a guy several states away a couple of years ago who said he would bring up voltage slowly and replace any caps that fail, but I wasn't comfortable packing up my electronics and sending it to a stranger.

Bringing the voltage up slowly allows the electrolytic caps to re-form prior to seeing the full operating voltage. Use a variac like the blue object in the attached. Mostly for the 19 power amp but doing the same on the 17 is probably good too. The others probably not an issue.

[george kujanski]

Correction to my previous post .....60 W per channel RMS, not 600 W per channel!

George

[KS circutguy]

Originally Posted by george kujanski

Correction to my previous post .....60 W per channel RMS, not 600 W per channel!

George

Was wondering about that..
600 watts wow.

[george kujanski]

I blew up the tweeters in a pair of Large Advents with the AR-1500 back in the day. I had a demo/test vinyl that came with my Shure V15 Type II cartridge. One one side it has orchestral bells recorded at increasing amplitude levels. Took out the tweeters and melted components in the crossover.

George

[poncho-mike]

I don't have a Variac. Are there any trustworty places on the east coast for working on old electronics? I'm also concerned the plastic in my polypropylene speakers has gone bad over time and will need to be replaced. They are infinity.

Originally Posted by MarkS57

Bringing the voltage up slowly allows the electrolytic caps to re-form prior to seeing the full operating voltage. Use a variac like the blue object in the attached. Mostly for the 19 power amp but doing the same on the 17 is probably good too. The others probably not an issue.

[MarkS57]

Originally Posted by poncho-mike

I don't have a Variac. Are there any trustworty places on the east coast for working on old electronics? I'm also concerned the plastic in my polypropylene speakers has gone bad over time and will need to be replaced. They are infinity.

Don't know any off hand but just doing a Google search, there appears to be a selection of shops around Raleigh NC. The other option might be to check out something like this on ebay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/25641617938...Bk9SR7icxO30Yw

Sounds like you may need to have the foam replaced on you Infinity speakers, I've used these guys:

http://www.speakerrepairpros.com/home.html

You'll have to ship the woofers to them but they did nice work for me.

[59safaricat]

Bringing transistorized equipment up slowly on a variac is not a good idea, that's strictly for tube equipment only.

[Shiny]

Originally Posted by MarkS57

Being an old guy here (amongst many others) I gravitate to technology of the past eg 60's - 70's Pontiacs. I have other old stuff hobbies. One is vacuum tube audio. The attached are 2 pics. 1st is my self-designed & assembled vacuum amp 75WPC. It's in for mods. The other is my audio bench, to the right a Dynaco ST70 & a new project. In the spring & summer, it's busy cause the 65 is out on the road; come late fall it flips. I will follow up with other pics tomorrow maybe. With the aforementioned amp in for mods, I am using a pair of Dyna Mk3's. The only part of my system that isn't custom is the phono preamp- Dyna PAS 3 design. Maybe someday, we'll get to the Lionel trains & antique radios.

I also have a Dynaco PAS 3 and a solid state ST-80 I built from kits in HS. Haven't used them in a while but still use my AR XB turntable through a HK integrated amp and some Klipsch speakers.

[jamesq]

Now for the really cheesy equipment!

I have a Penncrest console unit with a Garrard turntable that I use as a radio.

Price per pound is very low...

James Q

[KS circutguy]

Originally Posted by MarkS57

Bringing the voltage up slowly allows the electrolytic caps to re-form prior to seeing the full operating voltage. Use a variac like the blue object in the attached. Mostly for the 19 power amp but doing the same on the 17 is probably good too. The others probably not an issue.

Good info.
Thanks

[bhill86]

Originally Posted by jamesq

Now for the really cheesy equipment!

I have a Penncrest console unit with a Garrard turntable that I use as a radio.

Price per pound is very low...

James Q

I love those console units though. Some are beautiful and sound pretty good from what I’ve been told. And they’re not priced out of this world

[MarkS57]

Originally Posted by bhill86

I love those console units though. Some are beautiful and sound pretty good from what I’ve been told. And they’re not priced out of this world

Agree, ones from the early to mid 60's can be quite nice, solid wood, no plastic in the cabinet. A Magnavox would definitely deserve a look. Some others had Fisher or Scott components in them.

[78w72]

Originally Posted by poncho-mike

I don't have a Variac. Are there any trustworty places on the east coast for working on old electronics? I'm also concerned the plastic in my polypropylene speakers has gone bad over time and will need to be replaced. They are infinity.

Originally Posted by poncho-mike

I was relocated 150 miles away from home in 1992. We had a 5-year old that wouldn't leave the stereo alone, and I was tired of zip tying the doors on the stereo cabinet shut. After the move, I never set my system back up, it's still in its original boxes.

