New person to hifi here to say hello

[SMed]

Hi there, I'm Sami.

I only recently started getting into stereos and hifi when I got a free Sansui AU-2200 stereo amplifier. It's about 35 years old, looks in near mint condition. Hasn't even been switched on in at least 15 years. With them came some Acoustic Research AR1ms (mini speakers). I connected them up and they worked! Sounded like crap initially, but got gradually better after a day or so. The noisy pots even quietened down too. But they still didn't sound great. I'm sure the amp can be restored, might just need new capacitors. Though, it could be the speakers that are rotten - I don't really know because I don't have other equipment to locate the problem.

But in my searches about this amp, I now think it's time to get something a bit more up to date and to suit my needs. I don't think I have the technical experience to service or repair this amp. I may keep it for later restoration or sell it on. Not sure yet.

I'm very new to this, so I'm learning all the time. I always do this before new big purchases, spend months researching before actually getting anything. Did this with my DLSR, lenses, PC build and now this.

This will be quite low-high end stuff, as I'm still a student! :D

[Spectral Morn]

Welcome to AOS Sami


Regards D S D L

[Reid Malenfant]

Hi Sami, welcome to AoS :) Looks like you have already been busy with six posts already :scratch:

I'd suggest that the capacitors are probably pretty duff. Switching it on without using a variac to gradually increase the mains voltage has probably finished a few off, or seriously compromised them at the very least.

Old capacitors need to be fed a constant current to gradually charge them back up to the full voltage, this is known as re-forming.


So what type of music do you listen to?

Hope you enjoy your stay here :cool:

[SMed]

Hi Sami, welcome to AoS :) Looks like you have already been busy with six posts already :scratch:

Yeah, that was my fault not reading the rules carefully. :p



I'd suggest that the capacitors are probably pretty duff. Switching it on without using a variac to gradually increase the mains voltage has probably finished a few off, or seriously compromised them at the very least.

Old capacitors need to be fed a constant current to gradually charge them back up to the full voltage, this is known as re-forming.

Yeah, I knew nothing whatsoever about hifi equipment, and even less about vintage equipment. Is it possible to test individual caps instead of trying to replace the lot?



So what type of music do you listen to?

Pretty varied stuff. Mostly leaning towards the heavier rock side of things, lots of heavy metal. But also almost an equal amount of classic rock and blues. With a little bit of pop from over the last 15-20 years thrown in from time to time.


Hope you enjoy your stay here :cool:

Thanks, I think I will. :)

[SMed]

Hope you enjoy your stay here :cool:

Oh, and another BIG hello from a fellow Sagan fan! :D

[Reid Malenfant]

Yeah, I knew nothing whatsoever about hifi equipment, and even less about vintage equipment. Is it possible to test individual caps instead of trying to replace the lot?
It is yes, the thing is though to test them properly & safely they'd need removing from the PCB anyway. Then you'd need an LCR meter (& quite a decent one) so you could test the main PSU capacitors & the smaller ones.

Probably cheaper & less messing to replace the lot at the end of the day :eyebrows: