2. amps-preamps
  3. 160991-11545

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
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,616 posts
 
Wow...

I'm surprised that you were even able to "contact" Musical Fidelity, let alone receive a response - period.

DeKay (a previous MF owner).
jnehma1 OP
111 posts
 
@dekay There was nothing difficult about that. There’s a new email address since they were bought by ProJect. Someone in Austria forwarded my email to a person in Canada who works for MF North America and I had a response the next morning. He asked where I live so he could recommend a close repair shop and then replied with a recommendation within 30 minutes of me telling him where I live.
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,848 posts
 
I asked a contractor how his quote for a bathroom remodeling came to $33k when the parts by my estimation came to $5k, and labor at $50 per hour for 3 men for 3 weeks came to $18k. Figure in $2k for truck, tools and insurance. $25k. He shrugged and said the remainder was profit.
fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,631 posts
 
Or work for free.
elliottbnewcombjr
5,505 posts
 
Take the Long View

That much replacement, when done, is like buying a new 250 wpc dual mono amp. That’s not a lot of money if you think of it that way.

You are paying for years of expertise, knowledge regarding parts selection, warranty ...

If you really liked it’s sound, consider how smart you are to have it fixed. What would you be depriving yourself of, for many years, because you thought he charged too much?

Only 30 minutes away? I would drive a few hours to see the shop, meet the people, save shipping cost and risk.

There is only 1 shop in the country recommended by McIntosh to work on my 1962 mx110z, it’s 5 hours away, you are quite lucky when you think that way.

If you asked them to give you a better price, you will never know if they then used lesser quality parts.

You would not be able to sell it in it’s current condition ....
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