FOR SALE: Vintage Serviced Restored Hi-Fi in UK - Amplifier Receiver

UK Next Day Mainland typically £19.00

This is for UNINSURED Next Day Delivery by either UPS or Parcelforce 24.
Loss using a 24hr Next Day Delivery is highly unlikely if all Couriers aren't perfect. Damage is possible however well you pack an item, if with 24 hr delivery the risk is very low. If you want insurance, see the prices below which is what Interparcel currently charge. You must decide yourself if you want to pay extra for Insurance.

Insured or Not: We Can Help With Any Courier Damage.
Damage is Rare, if it can happen as any percentages will suggest, eg 5% chance. Insurance will cover Repair to the amount Insured to. No Insurance means 'No Cover' so think if spending Extra on Insurance on your Nice Newly Rebuilt Upgraded Amp, to save £40 isn't always a good idea. Claims Require You to photo the packing as it arrived, to show the damage & whether it works. Repair depends on parts available, on ebay as case related spares etc. You Must Send Us the Amp if you want it Repaired Electrically. No 3rd Party TV tech will understand our Custom Upgrades & we've had one nearly trash a STR-6120 for being clueless. We Do Not Pay Out on 3rd party repairs as it's 'our amp' worked on by another making it 'not ours' anymore, simple as that. If you won't return it, to wonder why it's not being returned. Insured = Damage probably covered if not glass = Insurance Claim & payout = We Repair & Return. Uninsured, we can possibly Repair but It's a Repair Job to be charged to you.

Insurance Is Available, Expensive but Peace Of Mind.
These are the current costs for extra insurance to any UK or Overseas Addresses according how "Interparcel" price & offer. We usually check the current price to invoice as it changes a lot & increased quite a lot more by Nov 2023 compared to only a few months before.
Typical Insurance Levels on Interparcel inc VAT to UK-EU as of Nov 2023... to £250 is £13.80, £300 is £16.80, £400 is £22.80, £500 is £28.80, £550 is £31.80, £600 is £34.80, £700 is £40.80, £800 is £46.80, £900 is £52.80, £1000 is £58.80. £2000 is £99 + VAT = £118.80

We've had Customers for Sales & Upgrades book the Courier themselves to collect from us. This is fine by us, but only to use a known Courier that turns up in a Branded Van, ie Parcelforce or UPS. We don't just hand parcels to some random unknown who comes knocking. If you want Insurance, it is available. For the need to explain how Insurance Works with eg. Interparcel, the only Courier Brokers who offer higher insurance now, the ones who have accounts & big discounts with the actual Courier companies, this is what "Insurance" means. If items are badly packed you failed in packing properly. Our sales pages put the weight of the amplifier before packing & with packing can easily weigh 3kg extra. Because it's well packed by us.

Insurance Will Not Cover Any Glass Breakage. So we'll Risk Assess & have to likely take glass out to pack away from the amplifier chassis. However well you pack, you'll never know if it gets dropped 6ft onto concrete which bounces the insides & breaks the glass. So pack the glass in a 'paranoid' way to ensure it's protected. The fact dozens of amplifier glass have arrived safe before doesn't mean they will next time, so to cover all eventualities.

Insurance Will Cover Loss. But for using 24 Hour Next Day Delivery, the tracking shows this 24 Hour service is rushed through, so no opportunity to sit around. Loss is extremely unlikely, if not unknown. Loss only pays to the Insured Amount or the Invoiced Sale amount, whichever is less.

Insurance Will Cover Damage. If the item is trashed or too expensive to repair, as found using useless Yodel before, Interparcel have it returned to them & they'll pay out the amount Invoiced or the Insured amount, whichever is less. Damage is very rare, but it does happen. This was the last payout for a parcel to Highlands that Yodel messed up with. This was before Interparcel offered Parceforce 'HI' service. Damage only pays to the Insured Amount or the Invoiced Sale amount, whichever is less.

Insurance Will Pay For Repairs. This is the difficult part they hope you'll give up on as it's near to impossible. You have to get an Invoice with a Quote for Repairing the item. Where are you going to get that usually? There are no repair shops that can deal with Vintage gear. But we are the Technicians here, we can give a Repair quote like we'd quote a Customer. We'd price this to be repaired or to show the item is a write-off & Interparcel can have the item sent to them to payout, as did happen with Yodel once. Be aware we only Quote on Insurance Repairs for our own Sold or returning Repair-Upgrade-Service Items for Insurance claims, on Courier bookings we have made ourselves. We'd not accept a badly damaged unrepairable amplifier in to be worked on, our questions would reveal that, if we did get one, we'd just ask you to have it back as it's too far gone. If the item arrives damaged from your bad packing or damage caused on the way to us, then that is your claim to pursue. We do not give free or 'paid-for' Repair estimates so you can get an Insurance payout on your own good is the point of that, to deter scammers. Repairs only pays to the Insured Amount or the Invoiced Sale amount, whichever is less.

