Repairs: Part 2 - Trade Repairs

          I wanted to talk a bit about trade repairs in this post and how things work around here (Malaysia) and possibly the rest of the world. We do repairs for the trade (re-sellers) and the process is quite simple; they give us a piece of equipment to repair and a budget to work with. Usually these items (equipment) come from one of a few sources:

Second-hand hi-fi galore

• A customer sent it in to be repaired (these are the best as we aren't usually restricted with a budget and can do the best job possible)
• A customer sent it in to be sold but the item is faulty and needs to be repaired cheaply so the customer and the re-seller make a healthy profit each.
• They bought it cheap but there was a fault with it and they need it fixed for cheap before selling it on (these need to be done on a very small budget)
• It was part of the re-seller's inventory and it developed a fault over time. (it has a set budget so they can make a decent profit selling it once its repaired)

Example

Pioneer SA-500 trade repair

          The amplifier above (a Pioneer SA-500) needed a full re-cap. We normally recommend a re-cap for amplifiers above 10-15 years of age. This Pioneer was over 30 years old and still had all of its original capacitors. The owner intended to sell it so they approached a re-seller in the hopes of getting a fast sale. Unfortunately the Pioneer had not been used in years and did not produce any sound when tested.

          This was where we came in. We checked the amplifier over, recommended a re-cap and a price was agreed upon. Initially we were told to only get the amplifier working and not bother with its phono stage as that would go slightly over budget. In the end we decided that the phono stage should be done as well as its a classic amp and chances are it will be used with a turntable. 

Re-Capped and ready to go

          I'm going to go slightly off topic for a moment to sing the praises of this little Pioneer. It pushes out 12W per channel but with a pair of efficient speakers, this small amp has a very big soundstage! Also this was right off the bat so the capacitors were brand new and had not yet settled in. Expecting it to get a lot better as its used. I was actually a bit disappointed to see it go once we had fixed it to be honest. 

          Well, the above amp is a classic example of a trade repair. The customer ended up getting to sell off a working amp instead of a dead one which meant a bigger sale amount. The re-seller stands a chance to make a bigger profit as well. And as for us...well, we're still waiting for the little amp to be sold as we still haven't gotten paid! Lol...till the next one!

          

 

Repairs: Part 1 - You Meet Some Nice Ones & Some Others...

          I want to take this opportunity to talk a little about repair work in Malaysia. Over the past week I've conversed via email with the authorized repairer of AVI amplifiers and had a pleasant surprise when I threw a request to one of the leading sub-woofer manufacturers in the UK.

AVI S2000MI

          First up is Phil of P.G. Electronics in the UK. I contacted Phil via email to ask if he had any literature on an AVI S2000 MI integrated amplifier. Unfortunately he couldn't help me there but he did provide a couple of tips on servicing the AVI. Very helpful individual and a brilliant human being overall. By the way, it costs £250-350 to get an AVI S2000 MI up and running in tip top condition from P.G. Electronics. 


          The second pleasant surprise of the week was REL Acoustics. You know REL, those guys who make those earth shattering sub-woofers, yup, those guys. We picked up a REL Q-Bass earlier in the week. This Q-Bass had been "repaired" previously for the princely sum of RM150. It got a new woofer and some major caps according to the owner...but it started cracking if the volume went past half. 

          Opening up the Q-Bass, immediately we gasped at what we saw. The amplifier's main filter capacitors were dangling off the board with wires and those wires had been covered with electrical tape which had already started peeling off. Imagine what would happen if the contacts on those caps were to touch or touch something else on the board! Another issue was the unbranded woofer with no specs on it sitting in place of the original REL unit. 

REL Q-50 Sub-woofer

         A quick check showed that the original unit was no longer in production and also looking at those dangling caps, we didn't believe those were the correct types. Only way to find out was to get a Service Manual. No luck finding one so decided to give it a go and ask REL themselves. They actually replied saying that the Q-Bass was under the old REL management and they too don't have the Service Manual and all they had was the Q-50 and Q-100 manuals which they sent over! Amazing people over there. Unfortunately, the manuals were of not much help as the Q-Bass uses a completely different design to the other Q-series subs. But anyway, kudos to the people at REL.

          Earlier in this blog I said that I wanted to talk a bit about repairs in Malaysia, well, the REL above is an example of the workmanship we sometimes find in equipment we receive. Will expand on this in a different post sometime in the future with a few pictures for examples.


          Well, this is the end of Part 1. In the next post, I hope to touch a bit on trade repairs. Till the next one!