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Amp repair cost — is this right?

I recently sent my Musical Fidelity a308cr power amp off to be recapped. This amp is somewhere around 16-18 years old and one of the power caps failed. I contacted Musical Fidelity and sent it to a repair shop they recommended. Today I received an estimate to replace 18 caps, 8 of which are large power caps, resolder the boards, and re-bias the transistors. Basically a full overhaul. The quote I received, including return shipping (prob around $100) Is over $1,300 which possibly exceeds the value of the amp. That doesn’t include the $115 it cost me to ship it out. Having never had an overhaul done on a power amp like this, I’m wondering if anyone with experience can tell me if this sounds right. I guess I was expecting something more like $600-$800 but I don’t know why since I really don’t have a frame of reference. Perhaps it was the assumption it might be 4 hours labor (say $400) plus max $200 for caps. Is $1,300+ on track? Either way I’m going to be out the shipping cost plus a $160 fee paid for the estimate.
jnehma1
billzame
69 posts
 
I think this is the wrong question.  I think the right question is "Is this repair shop honest?"  If the answer is "yes" then the price is reasonable; if the answer is "no" then the price is not reasonable.  The brake job analogy is imperfect, because there is a "book" that tells all shops how many hours of labor are involved.  
Did the repair shop break down the cost in terms of cost of each cap, cost of various parts of the labor (remove old caps, replace with new caps, test, etc.)?  That should give you some idea.  If they did not you might want to ask them to do so.  You don't know how much labor is involved but you can find out what the caps would cost.
jnehma1 OP
111 posts
 
@georgehifi @mozartfan both of you referenced the a308 integrated amp. Mine is just an amp, and the internal layout looks completely different
jnehma1 OP
111 posts
 
FWIW to those that brought it up, I called and the shop said they only use Nichicon, Vishay, and ELNA caps
terry9
2,328 posts
 
@grannyring @georgehifi   make a really good point: some equipment is easy to work on, some is hard. Parts cost may be swamped by labour costs, if you want it done even half right.

Ralph @atmasphere  is probably judging by his own good design, which is easy to open, easy to repair.


cakyol's avatar
cakyol
940 posts
 
Large caps are expensive.  I would guess the cost of the components alone would be 300-400 bucks.

Changing caps is a very labor intensive task.  Every board must be disconnected, unscrewed and the old caps must be de-soldered and new ones soldered and the boards re-inserted and rewired again.

I am not very surprised.  It is kinda like changing the timing belt on a car.  The belt is a few bucks but the labor is daunting.
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