advertisement


60's & 70's amplifiers

Just as an example, the following is from his criticism of the Rogers HG88:- 'Still the old Mullard mustard caps that deteriorate too, not that they are poor items, they just age.'
Well this is just utter nonsense. They were pretty well the best caps available at the time. I have serviced stacks of vintage audio gear(Quads Leaks etc) and have had to replace lots of caps on them, but have never had a faulty mustard that needed replacing. They are super film/foil caps that are every bit as good today as they were then, and will outlive most boutique and paper oil types, even the Russian ones of recent production.

Interesting - on the advice of the guy who designed my 211/gm75 hybrid mono amps, I am soon to try some Mullard mustards as op caps on my pre - he swears by them now, I'm not convinced...but have them here to try :) Of course, first need to fix my ESL63s, then swap 211s to gm75s...so maybe a while!
 
Indeed, and he'd be right to. I swear by them myself.
By far the most appropriate caps to fit to Leak stereo 20's and Quad 2's as not only do they work exceptionally well, they are also period too. What's not to like?
Of course if you're going for the full period restoration, then you'd want to fit Iskra or Piher resistors too.
Interestingly much of the Rogers range used the Mustard/Iskra combination and had very few problems fron that department.
 
Here's one of the best built 70's amplifiers I've ever worked on a Sony Ta-F7, naked but almost ready to go, had been bodged by the previous owner so whilst correcting their poor repairs I took the opportunity to recap etc, must be only ~15 electro caps in a jap amp of this size and age! Bit dusty though.



 
Interesting very interesting thread ... as myself have little technical knowledge but do listen to my ears .. the proof is in the pudding as they say
 
Interesting very interesting thread ... as myself have little technical knowledge but do listen to my ears .. the proof is in the pudding as they say

Very interesting indeed- you've resurrected it from 5 years of obscurity. It actually would be nice to see it continue.

I recall reading stuff from Select45's site and thinking. "This is a bit much!".

Opinions on old (much-loved) amps starting with "No" or "cheap garbage" seemed unwarranted and did lead me to suspecting that the chap is a bit of a loon.
 
Indeed.

The only worthwhile mod is a sensitivity reduction, one useful side effect being a drop in hiss which is useful for sensitive 'speakers. Most people want a 'better' op amp fitted, but better at what?

The Mk1 can have its protection adjusted broadly in line with the Mk2 if required. Useful for sub 5 ohm loads.

The rest is a waste of time.


I use a modified Quad design, it’s in the diy section somewhere, it has a complementary output stage, higher quality op amps and a higher bandwidth. It’s a completely different beast to the 405, retains the merits sweet treble but not the slightly flabby bass. I took a few amps to my local hifi shop for them to listen to and that’s the one that came out on top, one was a class A amplifier and the other a Pass SIT 2.
 
Thing is, would the £70 amp and the £350 refurb - £420 in total - sound better than a modern, brand new amp costing the same outlay? What can you get for £420 these days? Would the CR 2020 selling for £750 on that site outperform a new amp costing the same? I suspect it would. An interesting comparative review for one of the hifi publications!

I was very tempted by a vintage amplifier, a Sony TA1010, as it was my first ‘proper’ amp.
One owner and in perfect condition. It would have cost me about £60.00.

Then a modern Marantz, recommended by the manufacturer of my speakers, became available on PFM for about £100 more than the Sony.
It made sense, so I bought it and I’m pleased I did.

Superb amp. with the added pleasure of remote volume.
I’m sure the Sony would have been a good buy, but the Marantz does all I want.
 
I now have a yamaha CA-1000 amp from 1973 that i suspect certainly needs some servicing or more work on it, as last time it was looked over was more than 20 years ago i'm told and being Class A i want to bring it up to "use daily quality" , i'm hoping that a few on here could recommend or suggest who i could use to get the work done ...apart from Select 45RPM who this thread was started about and at least have experience with this amp according to their site..or as time has gone on have views on "Select 45RPM" softened ?

I ask now as i'm about to take ownership of some tannoy Berkley speakers with the 15inch HPDs which are from 1975 i believe ..so i'm going largely vintage, although sources will be Atmo Sfera TT & Musical Fidelity A5 CDP ...from what i've read Paul @RFC is the man should the Berkleys need any work doing....

all comments welcome
 
Paul definitely is "Mr Tannoy". Very high reputation and well-deserved, it seems.

Select45 just gives me "stay away" vibes. Plus, there are plenty of people out there who have a good rep for doing this kind of work well.
 
I now have a yamaha CA-1000 amp from 1973 that i suspect certainly needs some servicing or more work on it, as last time it was looked over was more than 20 years ago i'm told and being Class A i want to bring it up to "use daily quality" , i'm hoping that a few on here could recommend or suggest who i could use to get the work done ...apart from Select 45RPM who this thread was started about and at least have experience with this amp according to their site..or as time has gone on have views on "Select 45RPM" softened ?

I ask now as i'm about to take ownership of some tannoy Berkley speakers with the 15inch HPDs which are from 1975 i believe ..so i'm going largely vintage, although sources will be Atmo Sfera TT & Musical Fidelity A5 CDP ...from what i've read Paul @RFC is the man should the Berkleys need any work doing....

all comments welcome

A few years ago I had Berkeley 2s driven by vintage Yamaha C4/M4 amps and thought they were a very good match. I'd imagine you'll enjoy the Berkeleys with your CA-1000 once it has been serviced and brought back up to spec.

zlw8zq9.jpg
 
Paul definitely is "Mr Tannoy". Very high reputation and well-deserved, it seems.

Select45 just gives me "stay away" vibes. Plus, there are plenty of people out there who have a good rep for doing this kind of work well.

Thanks for the recomendation ..any other thoughts are welcome ...the Berkleys will get a run out as is powered by Cyrus Mono X amps via Benchmark Dac1 HDR used as a pre at the weekend .. excited
 
A few years ago I had Berkeley 2s driven by vintage Yamaha C4/M4 amps and thought they were a very good match. I'd imagine you'll enjoy the Berkeleys with your CA-1000 once it has been serviced and brought back up to spec.

zlw8zq9.jpg

Thanks hermit ...a nice looking set up there ...any recommendations on where to get the Yamaha CA-1000 amp looked over / serviced .. it will become my main amp doing duty for music plus TV / DVD watching i think...
 
No they were a Mullard design and made by Mullard/Philips in both England and Europe, sometimes branded with other makes, ie Bianci in Spain.
Weren't those sourced from Iskra and made in Czechoslovakia or Slovenia? Marshall guitar amps were full of 'em.
 
Thanks hermit ...a nice looking set up there ...any recommendations on where to get the Yamaha CA-1000 amp looked over / serviced .. it will become my main amp doing duty for music plus TV / DVD watching i think...

I do this sort of work but it would have to be later in the year as I'm booked up ATM. NE England based.
 


advertisement


Back
Top