Claims We Can Help You With. We can chase up any delays, supposedly missing Parcels as happened with UPS delivering to Amazon in the same town, it took 6 weeks to Recover by The Customer & Us. We need Photo Proof of any damages. We can help to a certain point, but can't go above & beyond an expected claim for Visible Damage.

How To Ensure Safe Delivery.
To only use 24 Hours Next Day Delivery, avoiding Weekends & Holidays. We've been doing this for years. Next Day delivery means the item doesn't sit around, it gets moved through the system efficiently so there is only the tiniest chance of Loss or Damage as it's tracked at every stage. But if you want Insurance, read above.

Risk Assessing When Packing.
All amps will now need deeper Risk Assessing to see what could possibly break. One amp that arrived to us from Europe was badly packed, it has a tuner glass that arrived intact if the amp did get shaken up, overall it was undamaged. We've had the big Yamaha receivers arrive packed just in a box, the base lids needed reflattening by the plastic feet but the rest of the amp was undamaged. To step our packing up even further, without resorting to buying expensive packing, would you pay £10 extra for a new custom box & new custom packing? What will be the most likely thing to break... Glass. To either remove it & pack better protected amid the parcel or to pack it in a way to avoid any chance of hitting metal parts. We've had enough amps arrive badly packed to see how bad packing can put an amp at risk, if it manages to arrive intact. An amplifier being a solid item is capable of heavy handling & still to be fine, after being checked. Certain things like Receiver Antennas and pre-power connectors that stick out are known problems. The fact that the damaged amp arrived safely from abroad & so did another one & it got delivered safely cannot be assumed to be more than 'lucky that time'. Damage on Hifi does occur if packed badly. We've had ones arrive with the amp right onto the side of the box making a hole even after we tell to pack properly with at least 5cm of packing on all sides. The first Vintage Hifi sales by us was the Quad II system them McIntosh Preamps & Power Amp. These all went overseas & the McIntosh buyer suggested the huge glass fascias were removed & packed in boards to ensure no smashing from drop bouncing. These all arrived intact & the buyer has to reassemble the item. If that needs to be done with any amplifier, we will give instructions on how to reassemble which will range from easy to a bit more work, such as in fitting controls with grub screws to hold.

UK Highlands, Northern Ireland & Remote Areas
likely £30.00-£40.00 delivered by Parcelforce HI

Main EU Countries Vary A Lot Now

Delivered by UPS or Parcelforce, Uninsured . Price will be found at the time of ordering as prices vary a lot. See above about 'Insurance'. We Quote Uninsured or Fully Insured.

Rest Of The World

We post to Most Countries. Price will be found at the time of ordering as prices vary a lot. A rough idea for a typical amp sized parcel & weight is £70-£150 GBP. See above about 'Insurance'.

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ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT AMP?
Please ASK away with the EMAIL FORM above.
Nearly all Buyers or those wanting Repairs or Upgrades do Email us first. To ask questions if we think the amp for sale here is suitable or any sort of question. It's True you're sort of Buying Blind as you don't know what the Amp sounds like. Plenty on this site to guide you, so please ask questions. The truth of any Shop or Home Demo is a quick hear tells you nothing. To live with an unknown amplifier for a few days at least is needed, with a few tries. We put amps new to us on our Speakers once Upgraded & Serviced so we can understand how the Amp sounds & have other known ones to compare back to. Generally as our Loudspeakers page shows, Most Amps match Most Speakers, if some don't. Buy an Amplifier or a Receiver? In the era we cover, more are Receivers with a Tuner stage than just Amplifiers. The ones we choose are the better models, with some brands throughout the late 1960s-1979 having higher spec & power ratings in Receivers compared to the amplifier version. Receivers look great with Retro Looks, some Amplifiers can look a bit ordinary. Have a look at our Gallery of Sold Amps to see a wide range. Be sure we only get amps to upgrade that we see as Interesting or are the Best Ones, we're not interested in the Budget type gear as it doesn't upgrade well & risks ICs.

If you are Interested in having us Upgrade Your Amp, or to Buy One Of Ours, Please Ask Your Questions. We're here to help & selling usually involves some back & forth with emails for the buyer to understand further as well as understand what we would be upgrading. No question that leads to a Sale is a 'Silly Question' as we know Buyers aren't born knowing Hifi & we only know what we know by having the Hifi here to fully understand. If you're not sure and might not buy for not asking, then please Do Ask! But we don't know your Hifi, your tastes, your expectations or room acoustics, so please don't ask if it matches with XYZ... we don't know & no-one else will either, unless they just want to smooth talk you into buying something regardless of it being what you require. We can help you choose which one suits your Speakers only by Googling them to have a rough idea of what they are. As said just above. Most Speakers match Most Amps, but not all, especially 4 ohm or "Hard To Drive" ones, see the Blog page about Celestion Dittons being a problem. If you want our opinion of which Amplifier we have most suits your general idea of sound then we can recommend an amp, but leave it to you to read more on it. ↑

HOW TO ORDER & BUY FROM US.
To buy an Amplifier, just order it. The item will be reserved for 7 days, but may sell on the 8th day to a second buyer if there is no contact, as a reservation isn't a guaranteed sale. On higher priced items, a £100 deposit will secure for 14 days. If you change your mind the full deposit will be refundable within the standard 7 days. Any cancellations after 7 days or non payments after 14 days we'll deduct £20 for having reserved the item but got no sale. After the reservation period has expired, the item will be for sale again to whoever wants to buy it, previous reservations having expired. So therefore only reserve or order items if you have the funds ready. Bank Transfer ONLY on Hi-Fi Sales. Paypal "Gift" option available to Known Buyers if we offer it.

Please fill out the ORDER FORM.
We reply with a full invoice with all the expected details on plus transfer details. Our Sales Terms are Not Negotiable. All Sales & Upgrades Are Final, you are not buying to have a Free Home Demo or change your mind, if you want that go to a Street Shop & pay their higher prices. If you don't like these terms, they are clearly stated on this page, then We Are Not For You. But as you can see from the amount of Hifi info on this site as well as many Sold Hifi pictures, as well as the large Vinyl 45s stock that we are Responsible Sellers & are here to help. Read this page fully to see. We must also cover ourselves against abuse & scammers too, so no ebay or Paypal as these rules are for our benefit too & it works well. All transactions have a full 'paper trail' so buying from an Established Seller like us is no different to paying by cheque like was how trade beyond Cash was done in the early days of Hifi Mail Order. Similarly if you want us to Upgrade Your Hifi, the dealings are the same. ↑

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WE WILL CONSIDER VINTAGE UK VINYL FOR TRADES FOR HIFI OR UPGRADES-REPAIRS.
You can see the sort of Vinyl we deal in. The Rarer, More Wanted & Obscure End of UK 45s & EPs. We aren't interested in scratchy Beatles 45s, LPs or average stuff that's common on eBay for small change. We are interested in good 1950s Rock & Roll, R&B, Blues, Doowop. Early 1960s Popcorn Teen. 1960s Northern Soul, Ska, Mod & all types of 1960s Beat & Psych 45s. The Obscure, Rare & Interesting, similar to what we sell. If you have Nice Stuff to Trade, we can do a deal.

• HIFI CURRENTLY FOR SALE •
Click the Links for More Info and lots of Photos
Please use the Order Form for Ordering Hifi Amplifiers

- HIFI WE SELL is Recapped & Upgraded as too aged to be USE DAILY, Our Aim.
- See the HIFI NOW SOLD page for loads more Amp photos.
- See the VINTAGE HIFI REVIEWS page for how we Rate many amps.
- All Hi-Fi we list for Sale is Owned By Us, none are sold on Commission.
- Prices Do Get Updated, see the Item Page.

Notations here: "For Sale" means it is currently For Sale. "Reserved" means a person has ordered it and the invoice is sent, if payment not received. Once the item has been paid, the Item Page is marked 'Sold' and the item is removed from this page, if the Item Page as linked on the invoice still exists still for the buyer to see.

The Amps We Sell Below are All Serviced, Recapped with Upgrades.
This is way ahead of what Anyone else is currently doing in Hifi, so we'll be Modest & call it OUR STANDARD UPGRADED AMPS. These amps if you came to us to Rebuild one for you could cost more than Our amp, for the reality of offering amps to Sell & the current market we're selling into, ie one that's very Interested in Rebuilt Amps, if still who else offers this? Then come CUSTOM UPGRADED AMPS. Actually the Standard Upgrades are still Custom, but here we mean Amps We've Upgraded Further, as in for Our Own Interest. Sale Prices Do Not Reflect The Work Put In, if what we learn on Getting The Best from these Amps is what we put into Standard Upgrades to a degree. Amps we've had a while, years perhaps, to see How Good They Can Be. These Amps are ones much tried & used by us. These do get Sold as we don't collect amps if do keep ones to use as well as Favourites to Swap Around & then try to better them. The ones we offer as Custom Upgrades we've done as much as we want to with, without making them too Custom. To Basically Describe What's been Done, Why It's Better is what the below will show.

AMPS Pictured BELOW are FOR SALE. Once Ordered we put Reserved & then Remove once Sold. The Sales Page itself stays for a while.

HIFI SALES.

~~ Sales & Coming Soons last updated 7 Apr 2024 ~~

FOR SALE: £895.00 GBP
1973 JVC 4VN 990 amplifier ↑
4x 35w, 2x 88w. Actually reads 56v Clean Sine as Bridged which is in the 180w range! Great Sounding Amp. SUCCESS!! JVC messed up the SEA by making it too loud so Noisy esp on the 1kHz middle control. We have made ours Very Quiet Now, not silent but few amps until later are. All done after far too long for any amp not to get sidelined. But it sounds so Great it stayed. On Headphones it's Loud at 3.5 so the Volume level is right. Best we can get it & now at last sellable. Meters we fitted LEDs in a Custom way to match the bulb brightness. Loads of upgrades in this. Relay clicks on after 20 secs. Another "Best One On The Planet" amp, no-one else has sorted the SEA noise & it's a rare High Power amp. Clean Precise Phono stage. RECAPPED & UPGRADED with Redesign & Sounding So Great. REPRICED as it sounds great on 95dB Speakers if with a slight background noise that you can easily forget about in Daytime if may show at 2am. A Minor Click on Relay turn off seems typical on some 1972-73 amps. Grab A Bargain.

FOR SALE: £850.00 GBP
1971 Trio-Kenwood KR-6170 Jumbo receiver ↑
33w. We've Upgraded & Redesigned this a Lot to get what was Quite A Modest Sound into something Extra Good. We've Now Tuned it to match Tannoy Golds so no more Lumpy Bass. Now Sweet Bass, Very Clean Midrange & Crisp Treble. A Ton of Work in this even to Service & Get Working. Kooky Amp with all the Reverb & Rhythm Generator working. Sounding much like the Pioneer SX-2500 but at a Nicer Price. RECAPPED & UPGRADED with Redesign & Sounding So Great.

FOR SALE: £395.00 GBP
1978 Marantz 1050 Amplifier ↑
Surprisingly good 25w amp, much like the 36w Marantz 1072 we had recently. This one in nice condition & a better sound than you'd think. All works great. No ICs in this amp which is Rare by 1978-79, All Transistors. Typical Marantz amp width & height to fit the Wood Cases you can buy online. RECAPPED & UPGRADED.

FOR SALE: £795.00 GBP
1966 Pioneer SX-1000TA Hybrid Receiver ↑
40w mainly Transistors. This is a Rare one, the FM Tuner Front End with a Valve & 2 Nuvistors gives a very clean open sound even on Compressed FM Pop stations. The Rest of the Amp is Silicon Transistors, Great Clean Solid Crisp & Rich Sound, sounds great on speakers & Headphones. Quiet on Turn-On & In Use even at 3am quiet. Earlier design than the 1967-69 similar 40w-50w receivers Pioneer did. A Great Buy. Recapped the Tuner HT Caps too, custom design. Valve & Nuvistors in Tuner great sound, they work on lower voltages 100v & 120v. RECAPPED & UPGRADED.

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COMING SOON section...
This details Amplifiers & Receivers we will put for Sale once ready. These are works In Progress with Prices often not decided right until the Photos are done to sell the item. Our Reviews page "Recent Additions" covers new amps we get for ourselves plus amps owned by Customers to upgrade. Only once they get put Up For Sale can you know it'll be up for sale.

IF YOU WANT A REBUILT VERSION OF AN AMP WE'VE GOT ON THE 'SOLDS GALLERY' YOU NEED TO BUY ANOTHER AMP & GET US TO UPGRADE IT. WE DON'T HAVE A HUGE STASH OF REBUILT RARE AMPS.

