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In Reply to: RE: Not Worth Rehabbing My Yamaha T-1 Tuner posted by eleiko2@verizon.net on August 27, 2015 at 03:05:24
Unless you can fix it yourself, or know someone in the hobby who can, it is really not cost effective to have any vintage equipment repaired. Electronics are a throw away item, you use it for a year or 3, then you get a new one with the latest features and recycle the old one. Repair shops are few and far between these days and need to charge enough to survive. If you have a component that you like it is worth it to buy another one, just for spare parts.
--Matt
"When you think everything is someone else's fault, you will suffer a lot."
--Dalai Lama
Follow Ups:
I have vintage Gray Research, Fairchild, Grommes, Mac, etc. and all of it is clearly worth paying to get repaired. Luckily I can do a lot of the work on old tube gear, but even if I couldn't it's certainly worth paying $500 to keep a Mc 240 or Fairchild 275s running.
In fact, I'm just about ready to spend over $1,500 getting a pair of very rough Mac60's completely overhauled, including new chrome, paint and lettering. Of course I wouldn't do the same thing for my Yamaha T-1 for obvious reasons.
Ok, yes, VINTAGE tube equipment is usually worth investing money in, as we all know, especially things you want to keep for a long time and use frequently. Still, if you bring it to a brick+mortar repair shop it will cost you as much as the component is worth to restore it, which is fine if you love it and want to keep it forever. MODERN electronics are disposable, and often can't be repaired. Try and get a 1 or 2 year old TV repaired. It's much cheaper to buy a new one with the latest features. Plus you don't even know if it CAN be repaired.
And as far as tube gear goes, I recall about a year ago following an auction on eBay. Someone had a sansui tube receiver and took it to a shop and had a full restoration done with boutique caps. If memory serves, he spent well over 600 on the restoration plus whatever he spent to buy it initially. He tried to get 1100 for it, then when it didn't sell, he put it on again for 900. At the time, working ones were selling on eBay for half that.
I think if you have classic tube gear, it's definitely worth spending the money to restore if you want to keep and use it. You'd spend more money on modern "High End" tube gear and the vintage classics would probably sound better as well.
In my opinion.
--Matt
"When you think everything is someone else's fault, you will suffer a lot."
--Dalai Lama
You're correct in a lot of cases. But one thing to consider is many problems are simple. I bought a 52" flat panel when they were expensive for $50 because it wouldn't come on. The fix cost was $3 and took me about 30 minutes.
This is also too general. Sorry, but I do get your point. There are occasions where a repair of even mid fi stuff is worth doing. We all know most old tube gear is worth repairing. Sansui though is mid fi tube gear unlike HK, Eico, Sherwood and Mac and not all models of theirs.
There are places and certain repairs that are still not expensive and worth doing. Most times in my opinion 70-80's SS mid-fi is cheaper to replace with a used piece of 70-80's SS mid-fi (Craigslist/eBay etc.) and yes there are exceptions.
There are a lot of posts on AA where we cannot generalize and a few where we can. Just goes to prove we need to take things on an item by item basis. I wouldn't have paid $75 for the check out fee on that Yamaha. Our shop had a $50 deposit until 2004 and if you refused the estimate the $50 was not refunded but turned into a store credit. The repair prices the OP quoted were borderline silly.
E
T
I have never seen any Sansui tube gear, but I have a Pioneer tube integrated that is extremely well built. Still, I would not expect it to be very valuable because it is not very well know or sought after in the US. Fortunately I know which end of a soldering iron to hold!
Dave
I like early Japanese tube gear but I'm a tube nerd. I own a few early Panasonic tube AM/FM clock radios too. As you said the resale value is lower on them.
E
T
I have the Pioneer integrated amp and a Lafayette receiver that were both built in Japan. The Lafayette is running and sounds very good. Both are well built. The only downside is I have read that a lot of Japanese gear runs the tubes hard. The transformers are nice in both.
Dave
God thing you posted. I had to run out and get my Marantz 10B off the curb, just as the trash truck was pulling up! It is true that besides best of the best, tuners, like cassette decks are virtually worthless. The good new, is that I always have a stack of extremely good tuners, in case anything goes wrong with my current favorite. My current favorite is a B&K TS-108, which is actually Fanfair. It is just a killer tuner in every regard except for ergonomics, with tiny hard to read lettering and tiny buttons, but it sounds so good I put up with it. However, on deck are a GFT-500 and a Yamaha T-80. I also have a Scott 350D tube tuner that is waiting for me to sink a lot of money into it. My feeling is that if you are fixing it to use yourself, who cares what the market value is. If you just want a decent tuner, go to the thrift stores. I see more tuners than anything else!
Dave
and there are much cheaper guys out there than that quote. Maybe not easy to find but still.
E
T
But there are exceptions. The build quality of vintage hi-fi products is often better than what's been offered over the last couple decades. So, if the repairs are reasonable, it makes sense. This same repair shop "resurrected" my Nakamichi 410 preamp for about $200 in 2006, and it's been worth every penny.
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