Death of a component.

phoneisbusy
phoneisbusy Posts: 867
edited February 2024 in Clubhouse Archives
Well, I fired up the two channel rig I've been building on the cheap tonight and it appears that I've lost one preout on the preamp.

Double checked my connections, swapped cables, reversed cables and the right channel is always dead. I ran the cd player output straight to the amp and both channels are alive.

I pulled off the cover to see if maybe the connections on the preouts are bad or the connector is damaged. Doesn't appear to be and the volt meter reading (continuity) are consistent with the other outputs. Other problem is the row rca connectors are encased in a plastic case so replacing just the preouts may be a challenge.

I also saw 6 caps with brown sludge about their base. The problem could still be the rca connector but me thinks the caps have leaked.

Yammie C40, you've lived a long life (6 polk owners), I hope I don't have to pull the cord on you yet...

regards

Dave
Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately it kills all its students.
Post edited by RyanC_Masimo on
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Comments

  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited February 2004
    You just said something that is never good...leaking caps. Just get the info off the caps and cross-reference them with Michael Percy Audio or similar parts supplier. It can be an easy, fairly cheap replacement, and could be the whole issue.

    In order to replace the RCA'a they come as individuals or duals, at least what I have seen from WBT and Vampire. Not a huge deal, but may take some creative Dremel engineering.

    Sorry to hear about that old soldier.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • gidrah
    gidrah Posts: 3,049
    edited February 2004
    That sucks. It's just a sign yo get your old timey listening on.
    Make it Funky! :)
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  • phoneisbusy
    phoneisbusy Posts: 867
    edited February 2004
    It's been a bad weekend but in the grand scheme of things a molehill. Thanks for the condolences. I haven't given up complete hope but I may have to put the yammie on the shelf until I can devote more time to the repair.

    Doro, how important is the quality of the capacitors in this case? Is a electrolytic from the local electronics parts store sufficient or do I need the hand rolled audio capacitors by tibetian virgins specials?

    Would appreaciate any guidances from the more electronic repair inclined.

    thanks in advance.

    Dave
    Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately it kills all its students.
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited February 2004
    Dave - Caps are the most swapped part on a crossover, followed by resistors, then coils. It mostly stems from the fact that they are easily replaced, thus easily upgraded. How important are the virgin, baby cow brand caps? Who can really say, but the fact that they are modestly priced, to insanely priced, either way is just a judgement call. If you want to spec some prices check these two places:

    www.soniccraft.com

    www.percyaudio.com

    Jeff from Soniccraft is the most personable, and likely to help you on the phone....you may have a problem getting him to stop talking :) Michael Percy Audio is a little upscale and less available for questions, from my experience.

    I would get into a Solen or Axon, both of which should be a nice upgrade, and modestly priced. You could get some real cheap ones to test it out...and if it IS the problem, upgrade then....a whole bunch of options are at you disposal.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited February 2004
    The brown sludge could be a wax that they put around the base to keep the caps from vibrating.
    madmax
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • woodyjacobs
    woodyjacobs Posts: 706
    edited February 2004
    Damn Dave, I'm sorry to hear about that. That was a good one. Hope it can be fixed.

    Woody
    system 1:
    Athena: AS-F1 mains, AS-C1 center, AS-B1 surrounds, AS-P400 sub, Yammie RXV-730, Rotel RB-976 driving front stage, Samsung BD3600 Blue Ray, Denon DVD2900 for sacd/cd , jbl n24awII on the deck, samsung 40" 1080p lcd

    system 2:
    XBox 360 Spherex 5.1 system, HK DVD38, Phillips CDC 926 CD changer, Phillips 32" LCD

    2 channel
    NAD 1600 pre, NAD 2400 THX amp, Phillips CDC 926, Linn extra speaks, crappy TT
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  • phoneisbusy
    phoneisbusy Posts: 867
    edited February 2004
    I hope so too. Got a friend with an scope, and some electronics expertise. He charges a case of beer for the diagnosis. Rum if it requires parts. Hope I can afford this... ;)

    Dave
    Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately it kills all its students.
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