vintage stereo problem

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: Volvohead
Don't be scared of AK. There's a lot of really nice people there that were once new hands and are happy to help and share. I've frequented there for many years (under a different handle). They have a broad vintage fan base.

Honestly, no offense to the few of us here, but you'll probably get better overall information there anyway on these matters.

I'm with HerrStig, Kruse and a few others here. Vintage is a no-brainer audio bargain if you know what you're doing. For 1980's gear, once you figure out what you need, the best place for generic passives and parts remains Mouser. If you take to a particular brand or era, there are other avenues available to locate the more specialized parts that some need, like dial bulbs, cords and switchgear.

Welcome aboard the vintage train.

You need a forklift to move the paper Mouser catalog, but they pretty much have it all.

 

[Volvohead]

Mouser's catalog is all online now, with real-time stock status. I haven't gotten a paper monster from them in a few years.
More importantly, still no minimum parts charges last i checked.
If you want to buy one 5 cent resistor, they'll sell you just one, for 5 cents (+ shipping).
Or, 10,000 of 'em if you prefer. Crazy Texans.

They still carry most Atoms, certain CDE polyesters, certain Nichicon 'lytics and some carbon resistor types I like. And like you said, about 100,000+ other passives and parts of every type and description, all fairly priced. If they carried more Panny caps, it would be a perfect one-stop for the work I do.

For the old FP cans, AES is still the best. But I don't think the OP is going back that far. Yet.

 

[Schmoe]

You know, it's always been something I've wanted to learn, electronics. This may be the time. I've already got 4 amps around the mid- 80's models and later. Had a bid on a Pioneer SA-9800 II, but for some reason, the vendor pulled it back???? One thing I don't think I'll buy would be a cassette deck, even though I got 100's of those.

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: Schmoe
I've already got 4 amps around the mid- 80's models and later.


Some good amps from the era, although some models were still participating in the power contest instead of an audiophile contest. Whatever, not every manufacturer participated in it. I've got a Bose 1801 that (I believe) has 15 TO-3 outputs per side, 450 WPC, and weighs about 80 lbs. I don't enjoy lugging it around very much.
As noted, clean or replace the volume pots. You might also take a soldering iron and hit the joints to make sure that you don't have a cold solder joint. If you get real lucky, you can find some exact replacement volume pots. Remember that the audio volume pots are not linear, so you can't always replace them just on ohming only. Amps built in this era get a lot of "ah factor" when people see them also.