Amplifier Repair - Any Recommendations LONDON Area

[RobbieGong]

Hi, I'm gutted - My beloved Technics SU VX800 Integrated Amplifier has gone into protection mode :(. http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/technics_stereo_integrated_amplif_46.html
Could someone please recommend a competent, reliable and trustworthy (Am I expecting too much ? :lol:) engineer in the London area which would be much appreciated :)

[John]

There is a few
Audio Gold in North London (Crouch End) is quite good
London Sounds near Harrow
If you use the search facilties I am pretty sure I recommended a few more

[Ali Tait]

I could ask John Caswell for you, he does all the repairs and builds for WD valve amps and other manufacurers. He's in Wokingham. A good bloke and he won't rip you off.

[rwacka]

Henry Dulat aka toprepairman' in Bookham, Surrey

[chelsea]

London sounds.

[DSJR]

Another shout for London Sounds. Decades since I knew him, but he has maintained a good reputation and I believe he's one of the very few engineers who can properly calibrate a tuner.

[RobbieGong]

Funnily enough I've just realised that I have had email correspondence with the chap from London Sounds before. He was extremely helpful and gave me a good and reassuring response to the query I had at the time. I'll send him a line and see if I can arrange to get the amp over. Big thanks to all of you for your response - very much appreciated guys :)

[walpurgis]

I've used London Sound of South Harrow before. Mike Solomons is a nice chap and he has unravelled a couple of tricky amplifier problems for me in the past, but he is not cheap.

There's also Audioflair (020 8201 9286) in north west London who I have not done business with, but who I have seen recommendations for.

[RobbieGong]

Yeah Mike of London Sounds is a very nice guy from the email correspondence I've had with him in the past. Looking at his sight he looks like a real expert / professor of all things hifi repair related. Unfortunately now I really need to use him he is completely snowed under and wont be able to take a look at my amp for the near future. He kindly passed my enquiry to someone he knows and recommends. I've emailed the guy just awaiting his response. It's a pain being without my amp :(

[julesd68]

I have used Audio Gold a couple of times for servicing without any probs - worth giving them a call for sure ...

[icehockeyboy]

I could ask John Caswell for you, he does all the repairs and builds for WD valve amps and other manufacurers. He's in Wokingham. A good bloke and he won't rip you off.

Is this John who worked for MF?

I did have his number, but can't find it now!

[Ali Tait]

Not sure about that Craig, I do know he used to a BBC engineer.

[chris@panteg]

Hi, I'm gutted - My beloved Technics SU VX800 Integrated Amplifier has gone into protection mode :(. http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/technics_stereo_integrated_amplif_46.html
Could someone please recommend a competent, reliable and trustworthy (Am I expecting too much ? :lol:) engineer in the London area which would be much appreciated :)

I now know how you feel , my Cambridge 740A has also gone into protection mode , I shorted the speaker connections :doh: Not only that the rear brakes on my Mondeo are binding so I can't take it anywhere and to top it off , I've done my back in or a trapped nerve and its agony :( Not having a good day ! I need beer and lots of it .

[RobbieGong]

I now know how you feel , my Cambridge 740A has also gone into protection mode , I shorted the speaker connections :doh: Not only that the rear brakes on my Mondeo are binding so I can't take it anywhere and to top it off , I've done my back in or a trapped nerve and its agony :( Not having a good day ! I need beer and lots of it .

Hi Chris, Blimey poor you. You need more than a few beers or some Tennants Super at the very least by the sound of things :lol: I've been away in Turkey with the wife and kids, had a lovely time in the mad heat and Aqua Park, only got back yesterday. My amp still isn't with someone for repair. Mike at London sounds is overwhelmed with work. He passed my details to someone he knows but the guy is cetainly not the best communicator. If things dont get moving soon I'll try some of the other London suggestions. I'm desperate to here my system and hear some vinyl on my Techie. Hope things are improving with you :)

[RobbieGong]

Update - Been quoted from £250 - £300plus to service and fix whatever has caused amp to go into protection mode, with a years guarantee :( (Didn't expect to hear that sort of figure)

[Macca]

That sounds properly expensive - if they haven't checked it over yet how can they quote you a price for the work? It could be something really simple - a pal of mine once got charged £70 just to change a blown fuse on an amplifier.

[Stratmangler]

the rear brakes on my Mondeo are binding

Is this the rear brakes being locked on when the handbrake is released.
Might just be the cables if it is :)

[julesd68]

Update - Been quoted from £250 - £300plus to service and fix whatever has caused amp to go into protection mode, with a years guarantee :( (Didn't expect to hear that sort of figure)

Yikes :wowzer:

Where was the quote from?

[RobbieGong]

Yikes :wowzer:

Where was the quote from?