My system consists of a Harmon Kardon Citation 17 pre-amp with a Citation 19 amplifier, a H-K tuner and cassette deck, a Dual turntable with Infinity Reference Standard 1.5 speakers. I've been thinking about bringing it out of hibernation lately, but I've been reading that old electronics like that will often blow the caps on initial power on. Has anyone dealt with old electronics like this and have any suggestions? I found a guy several states away a couple of years ago who said he would bring up voltage slowly and replace any caps that fail, but I wasn't comfortable packing up my electronics and sending it to a stranger.

Nice vintage gear, the Citation stuff was/is very good. As mentioned you dont really need to worry about using a variac to power up the components, they arent "that" old & most of the caps should be ok to power up, they will reform in a matter of seconds or maybe a couple minutes.. they should be replaced with new caps though if you plan to keep & use it. If you have basic soldering & mechanical skills you can probably do a basic recap yourself, lots of tutorials or youtube vids out there for most of these vintage brands. One of my vintage Sansui amps was in storage by the prev owner in a garage for 20+ years, it powered up fine but has the typical scratchy pots etc, will do a recap & restoration on it soon but it powered up without any problems.


Im in the midwest, if we were closer I would offer to look at it or can help with any questions you might have. The link I posted earlier to "simply speakers" will probably have the best selection, quality & price on refoam kits & they offer the service too for a good price.

For protection of the unit when powering up older gear you can use whats called a dim bulb tester, can make one for about $10-$20 depending on what parts you buy, heres a pic of one I made for working on all my vintage gear, its basically a current limiting device that will allow the unit to power up but protects it from full amps that can damage something if there is a short or bad component inside. Theres diagrams online or I can help how to make one if needed.

Chances are if the stuff worked when it was put away, it will still work when pulled out of storage, there are usually fuses inside this stuff that will protect against major damage, especially amps or higher power items, but always a good idea to try to protect them.

[MarkS57]

Originally Posted by 59safaricat

Bringing transistorized equipment up slowly on a variac is not a good idea, that's strictly for tube equipment only.

You know, if the transistor equipment has regulators in the power supply, that's probably very accurate. Looking at the 19's schematic, doesn't look like it does. It's a fairly beefy piece of equipment. But why chance it. The 17 DOES have regulators.

If you don't want to plug them in & turn them on, look up a reliable shop- probably your best bet.

[78w72]

Originally Posted by MarkS57

You know, if the transistor equipment has regulators in the power supply, that's probably very accurate. Looking at the 19's schematic, doesn't look like it does. It's a fairly beefy piece of equipment. But why chance it. The 17 DOES have regulators.

If you don't want to plug them in & turn them on, look up a reliable shop- probably your best bet.

A DBT will protect older solid state stuff when powering up after long storage or repairs. Thats what most techs use on gear from this era.

[78w72]

Just an FYI on powering up or repairing older audio gear. Of the 50+ capacitors I just replaced in a vintage 1979-80 era Sansui integrated amp, they were all sill within capacitance specs except a few of the very small 1uf caps, all the larger caps (25-470uf) in the power supply & signal path sections tested within spec. The smaller ones that were off a little still allowed the unit to function ok and didnt trip the protection relay which indicated they were still functional. Other specs for caps like ESR & V-loss were within acceptable range but slightly higher than the new caps. Point is, good quality older caps will usually function ok but are at the end of their life and should be replaced, for speaker crossovers or electrical gear.

Electrolytic caps will almost always show signs of swelling, expanding or leaking fluid before a catastrophic failure. Pull the cover and visually inspect the caps & boards for signs of leaking or swelling or other signs of overheating from resistors etc before powering up. If it worked Ok before being stored away with no problems, it will most likely power up & work ok now... but again it always a good idea to have some type of protection, whether thats on board fuses or an external one in the power line or a device like a dim bulb tester shown above that is specifically for protecting things like this that may be in unknown condition.

Before the recap on the sansui when I was repairing a bad left channel, I asked about replacing the caps first, every experienced tech I asked said the same thing about caps, that they were most likely not the cause or reason for the problem and its always best to find the problem before just replacing things that probably are not bad, kind of the same approach for cars, always best to diagnose & find the actual problem first before just guessing & throwing parts at it.

Sorry for the long boring posts on capacitors... stereos & related electronics are like cars & oil to me.

[MarkS57]

Check this out, the C19 is a bit of a beast. Essentially a dual mono amp, 2 transformers & power supplies. HK is it's heyday. It's not difficult to take the covers off and look at those big & smaller caps, if they are leaking or bloated should be easy enough to see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LypiQ-Jlfvs