Tube amp repair recommendations - Western NY

Seriously though, everyone needs to go to Audio Classics just to see the volume of vintage Mac gear shipping to Japan. They also get tourists from Japan coming through on tour busses. The place is impressive from that aspect. It's not the most impressive place to audition gear though. This is across the river from Binghamton (5 minutes) and the college is the big draw.

Make a mini vacation of it by dropping your amp off and cruising down to the mid Hudson Valley for a tour of FDR's house and the first presidential library on the premises. Then have dinner at the culinary institute. Or, drop your gear off and drive home traveling up the wide side of Cayuga Lake and stop by the 14 wineries and several micro breweries. You could have lunch in Ithaca and stop by the several gorges and view some amazing waterfalls. Very very beautiful drive.

Tubes..., did I blink, but I don't recall seeing that you mentioned the brand make of your amp. Also, perhaps another blink, but did you mention the problem you are having? I think the answers to these questions may direct a logical course of action.

As you can see from my system description, I own ARC tube gear. Whenever I have had a relatively minor repair issue, there's a local authorized ARC service tech who makes house calls. Saves me schlepping the amp around. So far, I've never had a major repair, just an occasional blown bias resister caused by a power tube arc, but if something was seriously wrong, it's back to the factory.

If you have the original shipping crates and it's a factory trip, you're in great shape. If not, perhaps the factory can send you new shipping crates. If you're really lucky, the problem may be simple, like a blown bias resister or dried out caps.

I base my advice on my experiences.

Best of luck,

Bruce

Audibleguy: Good suggestion! Wondering if Wayne at Stereo Chamber has worked on any of your gear? If so what did you have repaired?

Donjr: An order of hot wings from Duffs, I suppose you know, IS REALLY HOT!

Faziod: Thanks for the tip on Precision Audio as I was unaware of them. What did you have repaired there & what repair performed? Do you know if they do much work on tube gear? My guess is there is not much tube gear owned in this area.

Bifwynne: No blinking allowed! It didn't seem relevant to mention the amp. Of course some techs, usually those with limited experience, only work on a few types of very basic amps. I'm seeking a tech with a fair number of years doing component level replacement (not board swapping) on high-end tube gear.

Although the repair is basic (I know which components require replacing!) making the repair requires solid expertise as there's little room between components. It takes skill not to touch adjacent components in such a compact area and to not lift foils when removing a component. Also requires a gentle hand to remove the amp's top plate to access a resistor.

Yes thank goodness I have the original packaging. Though see my Aug 17 entry in this tread which mentions why I prefer to repair as local as possible vs. shipping across the country (ouch!).

Everyone else: Thank you for your suggestions.

I had a SS amp repaired replaced some caps. Wanted Wayne over at Stereo Chamber to do the work but was told they only service what they sell that was a few years back. Precision Audio was recommended to me by The Speaker Shop.

Maybe the guys at the speaker shop near UB might have a recommendation.