Yeah, quote was over phone after a good chat etc. Was a shock for sure. I contacted Mike at London Sounds who incidently is highly recommended by many due to his good repair work and wealth of hifi repair knowledge and experience. Anyway he replied to say he is overwhelmed with work but had passed my details to someone he passes work to when necessary. This is who I have been liaising with towards getting the amp repaired and was told to expect from £250.00 possibly up to £300.00 plus to include repair, service which will include work guaranteed for a year. If Mike passes work to him then I am in no doubt he will do a good job, he also said that he usually comes in at the lower figure of the quotation. Either way I just feel that the figure is very high indeed :scratch: I want my amp fixed :(

[Ali Tait]

Have you tried John Caswell?

[RobbieGong]

Have you tried John Caswell?

Hi Ali, Wokingham would be a bit of a trek although not a million miles away I'm in London so that would be preferable if possible - Do you have any contact details for John so I can give him a shout ?

[julesd68]

Yeah, quote was over phone after a good chat etc. Was a shock for sure. I contacted Mike at London Sounds who incidently is highly recommended by many due to his good repair work and wealth of hifi repair knowledge and experience. Anyway he replied to say he is overwhelmed with work but had passed my details to someone he passes work to when necessary. This is who I have been liaising with towards getting the amp repaired and was told to expect from £250.00 possibly up to £300.00 plus to include repair, service which will include work guaranteed for a year. If Mike passes work to him then I am in no doubt he will do a good job, he also said that he usually comes in at the lower figure of the quotation. Either way I just feel that the figure is very high indeed :scratch: I want my amp fixed :(

I have seen hourly costs in terms of labour for repairs are roughly from 25-50 quid an hour - must be quite a serious repair you need doing but I would definitely get a second opinion. Did you try Audio Gold? Definitely worth a go. Surely there must be some other recommended options in London?

[Ali Tait]

Hi Ali, Wokingham would be a bit of a trek although not a million miles away I'm in London so that would be preferable if possible - Do you have any contact details for John so I can give him a shout ?

PM me your email and I'll pass your details along.

[RobbieGong]

I have seen hourly costs in terms of labour for repairs are roughly from 25-50 quid an hour - must be quite a serious repair you need doing but I would definitely get a second opinion. Did you try Audio Gold? Definitely worth a go. Surely there must be some other recommended options in London?

Yeah, And that's probably half the problem. If it's £50 ph then a few hours is £100.00 before anything else is considered. Will call Audio Gold on Monday. To be quoted £250.00 as a certain minimum without seeing the thing seems very high to me but what do I know.

[John]

John Chunuck of Godstome Hifi is a fantastic engineer and used by a lot of the HIFI shops in the greater London area
Also a thumbs up with Audio Gold They quite geniune going into the shop is like a Aladin Cave but a bit pricy

[RobbieGong]

John Chunuck of Godstome Hifi is a fantastic engineer and used by a lot of the HIFI shops in the greater London area
Also a thumbs up with Audio Gold They quite geniune going into the shop is like a Aladin Cave but a bit pricy

Thanks John, Only problem is I think he's in Leicester ?

[Stratmangler]

Seeing as how the amps in question are Cambridge Audio, has anyone thought of contacting Richer Sounds?
http://www.richersounds.com/information/service

[RobbieGong]

Seeing as how the amps in question are Cambridge Audio, has anyone thought of contacting Richer Sounds?
http://www.richersounds.com/information/service

No ! It's a lovely Technics flagship Model SU VX800 - One of these http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/technics_stereo_integrated_amplif_46.html

[Stratmangler]

No ! It's a lovely Technics flagship Model SU VX800 - One of these http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/technic...amplif_46.html

Apologies.
I know the other one is CA, so my link might prove beneficial :)
Does the Technics utilise bamboo caps?

[RobbieGong]

Apologies.
I know the other one is CA, so my link might prove beneficial :)
Does the Technics utilise bamboo caps?

No idea what those are to be honest ? Just know it's a serious amp, uses professional components ie twin oxygen free transformers and capacitors, huge power supply, lovely clean transparent sound - All a fat lot of good at the mo as Currently not working lol !

[Stratmangler]

No idea what those are to be honest ?

They produced a range of products which utilised capacitors with a bamboo dielectric.
I think they were also battery powered, although I'm not 100% sure about that :scratch:

[istari_knight]

http://www.arklesselectronics.com/ ~ Good guy thats been in the business a long time.

.... May I ask what the amplifier is actually doing ? (or not doing in this case) When you press the power button what happens ? You say protection circuit so I guess the led changes colour... Can you hear any mechanical "click" noises shortly after switch on ?

I'll look out the service manual - I have it somewhere. I must say those quotes of £300 are a complete joke, the Technics although high in the range uses very basic circuits (most of the money went into the PSU ;))

[RobbieGong]

http://www.arklesselectronics.com/ ~ Good guy thats been in the business a long time.

.... May I ask what the amplifier is actually doing ? (or not doing in this case) When you press the power button what happens ? You say protection circuit so I guess the led changes colour... Can you hear any mechanical "click" noises shortly after switch on ?

I'll look out the service manual - I have it somewhere. I must say those quotes of £300 are a complete joke, the Technics although high in the range uses very basic circuits (most of the money went into the PSU ;))

Hi James, Amp is one of these - http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/technic...amplif_46.html
It clicks on but there is no sound anymore. I've removed all connections including speakers, the amp gives the usual click after a few seconds. I've listened through headphones with all cables disconnected, there is no sound of whooshing or air when I turn up through phono. The engineer said this means there is definately something wrong. I gave the amp a good internal clean some weeks ago with compressed air etc. I also gave the switches a little squirt of Servisol switch spray. Problem is my son called me at the time to wish me a happy fathers day and I reached for the compressed air and sprayed while talking to him on the mobile at the same time, only I had picked up the can of Servisol by mistake. It was only a quick blast as I realised the instant I sprayed it. I quickly used kitched roll to absorb where i had sprayed. The amp fired up fine and played great for a week or two then started to cut out from time to time. I can only assume the Servisol may have caused something to fail but that is an assumption as the amp was displaying slight tendencies to cut before but ever so slightly hence I decided to give the inside a good clean as it was full of dust anyway. Thanks for the link re: repair. I'm in London and really have the time to pack it up and send it up to the North East.

[istari_knight]

Okay no worries. I can tell you for a fact that if the relay clicks after switch on the problem is very minor. I doubt the Servisol affected anything to be honest, a quick google shows lots of people with the same amp & fault.

Does it have pre-out/power in connectors on the back ? If so you could localize the problem... If there is nothing coming from the speaker outputs the headphone socket wont work either as both come from the same point (only the headphone socket has dropper resistors.)

You say you've cleaned all of the controls ? Could be worth doing it again as the fault only reared its head after the previous cleaning, some debris could have come loose inside a pot & caused channel drop-out.

Another thing to try is to turn it on, nothing connected apart from a source playing music & whack up the volume full blast then back down again several times quickly as possible now connect your headphones & see.... A relay with tarnished contacts will normally let a few seconds of sound through before cutting out again when the above is done.

Someone on another forum with the same amp/fault & remedied it by "removing the input source knob, tightening the nut that holds it in place and then replacing the knob" followed by "what happens with the knob type selectors is that over the years the nut holding them in place loosens and then you get an intermittent connection" - Worth a try surely ?

Failing all of the above we enter the territory of dickie transistors which requires either fishing around with freeze spray or pulling & testing until the culprit is found.... Best left to someone with experience of repairing amplifiers.

Let me know how you get on & if you want the service manual PM me you email & I'll send it over. Cheers :)

[RobbieGong]

Hi James, I'll give a few things a try when I get some time which wont be til the week after this one now due to commitments - Thanks again :)

[chris@panteg]

Is this the rear brakes being locked on when the handbrake is released.
Might just be the cables if it is :)

Hi Chris , had to have new calipers both sides :( common fault on this model 52 plate .

My 740A is with Richers , being fixed under 5 year supercare . They gave me a 350A as a loan amp , its ok , hope i get my 740 back soon though !

[Stratmangler]

Hi Chris , had to have new calipers both sides :( common fault on this model 52 plate .

My 740A is with Richers , being fixed under 5 year supercare . They gave me a 350A as a loan amp , its ok , hope i get my 740 back soon though !

The calipers were the next component to mention.
I thought I had an issue with the rear offside caliper fairly recently, as the cables seemed to move freely enough.
It turned out to be the cable that caused the problem.

I've usually knocked back the Supercare thing - I might take it out next time I buy from Richers.

[chris@panteg]

The calipers were the next component to mention.
I thought I had an issue with the rear offside caliper fairly recently, as the cables seemed to move freely enough.
It turned out to be the cable that caused the problem.

I've usually knocked back the Supercare thing - I might take it out next time I buy from Richers.

£30 for 5 years cover , glad I took it out now , 1st time I've ever needed it .

If they can't fix it , I get a new Amp or as close to the 740A as possible :)

[istari_knight]

Hi James, I'll give a few things a try when I get some time which wont be til the week after this one now due to commitments - Thanks again :)

Best of luck with it :)

[RobbieGong]

Best of luck with it :)

Thanks James. She's going to someone I know locally next Saturday, who owns an electronics and repair shop. Basically I know I can trust him due to past experience. I'll update further once I've had the diagnosis :)