SAVE MONEY! Skylabs Vintage Stereo Troubleshooting Tips and Tricks! Receiver Turntable Speakers
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- čas přidán 7. 06. 2024
- In this video we share our exact troubleshooting techniques we use every single day at the shop when a piece of stereo equipment comes in for repair or purchase. This video is broken up into chapters so you can get to the information you are needing quickly. Hope these troubleshooting tips help you figure out any issues you might be having trouble with.
If you have a troubleshooting tip that you think would benefit someone, please leave it in the comments! Share the knowledge! Thank you! Kevin
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00:00 Into
02:31 Receiver- speaker drop outs- static
06:58 Digital distortion pulse sound
07:38 Integrated Amplifier troubleshooting
11:26 Speaker test
12:28 Pre out - Main in
17:06 Check fuses
18:46 Multiple sets of speakers
18:41 Preamplifier and amplifier
21:45 Static, pop or hum regardless of volume position
22:34 Amplifier/receivers built in phono pre
25:30 Turntable- do this first
26:40 Turntable cable test
27:55 Turntable low rumble
30:07 Do I need a phono preamp?
31:29 Turntable speed
33:14 Reseat the headshell
35:15 Reverse turntable cables
35:54 Speaker test with battery
38:13 Final thoughts
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I've been back into audio for 15 years and learned something today. THANKS.
Thank you dad for teaching me eletronics as it has come in very handy in keeping my vintage eletronics working
I've been doing hi-fi and electronic servicing since the 60's, but I'm still learning new tips from your videos. Keep up the good work!
I wish youtube was around in the 70s. i really learned alot from you today, i like how calm and relaxed you are. Great job Sir. i will check out all your posts.
Good stuff, I can see a t shirt with wiggle your knobs.
Thank you for the troubleshooting tips. We're learning and many of us are new to hobby.
This is a great gift to the community Iwish youtube was around 25 years ago.
It's easy to overlook mildly dirty and corroded RCA inputs when testing out old equipment as a dropout culprit. A pencil eraser, some fine sandpaper, or whatnot can be applied. Also, about the headshell turntables: the connecting points from the end of the tonearm wires to the cartridge pins sometimes need a little twist or to be recompressed, cleaned, or reaffixed to the tiny wires. I've seen many of your videos, and I really appreciate the recent DIY ones you are posting.
Well thought out video. Excellent! Something I do is also clean the inside and outside of the RCA inputs. To clean the inside I use the brush that comes with women’s mascara with a little DeoxIt sprayed on the brush . They are tapered and work great. Note just make sure the brush is really clean before using them. They hold a lot of mascara residue.
Or use a pipe cleaner.
Q tip as well!
I saw a rcvr on ebay, back side and no jumpers where they ot to be.
The fancy front of Pioneers rcvr is just that! Squinting DeOxit in the slots is more of a minor chance it will work.
I'd say remove top and on top.r 2 screws for front end removal.
Locknuts on pots must be removed. As well as all buttons an knobs. Some or all tuning knobs need an alien wrench to remove. BUT now you are right at the chassis and can spray RIGHT INTO THE TOGGLE SW..
Now is a good chance to clean the tuning dial and glass and replace bulbs as well. Take ur time and take pics at each stage of taking rcvr apart.
Wow! Once again, I learned alot. The most useful 40 min I've spent on CZcams in a long time. Thank you.
Thank Grant. Really appreciate the feedback!
Another excellent video episode ! WOW !! Realistic Minimus 7's !! Used them originally for rear channels. Had to find white ones in the house. Actually had two of them in my '77 Cutlass for rear speakers. Still have the white ones somewhere.
Ha! I run a pair of Minimus 7's in my shop for testing. And I used to own a 77 Cutlass!
Great video , easy to understand
Keep them coming thanks again
Great job, Kevin!
You covered every base that I routinely use. Bravo!
Awesome video, big effort and presentation thanks a million
Great information. I did troubleshooting on electronics in the Navy for 6 years and on copiers and printers for 40 years, and eliminating as many variables like you did makes a huge difference in your final diagnosis. In other words, what isn't the problem.
