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24 THREADSWelcome to the Audiophile Repair Forum This forum exists because knowledge shouldn't disappear when a company decides a product is "end of life." Right to Repair Every year, perfectly good audio gear
# Audiophile Repair Knowledge — Tj's Field Notes This is the stuff I've learned fixing high-end audio gear. Some from my years at PS Audio, some from repair benches, some from conversations with the
This comes up on the bench constantly, and the short answer is: your receiver is protecting itself, and the question is what it is protecting against. Inside almost every receiver made since the mid s
No. Crumbling foam is the most common vintage speaker failure there is, and it is also one of the most fixable. The foam surround has a service life, and when it goes the driver underneath is usually
Nine times out of ten it is the belt. Here is the order we work it in on the bench, cheapest and most likely first. 1. The belt itself. Rubber belts stretch and glaze with age, and a glazed or stretch
Start by not assuming the worst. One dead channel in a headphone is a chain, and the driver (the part that is expensive) is the last link in that chain. Work it in order. 1. Rule out the source. Play
Usually yes, and here is the honest reason: nearly everything that goes wrong with a tape deck is mechanical, known, and documented. These machines were built to be serviced. The failure list is short
Honest answer: it depends on why you want it, and both answers are legitimate. If the goal is a working bench scope: buy modern. A current two-channel 100 MHz digital scope is inexpensive by any histo
Parts are rarely the wall people think they are. The trick is knowing which of three shelves your part lives on. Shelf one: generic electronic parts. Semiconductors, capacitors, connectors: these come
Almost every mysterious symptom in a vintage unit is worth checking against the power supply first, because the supply's failure modes wear disguises. The disguises: • Nothing at all. Dead is the hone
Short answer: only with a reason. The recap culture that makes sense for a fifty-year-old receiver does not transfer cleanly to digital gear. The case against reflex recapping. A working player that s
So you found yourself with a stereo. Maybe a parent's system, maybe an estate-sale pickup, maybe a relative decided you are the one who knows about this stuff. Good news: most of it is worth keeping.
When gear lands on my bench, I don't start with a screwdriver. I start with questions, and I would rather ask them before the case comes off. What exactly does it do, and when? Dead always, dead somet
"It doesn't sound right" is where good troubleshooting goes to die. The more precisely you can describe a symptom, the less everyone has to guess, including you. Hum is continuous, sits under the musi
Receiver hum is the most common call I get, and it almost always sorts into one of two families. Family one: the hum is a ground loop, not bad gear. A steady drone that is there at idle and does not c
Every vintage thread eventually hits the word "recap," so let me say the unpopular thing first: not every problem is capacitors, and not every capacitor problem needs the whole unit redone. When capac
Everyone loves a finished restoration. What actually helps the rest of us is the middle part. So this thread is an invitation to post the project you are in, not just the one you finished. The receive
Turntable setup is where small efforts pay the biggest returns, and half of it costs nothing. The free wins first. Level the platter. Set tracking force with a gauge instead of by eye; even a cheap on
Every tool shelf has a story about the gadget that never earned its keep. This thread is about the opposite: the ones that earn their spot. My short list, from a working bench. A decent multimeter, no
I buy and fix used gear, and I walk in with three checks that take less time than the drive over. One: power it up and listen at low volume. Crackling that vanishes when you exercise the controls is d
The simple thread. Every week: what is actually playing on your system? The rules are loose. A whole album, a playlist, one song on repeat, a test track you keep returning to, or the radio in the shop
There is always one piece of gear that got away. Maybe it was the receiver you had in college, the turntable your parents kept in the living room, or the speakers you sold because you were sure you wo
What was the first system that made you stop and really listen? It does not have to be expensive or impressive on paper. A thrift-store receiver, hand-me-down speakers, a Discman plugged into somethin
Old gear does not automatically need a full restoration the day it comes through the door. The honest question is what the unit is worth to you, what condition it is actually in, whether it is safe to
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