Thank you all for your kind words!
I bought it online with the knowledge that it was not functioning. I don't have any history on the amp but I do know there were very crude attempts at repair which probably caused more damage. The vaporized voltage gain pcb is probably a result of amateur repairs. I am not tooting my own whistle here; I am far from a professional audio technician. I had more questions about how this amp worked than anyone! I did take my time and used sane methods to troubleshoot. An amp with power reserves like this is like a lightning bolt. It demands respect and we just have to keep that lightning controlled. I knew an amp of this age was going to need a recap anyway, so why pay premium for a working device that would probably need work? At least this way I knew it was done and could I document it. I also did many of the performance and safety enhancements that ML deemed necessary. As for the year it was built...I am not sure. There is no implicit date stamped on the back. There is only a serial number of 1618. I don’t know what the production rate of these monsters was but to me that number seems fairly low, so it could be an older unit. Thanks again.
I bought it online with the knowledge that it was not functioning. I don't have any history on the amp but I do know there were very crude attempts at repair which probably caused more damage. The vaporized voltage gain pcb is probably a result of amateur repairs. I am not tooting my own whistle here; I am far from a professional audio technician. I had more questions about how this amp worked than anyone! I did take my time and used sane methods to troubleshoot. An amp with power reserves like this is like a lightning bolt. It demands respect and we just have to keep that lightning controlled. I knew an amp of this age was going to need a recap anyway, so why pay premium for a working device that would probably need work? At least this way I knew it was done and could I document it. I also did many of the performance and safety enhancements that ML deemed necessary. As for the year it was built...I am not sure. There is no implicit date stamped on the back. There is only a serial number of 1618. I don’t know what the production rate of these monsters was but to me that number seems fairly low, so it could be an older unit. Thanks again.