This is great information. Thank you for posting. Always enjoy your videos and your passion for vintage audio.
Cool tips Kevin, thank you. Always informative and helpful. Your advice has helped a bunch, Loving the channel.
Best vintage audio equipment channel.!! Great context, not overly opinionated, awesome variety of equipment. 👍👍
Very helpful video, thank you Kevin!
Awesome, informative video👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 Love it, keep up the good work!
Excellent video! I really enjoy all your videos but this one was very helpful!
Wow. I love this video. Thank you so much. I would love more on this series.
Great video, it covers most everything you need to try when troubleshooting equipment. You do a great job of explaining how and why as well.
23:00 - 25:30 What a great idea! Thank you Kevin!!!
I think this is an excellent Video to help folks out.. even though you own a repair shop & store.. Thx Kevin!!!!
Great video, very helpful. Thanks!
Absolutely an Awesome video, thanks for sharing all your knowledge
Muchas gracias from 🇲🇽
Very useful informations.
Thank you!
Thank you Kevin, you're awesome!... So many great tips and advice..... This is definitely a great video to bookmark for future use...
Thanks, Karen!
And now I’m walking around twisting knobs and wiggling wires, thanks lol. Good video as always. Troubleshooting can be an absolute pain. My reference system (modern gear, all separates) lost sound in a channel once and I was freaking out for a few hours switching everything around I could think of, finally narrowed it down to a bad connection on one end of a monoprice speaker cable. Pain in the butt but also a sigh of relief.
Great video. Very helpful. Good things to know, especially when it’s getting harder and harder to find a good repair shop. My closest one is about 90 minutes away.
Awesome video, thanks so much for sharing this information. Very well explained for someone who has not attempted opening my components.
Many, many thanks....you saved me considerable time (and money) troubleshooting my vintage Dual turntable.
Glad to help, Barry! Thank for watching
Another great video. Thanks!
I just bought an Eagles album, put it on the platter lowered the tone arm turned up volume only to hear a weak broken up song.
It turned out dirty pins on leads from Tt and outer part of Jack's on back of rvr. A bit of sandpaper on both the Jack's and pins got me back some great tunes back at the right volume. . .no 1 but me touches my Tt or a trusted friend who knows stereo and Tts.
Hello I just wanted to say thanks for your videos. I am a full-time reseller dealing with Leon eBay and always sourcing old gear and although I knew many of your little tips and tricks in this video I also learned a couple. And it's also good to see someone doing exactly what I do on the daily. I can relate. Keep up the good videos even though CZcamsrs are going to pay your bills
Excellent info, thanks !! 👏🏼
Kevin,
I've removed the headshell and cleaned the contacts with a pencil eraser. Very simple and works very well.
Thank you! Jiggled all the buttons and knobs like you showed and got my old Nakamici TA-1A receiver’s left channel working again! Gonna spray the pots as soon as I get some cleaner spray. ❤❤❤❤
From my old ET days checking equipment, observing lights and front panel controls is called "Front Panel Milking" in this example I guess we did "Rear Panel Milking" as well. 😊 Those speakers remind me of Realistic Minimus 7s which back in the day were impressive considering their size.
Ive had slipping/stretched belts alter the consistent speed on turntables. Cheap and simple fix on most brands. Good troubleshooting video.
Good comment about the being sold for parts and checking for preamp jumpers.. I picked up a nice NAD receiver that way for $30 after noticing the preamp jumpers were missing in the photo - figured I'd take a chance and that's all it needed. Of course being a NAD other things need preemptive love to make it 100% reliable.. lol
Good information 💯
Love seeing that SL-1300!
Thank you for the video that helps a lot
Just wanted to say thanks for the tip about turning potentiometers to remove debris etc. I actually didn't use the tip on my vintage hi-fi, but used it on my old Mercedes SL. Figured if it worked on hi-fi it might work on an old car. My gauge lights are adjusted with one and haven't worked since I purchased the car even though it has low miles. Worked it back and forth 50 or so times and bam they started working. That's a tip I won't soon forget.
This is invaluable information. Many thanks! :o)
Great advice for the unintiated, Kevin. Most people have no idea how to do this Really simple stuff.
Last week I changed the input selector switch in a vintage Marantz receiver.
The original switch kept getting worse rather than better with application of cleaner and other efforts.
I didn't count the wires as I took them off and put them back,
but suffice it to say that there are a Lot of them even in a simple stereo unit.
A vintage four-channel would be at least twice as complex.
Such a job demands a lot of care (and lots of tiny labels on the wires) so that everything gets put where it belongs.
My phone is full of photos of wires for this purpose.
@@skylabsaudio
I don't trust pix when doing a job like that. There are wires all around the switch,
and no matter how well it's photographed it's just not the same as labelling everything.
Without pix, I got it right on the first try.
Great video, and yes I have bought 4 good units as parts and yet all they needed was a jumper connection from the pre-outs to pre-ins... or the units just required pressing a reset button Nikko 8085, Nikko 9095, Kenwood KR-7070 and Pioneer SX-6000... Nikko is known for the reset issue... but it is a gamble I also did hit a miss twice.
Good video!
Good video.
Great vid!
this was a big help....thanks. yes i'm a sub.
Kevin, you did such a great job. Thanks for this. To add to the re-seating the headshell.. get a VTA azimuth ruler ($10 or so ) to make sure the headshell 33:19 top and cartridge is parallel w the record surface. If the headshell is at a bad angle, it can affect audio (one speaker louder than other for example) there is a tiny barely visible screw on the base (Technics headshell) you can loosen and tilt the headshell to the correct angle. My 1200gr shipped with an improperly adjusted headshell! You don’t want your stylus leaning on one side of the groove and barely touching the other 😢 hope this helps somebody.
Evry1s got a towel,I hope! thumbs up! Had the same issue,
Suddenly it seemed like a 100 r.r. cars rumblin thru my house!.
Kev, it was almost scary.
Good information. And i need a change in career. So thinking doing this would be a good idea and reselling the good old equiptment.
Interesting. Since I have a small house, I find it easier to find someone like you or Bill Neuman on the tables. Then I spend my time listening
I knew it was going to be a fun one. :)
My favorite integrated amp - Pioneer SA-9100!
This may sound insane, but I have used WD-40 in the past to clear up switches and pods in the past. It always worked great and I never had issues with using it. I even obtained a Kenwood KR-9600. The lights were the only thing that worked. I couldn't even get it to crackle by moving the knobs. I sprayed all the switches and pods with WD-40 and let it set for about a week. When I turned it on, it was as if nothing was ever wrong. It worked perfect. But, with that being said, I now use Deoxit abrasive for switches and non-abrasive for pods.
Excellent content, as usual!
Repeat channel drop offenders on my otherwise rock solid Sansui 7000 are the "Reverse" and "Tape Monitor 1" buttons, FWIW
Thank you!
Thank you for the helpful tip. Much appreciate it so you think once every six months tear my system down, open the cases and use some electronic cleaner despite things down and keep it dust free.
Hey, I appreciate it brother
there’s really nothing like vintage stereos .
I got a
120 Marantz
510M Marantz
3600 Marantz
5020 Marantz
707 pioneer reel to reel
120 audio technica
CERWIN VEGA VS150
It will thump Again, thank you for the hint and the tips
Great advice. How would you test a tweeter for polarity if unmarked? Assume battery would not work. Thanks
Thanks Kevin, you are a very good teacher. I wouldn’t recommend that you change careers, we don’t get paid much in most states and districts but the message and demeanor tell me that you’d be great. Back to the point, a good rule of thumb is to double check your work! Recently I connected a preamp for my new MC cartridge and I plugged it into the phono input and could not, for the longest time, figure out why it (cartridge) sounded so poorly. Also, don’t do two or three changes and not understand that you really don’t know what changed (for better or worse) in the chain.
Thanks! No worries there, my wife is a teacher. I know better, lol
Yup. Never plug a separate phono preamp into a phono rca input in your amp. Always aux or tape in ❤
I have a Tt on a heavy table, it works very well, yet I had way too much bass as the floor was
vibrating about 18 feet away, well I guess the bass was working its way up into the tone arm
and as Kevin said , "getting amped up" the towel trick worked.
One thing I do if an input doesn't seem to be working on one channel, is to simply pull the RCA cable out and put it back in, twist one way and then the other. Sometimes it's just a bit of oxidation buildup on the cable where it connects to the equipment (or where the equipment connects to the cable). That works without even opening the cabinet. My HK 930 turned 50 years old this spring!!! Purchase price is down to $9.00 per year now.
Just had that happen, a blue- ishbtint to.pins on rca plugs. And outer collar of the Jax was funky. An emery board or sandpaper or nail clippers file to clean plugs n jax.
I am amazed how often it is interconnecting cables wow.
Another great video! Question: I have a Technics SA-5170 and I did that dumb thing you talked about where I had four 6-ohm speakers running at the same time. After a week or so the left channel went out completely, the vent above the heat sink got hot and there was a weird smell. How bad did I mess it up?
I've found that old DD turntables that have not been used in years often will not turn, or turn erratically. The solution for all of them was the same. Turn them on and let them turn for 24 hours or so. Sure, I had to start one by hand, but it kept turning.
All of them became rock solid reliable in their speed.
That being said, for my main Turntable, a Kenwood KD-500, I had to de-oxit the speed adjust knobs to get them to work properly.
I have found loose earth wire in the plug causing hum issues also i have found debris like a headshell screw bridging a circuit in that case causing the over heat fan to continuously run. Debris tends to get into top vented units more I have found.
Great video!! Thank you for posting. I have a vintage Sony STR-6800 SD receiver amplifier with vintage Stark Designs SE speakers. The speakers are working. The tweeter will not work on either of the speakers when it is attached to the left side speaker output connection on the unit. On the right side connection to the unit, the tweeter and woofer work on both speakers.
Any ideas what could be causing this?
I bought a receiver on eBay that was missing the jumpers. Great deal.
The funny part about it is they told me they had no way to test it to see if it worked. In other words they knew it wasn't putting out any audio. The joke was on them.
Resolving issues with lower end Technics (and probably other turntables from the 80s and 90s):
If the semi automatic functions won't work (the tone arm won't return it the end or it does sketchy things):
First of all, to help avoid causing a problem in the first ppace, hold your finger down on the spindle when you lift off the platter to replace a belt or do anything else to the turntable (like turn it over to take off the bottom, etc.).
Sometimes, when you lift the platter, it will slide the little gear out of place that was on the spindle. That gear then won't connect to the rest of the gears correctly anymore. You might be able to just push that gear back up the shaft of the spindle a little bit and get it back into place. However, it might also be worn or damaged.
If the the gears inside are messed up in some way, you might need to replace the whole set of gears and the cam, etc. People actually sell them on eBay when they part out other turntables. I have fixed two this way. It's not for everybody but it doesn't take any electronics skills. It's just a matter of removing dome screws and sliding things into place. It helps to take pictures of everything before you take anything out. And then try to be really careful not to bend or break anything else (like this super tiny wires coming from the tone arm they give you your sound).
However, you can still use your turntable even without technically repairing it. You can just disengage the spindle gear from the rest of the gears by removing it or sometimes even just by pushing it down out of the way. Then it is a manual turntable (e.g. you need to return the tone arm after it gets to the end of the record).
There is a gear around the spindle (where are you put the record on). When the arm moves to a certain spot, it causes a piece of metal on another gear to connect with that main gear and start turning a cam inside that moves the arm around and does other things (turn the power off at the end, etc.). That gear or other parts inside can get messed up. Sometimes as possible just to replace that main gear. People sell those on eBay that they have 3-D printed. You have to get the exact one and be careful about how you put it on.
You might ask why anybody would bother doing this instead of just taking it into a technician. It's because turntables from that era are not worth as much as it cost to pay someone to repair them (Hsu I ended up figuring out how to do it myself).
There are some CZcams videos that explain a little bit of what I listed above.
I am happy to walk someone through it if they have a question.
I have a Harman/Kardon 730 that I need to have repaired. Everything on it works just fine, except for the filter capacitors on the right channel. I would attempt it myself, but being it's a monster receiver (At least by Harman/Kardon's standards), I don't want to run the risk of damaging it due to not having the proper tools to work on it.
Last year, I ran into a deal on a late model Pioneer home theater system. It was listed for $50.00 at a thrift store for having no sound. I decided to purchase it and found out the reason it didn't have any sound was the preamp jumpers were removed. I would also recommend trying that for people who want to get a deal on audio equipment.
If ur getting a hum, it's quite possible it's from the power supply, larger caps, size of pill bottles? They get rid of a.c. ripple. .d.c. otta be as smooth as from a battery.
I saw a rcvr like that on fleabay!
I got the KR6030 hookt up.workd goid a few hours then started losing R side... I wiggled vol.and from 10 of on I got my R back. Not crazy about halving vol. Loud to have both sides.
Cleaned off kitchen table an got tools together got a dish for all screws an took pics b4 I started. A good flashlight u can have sitting on table with lite where u want it is great. Straw for can of lectronix cleaner...
So it worked out well. ItcwS a dirty pot.gave a good spray. Worked vol. Control real good, gave another good squirt and worked volume then got her all together with NO dropping a channel. Better off to remove the finished front to get into toggles.
I traded for a good quality set of Audioquest RCA cables and the left speaker wasn't working after hooking up. I found the cap on one of the cables was not tight enough. Tightened it up and all was fine.
I have a Sony PSX30 and a Sanyo Q50 I bought them new in the army years ago. They are in very good shape and I use them now and then ,with my 2 army boxes full of records..I may need a tone arm counter weight for the tone arm on my Q50. I bought that unit over the Pioneers just because Sanyo makes some or most of the parts in the pioneer units back then. I may need a counter weight on the Q50 plus ,I don't remember if I found one or used another ,it seems to rotated very smooth ,,I still enjoy my system,,I sold my Sansui fossil stuff and moved into pro audio Crown LXI 1500 AB amps. 3 of them,The reserve head headroom is very enjoyable on those amps esp on my 4 ohm speakers,,I from the Fort Dodge Iowa area myself ,but moved to Ga 24 years ago because of the winter depressing hibernation in Iowa ,,it's a year around outside situation living here. Keep up the good videos.
I always give my Pioneer SX 780 lots of room to cool. Got my Technics 1600 Mk2 from guy who cleaned all switches, serviced tonearm assembly, replaced 40+ yrs old tonearm plastic gear & small belt for tonearm. My Pioneer 518 just keeps running
Interesting experiment- 4 guys put a turntable into a cheap preamplifier then into auxiliary input and 3 thought it sounded much better than straight into same amps phono stage ,4th didn’t see much difference- might be worth experimenting???
Do you recommend taking the cover off the receiver and using very low pressure from a can of air to blow out any dust accumulated?
I had to take my turntable in last year for speed adjustment; it was a simple cleaning. Tech also cleaned the body and cover, looks brand new.
Great video, enjoy your work.
Better to have hose from vac clnr near to suck up dust.
The battery test was new to me
Nice sl1800my favourite
Jumpers missing is how I got a good deal on my Kenwood KR 9600. The listing said no sound. Sure enough no jumpers in the pic
Had to go to my account to type lol., Awesome that you switched to a better alternative. Looks like a TFV18 with maybe a Lost vape? Looks kinda dna ish from here. Totally made my night. Looking cymbal stands and saw it and then rewinded hahahaha.
Good eye, Evan! Won't ever go back to the marbies.
17:28 ... When changing fuses make sure the CURRENT rating is the same (x.x Amps.) The voltage rating is really not important except it needs to be equal or higher than the original fuse.
Yup sx850's balance needed cleanin' had to remove top n bottom then faceplate. Locknuts behind knobs removed to get to sub front. Screws taken out to pull.out ckt.board enough to get to balance n volume pots.worked out very well. Able to get rid of lots of dust w small brush n vacuume cleaner. Got dust off power tansistors...this took 2 hours but was woth it. phono1 sw. Was sprayed but no better result. It's on another ckt. board. This was a REAL learning experience. I did not take pics while taking off covers, it would have been a good idea.
Turntable damping fluid. It might fall into the realm of "Technician" repair but a lot of older turntables may need to have the damping fluid topped-up. It would be really cool to show how to do this on a 'typical' turntable.
That can be an easy job or extremely difficult depending on the turntable. Maybe see if someone has a specific video for your model turntable- might be surprised
Since jumpers or RCA leads are used to check.use ohm meter to check continuity and wiggle to check for bad or intermittant connection
R side 2nd bass button on ADC 110 Eq when moved a bit past 0 whole R side cut out on me. Removed Front cover and w DeOxit sprayed top n bottom of slider and gave it a good wrkg .
Eq works great now not cutting off at any point w any slider
That is what I had, crackling n popping. A fair hum could be a bad lectrolytic cap in power supply or a bad solder joint or old solder joint for that cap.
Also audio cables near power cables.
I've had to de-oxit the switches and knobs on my Hitachi HCA-75oo, and I still have a little problem with one channel dropping out because of the source selector switch. Problem is the pots are pretty well sealed and I lost the red "nozzle" to my de-oxit. I bought another can with the nozzle. We'll see if that allows me to get inside. I may need to pry off the back plate.
Hi Kev, it may seem like engaging tape sw. Kills the amp but no, it is wanting output from tape deck into the pre- amp. If u have no signal going into the pre- amp well no output thru spkrs, same as putting function sw in AUX with nothing hooked to aux like tape or CD output.
Hi, I have an SX-550 and got an issue with Stereo / Mono button. When I got it it was working fine, then started to trouble shoot and needed to push it to mono and now its mono all the time because when i don't push it, im losing the left speaker. When I play a CD, with Mono on, im 99,9 sure that the sound is still stereo.
Id like very much to fix it. If you've got any clue.
I got broken bulbs too. Bought replacements, both bulbs from Bosch and LED lights (would love to put the Bosch ones) but I dont know how to replace them its not "plug and play".
Thanks for these wonderful videos.
Have you checked the videos about your receiver on CZcams? I saw at least 2 videos titled Repair part 1 and 2.
It might have your answer there. Also, especially for the light bulbs, check more generally. I think for other Pioneer receivers of the same era it would be similar way to replace the light bulbs. At least, it might help you get started. Good luck
Hello Kev, just saw ur " ugly truth about online stereo community" that is a nice Boston Terrrier you have .
I had that happen. A's were SL-15 8 ohms. B spkrs were 6 ohms.amp saw an impedance of 3.4 ohms, that caused an overload. And relay clicked out.
Nice shirt sir...LOL.. I linked this to a FB group I assist with. Hope you dont mind.
Appreciate it!
Where can i get that usb-c to RCA cable adapter?
Possibly the best way to check cables is the multi-meter set for ohms. I use 'gator' clips between prods and cables so I can move the cable and see if there is a bad connection if say the cable was
bent at the plug due to the component being pushed against a wall. a set of cables with an
intermittent break will drive you bonkers.
I have seen receivers with the preamp/main jumper missing. I wondered if some of these eBay sellers take them off to move the receivers faster, knowing that people who know things about vintage receivers or maybe have a few already will notice and buy it only to find out later it has deeper problems.
I was going to take my unit which I replace some capacitor and trimpots to get DC offset adjust. After talking to the tech, I didn’t because he started to get offended that I did what I did. He said why did I listen to all those people on the internet and that my unit was built to last 100 years.
Could include product links in your description? I would like to try products you recommend and you could get commission on sales. 🤙🏽 😊
I have a 70s receiver with new speakers 🔊 the volume is so loud on 1 i cant even have it on 3 and it goes to 10? Do i need a preamp???