|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
69.132.141.143
I am soooo delighted I just had to shareJim had to do a major restoration because a bad repair from an authorized HK repair center resulted in a colossal failure that even HK's Premier repair center deemed unrepairable.
(Sorry about the run-on)Actually, the amp won't ship until Monday. After a little less than two years I can almost hear the extraordinary natural sound that made me flip over this amp.
Thanks for indulging me
BTW does anyone want to buy a ARC VS55 (just kidding)
Julien
"There's someone in my head, but it's not me"
Follow Ups:
Im surprised a current factory authorized repair center would even touch a piece of classic vintage gear like that.Id hang them for what they did but it happens.Anyway you will love your amp when it comes back as I havent found anyone that doesnt drool over a mcshane citation.
Yes it was a bone-head move taking my McShane to a run of the mill HK authorized service center. Even if it was just to troubleshoot a bias problem.If they didn't have the skilled professionals to do the job they should have told me. The damn module swappers
It ended up costing me much more than the shipping I was trying to save
I needed a swift kick in the arse, but I opted for a screwing from the repair shop instead
HK really surprised me by stepping up to the plate and offering to have the amp repaired. (even though they didn't actually follow through)
> > I havent found anyone that doesnt drool over a mcshane citation. < <Only somebody with LOTS of dung in their ears. The citashane 2 is textbook for a mailed fist inside a velvet glove. I'm LUCKY enough to own 1. :~))
Eli D.
NT
"The citashane 2 is textbook for a mailed fist inside a velvet glove. I'm LUCKY enough to own 1." :~))
That seems like a very apt description
I own two more Citation IIs that I want to rebuild with Jim's kits
So far all I've accomplished is stripping the four terminal boards to the brass and have the PS caps mounted in the bracket of one amp.
I only purchased one set of kits.
Julien
"There's someone in my head, but it's not me"
Stock circuit upgraded of modded?
I want to point out a couple things that others haven't touched on:1. I DO NOT alter the basic circuit topography. I can, I know how, in fact I know that Stu (Hegeman) himself was working on one particular change - but the circuit is a masterpiece, and I feel it would be like painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa!
2. I will not make new holes in the external chassis.
3. I do not remove or reduce the amount of NFB. People who do remove or reduce the loop NFB (or the short internal loops) don't really understand the circuit IMHO.
4. As Eli Duttman has said to me, "if Stu was alive today he'd be happy with what you do with his amps". That's the greatest compliment I could ever be paid.
and can attest to the results.Jim discusses all the updates to the Citation on his web site. Each adds clear performance improvement over the earlier stages.
I do not consider these *modifications*, however, which implies changes in the original circuit topologies. Reason here is that he takes the original design and uses slightly larger values of caps in the power supply - due in part to the fact that they were not available for the price points 40 years ago that they are today. Then he improves the grounding scheme of the original production as well as removing problematic parts like the selenium rectifiers that can cause really bad problems *when* they die.
We're fortunate to have a person so devoted to this particurlar series of high quality tube reproduction to be counted among us.
Cheers,
Jim's mods stiffen the PS smoothing caps superior modern parts, replace the coupling caps with superior modern parts, replace the selenium rectifier, add a soft start circuit and greatly improves the grounding schemeI didn't have the outputs strapped for triode or any other changes to the basic design
Julien
"There's someone in my head, but it's not me"
The "almost two years" had little to do with Jim's service.The majority of that time was spent wrestling with the HK authorized repair shop that did the original repair. I E-mailed HK's customer service. After some exchanges they DID agree to pay for shipping and repairs at their "Premier" Repair Center on the East Coast. I can't complain about HK's customer service. They did everything they could(within reason) to restore the amp. Not bad considering that it is over 40 years old!
Jim went above and beyond what any technician on this planet could/would have done!
I've seen it posted on AA that Jim McShane is a "Treasure". I couldn't agree more. Since I just paid the tab he has even more booty.
The great part is that I'm sure it was worth every penny.
Hi,
Those of us fortunate to own a Citation II know their majic is real! You will really love it with the "McShaned" powersupply and the other tweaks Jim does to the amp.
that Jim has on his site and the parts he carries will work on a ton of other tube amps besides the citation 2..I have used his format on my mac mc60s and my mac mc240s and my allen 6550 amps and mc75s I have done and and especially the allens and the mac mc240 respond well to added decoupling capacitance and the 820uf caps he uses in the doublers and a bus bar ground and of course I has my pios but also the inrush limiter kits he has are a good idea to save the tubes and transformers and filter caps..
I've taken a couple of the McShane techniques to my Mac MC-225s and used his parts in a set of MC-75s to good effect.Cheers,
My amp was "McShaned" before the incident.I can't be sure, but I think that's why it sounded so good
I've never heard a stock II
My mistake was where I took it to be checked out for a bias problem
I was appalled by what had been allowed to happen to the amp. It had literally caught fire inside, and the damage was extensive. It had been packaged poorly for shipping too (not by Julien, prior to that), and that caused damage as well. But now it sings! A complete new tube set, power supply, and four new octal sockets (the originals were riveted in to complicate things more) along with lots of cleaning and other miscellaneous repairs, and it is making great music again.The transformers were unharmed by the meltdown. So it was repairable - and it is now repaired. In fact, I'm going to go listen to it right now!
It took a while, but it's ready for many years of great service.
Thanks again Jim for all of the fine work you have performed on my II
"and it is now repaired. In fact, I'm going to go listen to it right now!"That! was cold Jim
;~)
Uhh, ummm, I was listening only for technical reasons. I didn't enjoy listening at all, it was all work... yeah, that's it, it was all work...Gulp...
| ||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: