@builder3 I've had hit-or-miss results with service shops in past and that were with the shop also being a dealer of the Marantz integrated amp I had years ago. I figured this old Adcom amp would make a good DIY project and an opportunity to sharpen my skills.
Advice & thoughts on DIY Recap/Restoration of vintage amp/equipment
I’m curious if many on here have done their own restoration and recaps of any vintage gear they may have now or had in the past. I have a late 80s Adcom GFA-2 that I bought used back in 1991 when in college. It’s been a reliable amp and I like the warm sound but I’ve noticed a loss of signal in the right channel at lower volume levels. It’s not consistent either in that the signal loss doesn’t happen all the time either. So in the process of trying to chase down a loose connection, I thought I’d also do a recap. My reasons for doing this are I hate bricking a functional piece of vintage audio equipment that can be fixed but also the sentimental fact that it was the first "real" hi-fi separate I bought.
Granted, this is not a high-end amp that I’m willing to spend several hundred dollars to restore and I’m in a city that has ZERO audio repair places (especially vintage gear) but I’m willing to buy a restore kit from HiFi Audio and do the recap myself. I’ve reasonable electronics skills but obviously, I’m not going to have all the necessary testing equipment as a professional repair shop would. It would very much be a part swap.
I’m curious if anyone has thoughts on whether it’s worth a DIY recap and if anyone has used the restore kits that HiFi Audio has on offer and what their experience was with the quality of parts in the kit.
- ...
- 15 posts total
I have recapped 5 amps- I left them unplugged for weeks on end; made sure the caps were fully drained; and replaced with higher quality caps of the same micro-farad value from Digikey. I am handy but not electronically trained. It wasn't that hard. You need a solder sucker. I suggest the electronic one if you are going to do this regularly. I also suggest a decent quality soldering unit.You can find lots of help online from various sources- especially on a common amp like the Adcom. Good Luck. |
@ovinewar1 Thanks for the tip on the solder sucker. I'll check out Digikey. I've had the amp disconnected and unplugged for about a month now. So I'm going to plan on doing my amp refresh over the New Year weekend. |
I see mention of relays causing output issues. I bought an old Uni-Sync Model 50 recently, and I do hear the relays activate. However, the right channel stays in Protect mode, while the left side begins in Protect mode, but gradually begins to go.back and forth between Protect and Ready until finally staying in Ready mode. This is while nothing is hooked up to.the outputs if it matters.
I was planning on replacing parts in it as even the capacitors have signed stickers attached to them from the production process labeled '78, when it was produced. I noticed the relays are not easy to find new, and they're not cheap like passives.
Thoughts? |
- 15 posts total