*COMING SOON...?
See the Review Pages for more Info. These are in line to be put for sale. We're doing Customer's Amps which keeps getting our Sales ones ready slower.

THESE ARE **NOT FOR SALE YET**
Only once on the Sales page with Photos, Price & Description are they ready to go... No Reserving as You don't Know what it'll be or Priced at.

1962 Lux (Luxman) HQ32 valve receiver This one will be sold "As Original", not as Rebuilt or Working. 100v Japan only model with Japan FM range. Be nice if it went back to Japan to be rebuilt & used, shouldn't have come to the UK really as Not Compatible for Mains or FM. To Be Sold as pictured, we can show it working with 120v if not to use it always on 120v. One we can Rebuild at a Cost if required. Great 1962 looks. Complete Amp for fittings & buttons. Amp Circuit on the Base Lid. Retro Style & the First Luxman Stereo Receiver made in Sept 1962. FM MPX output needs a decoder.

1973 Trio-Kenwood KR-8340 receiver (Trio) 4ch quadraphonic or 2ch Bridged Stereo. High Power model in 2ch. One we're rebuilding, had one before in 2019 & finding this a quality amp with the Preamp-Tone-Control boards not so easy to Upgrade more as not easy to get to. So Rebuild it & Sell it on. Impressive looking unit. Has the Rare 4ch Decoder too.

1971 Sony TA-1130 Amplifier 65w. Great Sounding Sony even as Original. This one to Recap shortly, probably one to sell.

1968 Trio-Kenwood KA-4000 Amplifier & matching Tuner (Trio) This one is before the KA-6000 & seems a better design as First Designs often are. Got the matching Tuner same one as on the 'Solds' page with a KA-6000 we had years ago.

...plus others not started or decided on yet. See the 'Reviews' page for ones we've got if some are-were Customer's amps. Keep Watching...

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HELP & ADVICE FOR BUYERS.

Do you Know How To Use An Amplifier?
It may seem obvious, but we do get questions that show buyers don't understand how to use Hifi. No-one is born knowing, but if you go to websites you can get Free User Manuals that show you how to use the item. See below for a lot of advice based on Questions we've had on selling Hifi before as it'll sort out all issues, beyond user error. If you find anything you are not sure about... ASK US rather than stumble ahead & damage the amp.

On First Getting Your Amp...
It will be well packed to avoid damage, so just check the box is undamaged when you sign for it. If the weather is cold, it can get cold overnight where the amp has been, you need to Allow It To Warm To Room Temperature before using. If the metal is as cold as milk in your fridge, which is about 2°-5°C, let it sit for an hour in a warm room before plugging in. Room Temperature is about 22°-24°C. Learn the controls of the amp, some are rotary or press buttons if some use levers for various modes & options. If using a Turntable, you must connect the Ground Lead or it makes a high pitched un-earthed sound on Phono. For Tuners, you will often need an aerial to get FM Stereo, anything from a cheap T-shaped antenna to a rooftop one. Do not expect noise-free FM Stereo without one. AM/MW is easier as usually an amp has a built in or externally fitted antenna. Do not turn on the amp before you connect input sources or speakers. Do not risk bare stranded wires tightened onto a screw connector as stray strands usually forms which can damage the amp by shorting it. Sometimes the amp gets a bit shaken up in transport, if it seems a bit less than it should, unplug it from the mains, operate all rotary, push button or levers ten times fully, as in a full turn of a rotary control. This will generally solve any minor issues with these mechanical controls. Any other things you aren't sure of, please ask.

Be careful using Upgraded Amps on first turning them on.
Amps in original condition then & now are usually turn on & use right away. This is because the spec is low so things settle quick. Most looking to buy Vintage will know of the wait until the Relay clicks. The amp does this to check voltages have settled & there are no major issues. It's not a catch-all & problems can still occur, if usually the Relay goes off & it needs repair. On older amps pre 1971, there are rarely relays, if the 1965 Sony TA-1120 has one, never found a relay pre 1971 otherwise. Again for low spec these turn on & you can use them with no particular problems. With some amps as original the Volume & Tone crackle in use if after 1-2 minutes they are quiet again. With Upgraded Amps you have much higher spec. The amp will need more time to settle before you can use it. With Relay amps we sometimes have to adjust the delay before it clicks on. With earlier amps that have a 60v-105v main + voltage, not the + and - of later amps, it can take 1-2 minutes for voltages to settle. So if you have bought a pre 1971 era amp, you must let voltages settle before altering volume or tone as it can make noises. These usually will be of no problem to the amp, if it may worry you as it made an odd noise. We've written this as non-tech as possible, if the basic idea is, let it settle for 1-2 minutes before you use the earlier amps that don't have relays. It's like letting the Car warm up on an icy day waiting for a Tea Bag or Leaves to Brew, or letting the Valve Radio warm up before it plays sound. If you want Instant Use then go buy low spec modern gear. After 2 mins the amp will be fine in use as it will be ready.

