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A&R A60

They look nice Mick.

I am running a late A60 right now. I have two others, earlier ones, but neither has the Din speaker connectors, so not as early as yours.

I'm sure you will get some replies, but at minimum, I would look at the two large power supply capacitors. See if they are bulging / leaking. Replacement is pretty easy.
 
They look nice Mick.

I am running a late A60 right now. I have two others, earlier ones, but neither has the Din speaker connectors, so not as early as yours.

I'm sure you will get some replies, but at minimum, I would look at the two large power supply capacitors. See is they are bulging / leaking. Replacement is pretty easy.

Thanks for the quick reply. My ebay seller only posts to the UK, I am in Ireland so they are now sitting in my friends house in Cardiff.

I think maybe before I get them back to Ireland I need an expert to look at them. I really dont have the knowledge to know what I am looking at.
 
What you will probably need are some Phono to DIN adapters for the inputs. A DIN to DIn lead for the tuners and some DIN speaker plugs.

One needs to be very careful of wiring DIN speaker plugs, easy to get a short at the connectors for the leads are very close together.

If an engineer is going to look at them, perhaps think about changing the DIN speaker sockets to binding posts. Takes away the originality, but a good mod if you are keeping the amp.
 
What you will probably need are some Phono to DIN adapters for the inputs. A DIN to DIn lead for the tuners and some DIN speaker plugs.

One needs to be very careful of wiring DIN speaker plugs, easy to get a short at the connectors for the leads are very close together.

If an engineer is going to look at them, perhaps think about changing the DIN speaker sockets to binding posts. Takes away the originality, but a good mod if you are keeping the amp.

I have binding posts on my other A60. As I said I am very much a newcomer when it comes to electronics and these DIN cables and speaker connectors I only remember from the dim and distant past so the questions I ask may be from a very limited knowledge base.

I do like the idea of keeping the din speaker outs just as you say to keep it original. As I understand from your post the reason for doing it is to stop the possibility of a short. Is there a pre made DIN speaker plug that is safer? Also I need some 5 pin DIN to DIN cable to connect both my tuners to the amps, could you recommend a good supplier?
 
May I also ask, are the later A60 very much better than the earlier ones, and do upgrades of the earlier ones as outlined on this thread significantly improve their sound quality or are the upgrades more about stablising the units and keeping them working?
 
Pre-wired DIN speaker plugs can be problematic too from the point of shorts. Just check out what you have /get carefully. I have old B&O amps that have DIN speaker sockets, have left them as they are.

Another point with the DIN speaker connectors, they can corrode giving poor connection. Some Servisol contact cleaner / lubricant usually helps.

I usually buy the cheap phono to DIN connectors that are on eBay, no problems with them. I will not buy expensive connectors.

Obviously later A60 will have less aged components, but I reckon that the components are better quality on the later production, especially the controls. I don't know how upgrades will change the sound quality.

There are quite a few circuit changes over the production run of the A60. for example the early A60's had discrete components for the disc section, later production had integrated circuits. Some say discrete is better, but the IC A60's have less noise on Disc.
 
Thanks for all the help.

Here is the system I bought a few weeks ago. I was mistaken when I said that the A60 was around 7000 serial, it is much later.

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hello Julian,
This is my first post on PF even though I 've been picking my way through this thread for a while now. As you are a recurring figure as regards the A60 I am hoping you may be able to help.
I have extensively restored and upgraded my two A&R A60's which I've had since the 80's. Just changed the 4 main coupling caps for Elna Silmic II's on the one I use as a power amp, everything worked fine before I did this. When I put it back together no sound and the heatsink got very hot. 2amp output fuse bown on left hand channel. Quiescant current reads 0.4mV on both channels instead of 8mV and remains unnaffected by trimmers? Have 32V across blown fuseholder and 1.5mV across the other. I have taken it apart and looked for shorts with a magnifying glass, no joy , same story. I have no idea what to do next or what I might have done wrong so if you could point me in the right direction I would be very grateful Cheers Francis.
 
Franjam....welcome to PFM !

You might do better reposting this in DIY where all the techies (not me) hang out.
You will get much more than you bargained for as I have found....
 
Were you careful in replacing the insulation between the power transistors and the heatsink when bolting the board back in place/to the heatsink? If not, bangs will ensue.
 
Hello my name is arne,
I got one of the earlier A60's (serial 7387 I think) a few weeks ago which I have recapped and upgraded as advise in the service manual and as read on a website from another a60 enthusiast. So far I'm very happy with this amp but there are a few questions left which I can't find any specific answers to after having read every single bit of A60 related information I could find.
I'm sure someone with basic knowledge of audio ciruits can answer them but I don't trust my own knowledege enough yet to just go ahead and try what I think is right.
So my questions would be:

Should the tantalum caps be raplaced and if so what would be a proper replacement except another tantalum?

Can I add a pre out in order to connect an active sub from the points where the daughterboard of the ap version connects or would I have to alter the circuit in any way to do so?

Is it possible to use 2 a60's each driving one channel by pressing the mono button on each amp or is there a another way to do so which would be a better option. Are the any other things I should consider in this kind of setup except things like both amps beeing abolutely identical in regards to parts, bias, dc offset etc?

I hope someone on here can help me with this.
thanks a lot!
 
Hi Arne
Welcome to the world of A60 amps.
I will attempt some quick replies but I sure others will chip in. All three of my answers will be on the general reply - why bother messing with a good amp, if you have already done the other upgrades.

Q1: Should the tantalum caps be replaced and if so what would be a proper replacement except another tantalum?
A: Not worth the bother IMO unless one of them is already faulty. They normally last for years/decades without much fuss.

Q2: Can I add a pre out in order to connect an active sub from the points where the daughterboard of the AP version connects or would I have to alter the circuit in any way to do so?
A: Again not worth the bother unless you are really determined to try something different. Easier to do if you have the AP version but IMO sell the A60 and buy an amp already with the output for the subs.

Q3: Is it possible to use 2 a60's each driving one channel by pressing the mono button on each amp or is there a another way to do so which would be a better option. Are the any other things I should consider in this kind of setup except things like both amps being absolutely identical in regards to parts, bias, dc offset etc?
A: If you want more power and the A&R sound get one of the SA150 or SA200 amps. There are other posts on these pages about Mono-ing amps and most do not recommend it.

Sorry if I seem pessimistic about your ideas but I repeat - just enjoy the amp for what it already does and is very capable of doing.

Cheers
Julian
 


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