You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I've got an old Arcam Delta 60 amp that has had a duff speaker output/ volume control problem for some time. I have to turn the volume up loud briefly for both speakers to kick in.
Often still lose a channel during playback and have to turn the volume up again. Anyway, rather than spend a lot more than it is worth to get it repaired I've got another amp coming, a Delta 290, but it doesn't have the phono stage fitted. Does anyone know if I can extract the board from the Delta 60 and fit it in the 290?
Try spraying liberally (especially the pots) with contact cleaner to see if that fixes the intermittent problem.
Amp that old it is likely:
* Dust
* Needs recapping. If you are ok with a soldiering iron there is probably a video on YT showing you how. Very cheap if you can manage it yourself.
Amp that old it is likely:
* Dust
* Needs recapping.
* Buggered pots.
Drowning in contact cleaner will likely work, for an afternoon. If it does then they need replacing.
Its a dual balance/volume pot on the delta 60. Not sure i could find a replacement.
Does it have replaceable board fuses on the output channels?
My Alpha 6+ does and the Alpha2 before it did.
When both had the same problem you mention, a fuse change solved it.
I did resurrect the 6+ for a stereo build in my home office and although it sounded lovely, it has developed another noise related problem now so bought a new Arcam to replace it 🙂
New pots aren't expensive, if caps were gone wouldn't it just not work?
I'm not an electrical engineer but, through years of playing with audio kit I've found that leaky caps tend to create noise and spurious pops. If they have failed completely I'm not sure as I don't know if they can go open circuit or just loose their capacitance.
Maybe a capacitor failing that isn't in the power stage would have different results.
90% of the ones I've seen with problems have been bulging / leaking caps in the power stage and all of the amps still worked, just poorly.
I was quoted £210 to have my Alpha 6+ restored with better caps but thought it a bit expensive so spent £1100 on a new amp instead.... same logic as bike bits then ... doh....
Why not run the 290 with an external phono stage? Less than £100 and your good to go.
I have a 290 with built in phono stage and it's a fantastic amp.
Thanks @minichops, any recommendations?
Also, do you run your amp switched to integrated? I've never had a pre/power setup before and with my cheapish Linn Index Plus speakers I wonder if its worth it if they can't be driven any better than the 290 in integrated mode.
PP
Phono stage- just get the most basic Rega or Project (unless you want to get spendy , this is hifi after all) . You'll need to plug the phono stage into the mains (straight into the wall, you'll get hum/background noise if you plug it into an extension). Also need a cable from phono stage to line level input on the amp (like CD, tuner or aux).
I run mine integrated. With nowt flashy just some Wharfdale Diamond stand mounters. Sounds great, never past 1/4 volume in a medium sized room unless it rave time. I think the 290 is supposed to be able to drive slightly 'difficult' speakers.
How much you paying for your 290 if you don't mind me asking? Only they can have trouble with the input selector. It's about £150 to get that fixed, including overhaul of any other minor niggles they might find.
Hope this helps, sorry if I've told you stuff you already know!
That's a great help, thanks @minichops.
I paid £159 for the 290 off ebay recently, mine was the only bid so maybe I paid too much but i was assured everything works, including the input selector. I just figured it would be cheaper than getting my 60 repaired. I'd have to pay about £85 just for it to be looked at.
@plop-pants im not very clued up on hi-fi but the arcam 290 rang a bell so i looked back on one of my old threads where i was having probs and took mine apart, even cut a bit up to try and fix a problem.
ive still got the old amp at work i think, my attempt at fixing it didnt work so to all intents and purposes its scrap and ive moved on.
if any of the parts are any good to you theyre yours. have a read of my old thread and let me know if i can be any help. it may be the same problem tho, so i may have cut up the bit you need.....
im a bit pissed at the mo so send me a message or an @ and ill pick it up tomorrow.
cheers
Thanks @sadexpunk, I'm hoping the 290 I have coming is all OK. That said if yours has the photo stage fitted then that could be useful.
That's a fair price if it's fully working. I got my 290 repaired here, input selector was really noisy. Good as new now.
https://www.amprepairservices.com/
my first thought was 'external phono stage', not that I know anything about turntables... maybe something from Schitt et al...?
@minichops. Thanks very much for the recommendation for ARS. Despite the ebayer who sold me my 290 saying everything was working fine, the input selector definitely wasn't. I sent the amp to David at ARS and have just got it back and for all intents and purposes i now have a new amp! What a great sound! Very happy.
ah, good news. id found my old amp at work and brought it home just in case you needed it, ill stick it in the loft 🙂