One of the most common failure points in audio electronics are electrolytic capacitors. Newer gear, even top-of-the-line models, can be manufactured with low quality, poorly made capacitors that can and do prematurely fail. These failures can easily damage other components, including sensitive digital electronics. Vintage gear typically uses higher quality capacitors, but they all have finite lifetimes especially in the demanding environment of an amplifier.

Replacing the capacitors, sometimes called “re-capping,” is the process of removing the old capacitors and installing new, high quality ones that will last for decades. We generally recommend this for most vintage gear that has an unknown history, or any gear that has had a capacitor failure.

• All electrolytic capacitors are replaced using high temperature, long life capacitors matching or exceeding original specifications.
• “Low leakage” capacitors are exclusively used in the audio signal path. This ensures maximum transparency to the audio signal as possible.
• (optional) Capacitor report.

Controls on audio equipment include any potentiometers (e.g. volume, treble, bass), encoders, or switches. These are extremely common sources of distortion, noise, and even complete channel drop outs. Every single vintage piece that comes through our shop that hasn’t been serviced before needs a control cleaning.

For our standard service, we use a combination of techniques to clean and help restore full functionality.

• All controls cleaned using a combination of compressed air and control cleaner

In most cases, our standard cleaning service is sufficient. There are some instances though where these techniques are not completely successful. We offer an advanced cleaning service that employs precision ultrasonic cleaning.

Each control is first cleaned using our standard techniques and then evaluated on test equipment. From there, we de-solder each control and cycle it through an ultrasonic cleaner. This uses high frequency sound waves to induce cavitation in a special cleaning solution that is extremely effective at removing contaminants. The controls are evaluated again and cleaned further if warranted.

• All controls de-soldered, ultrasonic cleaned, and tested.

It’s hard to know if your receiver or amplifier is performing at its top level without precision measurement. Issues that may not be readily identifiable, such as small amounts of distortion from controls or relays, can be uncovered through our rigorous testing procedures that quantify several key data points. Some of our customers just want the added assurance that their gear is performing as the original manufacturer intended. This is a popular choice when restoring vintage gear as we can give you a clear before-and-after comparison to see where improvements were made.

After running these tests, we generate a detailed and easy-to-read report showing how your gear is performing and where improvements could be made.

• Power output measured (in Watts/channel)
• Frequency response
• Noise
• Total harmonic distortion (THD) and intermodulation distortion (IMD)