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I've just bought a very cheap Radford....

Dan K said:
Yer reckon? Looks ok-ish

It really annoys me when people take beatlutiful vintage kit, rip it to pieces then install all new guts and use all the wrong fixings. This is actually a good example of how to wipe nearly £1000 off the value of an amplifier
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Good job I paid a grand less than usual then!
Seems a strange thing to do tho, rewire something completely in the same order? And the date stamp seems odd if you were doing it for yourself.
 
Dan K said:
Dom, for some reason all your images go wrong and need to be clicked on to display (at least for me). I think you need to choose a different link option. They are all tiny, even when clicked on

Amp looks like somebody competent, perhaps an engineer at a recording studio, has rebuilt it in a safe, but unsympathetic way. Should sound fine

I wonder where those replacement boards came from? Guessing that it was rebuilt in 96.
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Not sure about this, I'm using 'thumbnail for forums' on post images, they don't seem to have a way to just paste a full size picture straight into the post.
 
Dom500 said:
Not sure about this, I'm using 'thumbnail for forums' on post images, they don't seem to have a way to just paste a full size picture straight into the post.
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'hotlink for forums' is the one that you want

I had to 'download original image' ..

 
Perhaps a daft question.

Are the boards the same as those in the 25? They look like they might be... I may have a cunning plan, if the stars can align.
 
Dan K said:
Perhaps a daft question.

Are the boards the same as those in the 25? They look like they might be... I may have a cunning plan, if the stars can align.
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The STA25 boards have four resistors rather than two at the bottom of the PCB (by the two black coupling caps, towards the centre of the amp) for the adjustable bias
 
I've just noticed that this one has an LED added to the front panel! This must have all been done as some sort of studio safety audit. Ie 'the unit must have a proper mains switch, LED/ lamp on front panel, all wiring and capacitors replaced' etc
 
Some light reading, for those that might be interested.
pinkfishmedia.net

Radford STA15 Restoration.

I collected a new toy yesterday. A really cosmetically challenged Radford STA15 III. Been in a damp shed for a while apparently. But all original and never repaired as far as I can see. The caps are dated December 64 and January 65. The valves are all yellow label Mullard except for the Mazda...
pinkfishmedia.net pinkfishmedia.net
 
Assuming it works
Dan K said:
Some light reading, for those that might be interested.
pinkfishmedia.net

Radford STA15 Restoration.

I collected a new toy yesterday. A really cosmetically challenged Radford STA15 III. Been in a damp shed for a while apparently. But all original and never repaired as far as I can see. The caps are dated December 64 and January 65. The valves are all yellow label Mullard except for the Mazda...
pinkfishmedia.net pinkfishmedia.net
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I had one of Snowman Al's Leak Stereo 20's a while back, shouldn't have sold it.
 
Those Svetlana EL34s are very nice too.

I know of a fish who has a pair of absolutely beautiful sounding original STA25 boards that I think would drop into this, with the simple removal/ replacement of 2 resistors per channel.

There's also a Broskie CCDA pre on ebay that will partner very well with it ;-)
 
Dom500 said:
It's making music, and sounding very nice!
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So it looks like the restoration was done well. Why not leave it exactly as it is then? As in "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

I'd get somebody to check all the voltages, though, and compare them with the schematic. Basic safety measure with unknown equipment.

Congratulations!
 
Pleased its worked out for you and tamed the ns1000s:)

Stainless valve runners,badges and relevant knobs etc finishing touches....,

Will is a pleasure to talk to at Radford Revival...
 
Dan K said:
Has the lower casing also been chromed? Are there feet? It's certainly got a 'style' to it.

Give it 30 minutes or so. £825!
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Bottom panel is the original grey, feet are replacement rubber hemispheres.
Very happy that it's got the Svetlanas, another bit of luck! Will look to replace the EF86 and ECF82 with something else, enjoyed JJ's on my Leak, might try those first.
Preamp shopping soon as I sell my Hegel!
 
Dan K said:
'hotlink for forums' is the one that you want

I had to 'download original image' ..

Click to expand...


While I would have done things differently I can't see anything monstrously wrong here. It's not perfect but a hell of a lot better than some rebuilds I've seen. Someone clearly put a fair bit of effort into that. The only thing I'd recommend maybe at some point is to uprate the 33k / 39k / 8.2k resistors around the phase splitter to 2W types. Those old 3/4W Welwyns are nice and I wish you could still get them, but I have a failure or two with these in this position. I've read elsewhere they don't tolerate voltage as well as you might expect. It's not worth worrying about right now though.

Other than nitpicky things it actually looks fairly well considered
 
Radford Revival said:
While I would have done things differently I can't see anything monstrously wrong here. It's not perfect but a hell of a lot better than some rebuilds I've seen. Someone clearly put a fair bit of effort into that. The only thing I'd recommend maybe at some point is to uprate the 33k / 39k / 8.2k resistors around the phase splitter to 2W types. Those old 3/4W Welwyns are nice and I wish you could still get them, but I have a failure or two with these in this position. I've read elsewhere they don't tolerate voltage as well as you might expect. It's not worth worrying about right now though.

Other than nitpicky things it actually looks fairly well considered
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If I could like this twice I would! Thanks for casting an expert eye over it.
 
Dan K said:
Those Svetlana EL34s are very nice too.

I know of a fish who has a pair of absolutely beautiful sounding original STA25 boards that I think would drop into this, with the simple removal/ replacement of 2 resistors per channel.

There's also a Broskie CCDA pre on ebay that will partner very well with it ;-)
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And why would you want to drop sta 25 boards in?
 
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