Our Guarantee is written in all these pages.
We know our stuff in Hifi Amplifiers. We fully Service & check every amp fully. All the amps we sell are Upgraded to a certain degree and are fully tested. We've sold nearly 200 amplifiers now & as with anything, people don't understand, which is why the long Help section is below. Most buyers tell us of how they like the amp & are delighted of the quality of goods & the sounds made, as our pictures show. If there is any Genuine Problem, we will sort it out, but having checked & fully tested the hifi, this isn't going to be an issue. We are Responsible sellers, but we know all the tricks too & won't tolerate it. We tell those who are insincere that "We Are Not For You" as we don't want to sell to someone with difficult ideas & most sales of Hifi are made after some email chat, which tells if the buyer is genuine & understands. All Sales Are Final, you are not buying for a Free Home Demo. Our sales & review pages are honest verdicts on amplifiers as you can see with over 200 amplifier reviews on the two reviews pages. If you like our 'No BS' take on Hifi, you've not read pages like this before answering the unanswered questions, then odds are you'll love the Hifi we sell. After all we only pick Hifi we like to try & we'd not bother upgrading an uninteresting amp. If you don't understand, go to Amazon & spend your money on some new thing as... We Are Not For You. But we may be later as you want more out of Hifi, we've had buyers who came back a time later having learned more about Hifi.

All Sales Are Final, you are not buying for a Home Demo
All Sales are Final is the only way to trade with Vintage Hifi. There are sadly scammers out there, ebay especially, who want to steal our upgrade ideas & other sellers tell us of those who steal spare parts & return the rest as well as those who damage items who then expect to be covered for their error. Also those who think a sale is a free home demo, this is a little rude, you can see our terms of sale & to make up your own rules without saying anything isn't acceptable. If you asked for a free demo-sale or return or any other dreamer ideas, we'd refuse, it's clearly stated. Your only option is we can relist it & you deal with the sale, or you list it on ebay linking to our sales page. These rules are not negotiable & by placing an order you agree to these terms. We are here to sell very fairly, but not be taken advantage of. If you want Free Home Demos, make a deal with a shop & pay their higher prices, not that you'll get our upgraded quality anywhere, or go buy from Amazon who do let you do this on new goods. If you aren't sure you want any item, Do Not Buy It until you've emailed us about things or are happy with our sales terms.

Our Hifi may be 30 to 50 years old...
But for the work we do on these amps to make them good enough for daily use, don't let the age put you off. Many pieces of furniture 100-200+ years old are in daily use as being Well Made is the deal with earlier goods. In Hifi the quality started to dip past 1970-71, dipped further by 1978-79 & most modern gear is the quailty of early 1980s-1990s gear & some high priced gear of today is not what the price suggests either. In getting our Hifi, some need a lot of work to be good enough to sell, but as anyone buying Hifi on ebay even from Dealers, the item you get can be in high grade or a laughable mess that never worked & be sure we've had those. But our skills in electronics, electricals & general repair of any item, talents of older generations, will get pleasing results that surprise us even as we'll fix anything until it's too far gone. Some we get "Oh my God what a mess!" but clean it, tidy it & done right an attractive item is often not so far away. Some appear risky to use, but with the work done & much testing, reputations of items can elevate & the 'as arrived' issues fade away seeing & hearing the revived gem. You see this on History channel TV shows like "American Restoration" & "Counting Cars" & we do a similar version of their ideas with Hifi & have been long before these TV shows.

All items are Vintage items sold with No Warranty & No Guarantee.
But be sure we only offer Quality Goods fully checked, used & tested by us first, so we are confident with the item to be offering for Sale. They are Vintage Items of 30-50 years old & as with any Vintage item a fault may occur at any time if it's still running on original parts that are known to be weak points. Our checking & servicing is intense to find problems & resolve them, we'll only offer an amp for sale we are happy to trust on our speakers & leave on running in for hours. See our detailed pictures, we confidently show our work so you can see We Do Quality & many other Amps oin the 'Solds Gallery' show similar. We know weak points in Hifi & will replace anything we see as failing or know the odds of failing. To test each amp for the Power Ratings page as well as write it up on our Top Amps page proves how well we test our Hifi. Some amps we'll have used ourselves on speakers for weeks or months, as we swap our amps around on speakers to hear the differences in design between them. The typical "Oh It'll Do" ethos isn't ours & to do it properly is the way, especially seeing bad old TV-Repair Guy repairs that are not to our standard. We'll rebuild the power transistor stages if the wiring looks messy as it's not good enough for what we'd happily use ourselves. All Hifi we get is done to a standard that perhaps we'd keep it as a Reference for a while as upgrading can reveal hidden gems in Hifi. If after reading much of our site, you'd still rather buy unserviced aged hifi to get a 6 month guarantee, then we are worlds apart & we aren't for you & will tell you this.

The 'No Guarantee' doesn't mean you buy & that's it if you get a problem within a week, we are here to Help because we want happy customers, if we are aware some are never happy however much we try as they don't understand things. We do not cover user error therefore but if you are honest about it, we'll repair it for you at cost. If you don't like our Terms of Sale, please don't buy & then think you can tell us what to do when you've damaged it. We don't offer any Guarantees simply because we've spent a lot of time making sure the amp is right as Quality Work done as Standard with our Hifi is worth far more than a 'hope for the best' short guarantee. Read our pages to see what we know & be sure we've checked your potential buy similarly.

We know the world of Electrical Goods, a 30 day warranty one offers covers their costs for not bothering to service or check it out even, will it last 60 days? Did one you had before go bang & start smoking? Nobody experienced checked it is why. Many offer a warranty on work done, so if their low-skilled work fails it's covered, but shows they never used it for hours to be more confident. If a buyer believes any guarantee covers the whole item that is 30-50 years old, it's like with your Car: your new clutch guarantee doesn't cover the gearbox or a dead bulb & you'd not expect it to, right?

We pack Hifi solidly to arrive safely. If there are any Courier issues as they can throw things about, we can sort things for you, but how & what will be dependent on what has happened. See the Delivery & Insurance section for more. On Repairs, Servicing & Upgrades this differs slightly. We only use UPS & Parcelforce who are usually very good with Hifi. Any minor issues we may sort out for no extra cost, this is dependent on what the issue is, but any delivery & sending costs are those of the Customer, after all we've packed your item to arrive safely & tested it fully, giving you the details of the item we see before packing up to return. Be sure we'll not hastily return any amps we've worked on until we are satisfied they are reliable & would be expected to be trouble-free. As the Courier is the one delivering the item, we are not liable for Courier damage beyond what you paid Insurance for. We will reuse your packaging & reinforce it if we see it needs it.

A Guarantee or Warranty isn't a free ride if you do get one anywhere: you pay for it like Insurance is. Buy a TV & pay £xxx for a 5 year Warranty & if it goes wrong 5 years & a week later, tough. If you want to pay us extra to get a Warranty, then we're not into the Insurance game. We are not responsible for User Error on goods we know as working correctly & fully tested as advertised & will not offer to repair user error items, please source your own repair service. Please read our pages & you'll see what you'll be getting with Hifi we sell. Then realise you don't need a warranty. If you really want a Warranty, go but Modern Audio Gear that is made to be disposable, sounds awful & your 2 year Warranty will be a sad memory once it's unrepairable after 5 years. Our Rebuilt, Recapped, Serviced & Upgraded amps you should get many years of quality use from.

Buy A Warranty or Guarantee?
Not from Us. You'll have seen the dodgy 'Square Deal' warranties that used to be on ebay but now have vanished with 'Collect At Argos' their latest corporate deal. Square Deal years before used to offer a 'scam' to remove feedback, would you trust their Guarantee? Now we could offer a 2 year warranty for £300, similar to SD's scam, but the list of exclusions would be very long, as you'd expect. To take money on a Warranty, that 75% of those who believed it was Protecting them but either never used it or weren't eligible, is so anti-our-ideas that we'd rather say get it on your Household insurance & claim that way. We know people are careless & trash the amp in the first hour of having it, we know no-one reads anything or takes the time. We know people think they are Protected and Cared For so they don't have to think anymore or take responsibility, but don't you believe it. This is how your Mobile Phone works: there is no book anymore as no-one uses it, you may just stumble through things & maybe look online if you get stuck. This way means you never find out what the Phone does unless you reel through every menu & spend time understanding it. If you had no Warranty & dropped your Phone on the pavement you'd not expect to be covered, unless you bought Damage Insurance. There is no free ride unless you pay for it. We make sure our Hifi is right & would we gamble our Tannoys trying out unreliable Hifi knowing it could damage them? No we wouldn't.

We deal by Email & Mail Order Only.
No Home Visits, No Home Demos, No Trade-Ins, No Cash deals on the Doorstep. Pay by Bank Transfer & we'll deliver by UPS or Parcelforce 24 is how we deal. On higher priced items a Paypal Deposit will hold for 14 days & will be refunded in full once the Bank Transfer is paid. Any Deposit is returnable in full within 14 days of a reservation, even if the Order does not complete. If we have to cancel a sale after 14 days for non-completion, a 20% deduction may apply based on us having possibly missed a sale once marked 'reserved'. If we had a Street Shop buyers could Demo the items & we'd charge a lot more, but having tried new item Demos ourselves, you rarely have much idea if it's good or bad which is why we had & got rid of those Musical Fidelity fast. We properly photo & describe items fully test & use all our Hifi to negate that, as we do with our Record sales by checking each item before posting, as it might have been in stock for some time. Our Record Sales we use ebay as a tiny sample of our stock, the days of listing a larger amount items is gone as ebay doesn't generate much sales as you'll see now by many other sellers forever relisting. For us, ebay is fine for under £100 sales if you send it Trackable. We've not Auctioned anything on ebay for ages, beyond some Classical LPs we were comissioned to sell. We always use Buy-It-Now as we can set our prices well. But we only sell our Hifi here.

If you Damage it because You Are Careless...
it is totally your responsibilility, as with anything in life you've not paid Insurance on. It saddens us that people buy premium Hifi we've spent hours on & have fully tested to be good before selling yet it is instantly trashed by a careless person. This is alarmingly often too, people rush in desperate to hear it without taking care in connecting things properly & there's the damage. The usual way is they short the outputs & within a second the amp is damaged. Also if you plug a freezing cold amp in without allowing 2 hours to warm up it can get condensation inside & damage too as water conducts like cable does. If the fuses don't blow & the relay clicks in still, the sound will be distorted on speakers, but sound ok on headphones as the headphone circuit doesn't draw much current unlike the speaker which is connected directly. See, we even tell you here what you've done as this issue is so common. Because of Human Nature being to blame others for your failings & not take responsibility, our policy is simple: you prepay us to repair the output transistors & we'll fix it for you & send it back. We'll give you a damage report & if it makes you feel stupid, then that is good as you will have learnt the hard way to take more care. An alternative is we'll tell you the transistors to get & tell you basically how to do it, any work you do naturally is your own responsibility & we'll not give step-by-step instructions to those who don't know what they are doing. If you choose to force the issue & return it we'll repair it as a fresh job deducting our costs from the price you paid once we resell the item, priced as parts plus labour to repair, check & retest at £35 per hour. If the item is unrepairable or you've stolen parts, you'll just get it back. We know all the tricks people try. As stated above we offer No Warranty & No Guarantee beyond the fact it has been professionally serviced, upgraded & thoroughly tested by the same person who writes all these pages about hifi. If you still think because you damaged it that we've not tested it fully on speakers as well as rating it on our Power Ratings page and Top Amps page, then you shouldn't be buying vintage gear. The right thing to do is Ask Us if you are unsure about anything. A Stupid Question to you is a Good Question to us if it stops you getting into problems.

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After Sales Help & Advice we do offer...
We've sold quite a few Amplifiers & receivers now. Since having put our pages online buyers understand Old Amplifiers better which makes selling easier, but we have written this as advice to help things along & it appears to have worked very well. It's how most people are, if someone doesn't understand, they'll blame first, so we tread gently as Egos can easily be bruised. You may feel insulted your item "isn't working right" and we may feel insulted "that you doubt our Qualified workmanship", so it works both ways. Educate yourself or stick to buying new items instead.

Buyers not familiar with these "traditional" Hifi items do need to take the time to learn what their item does & to check the inputs they use are plugged in correctly and are working. We request you let us know your issues & as we know our subject well, we can usually sort it for you, if this page hasn't helped. If you need our help, be nice in your messages for best results.

See the Delivery & Insurance section above for our current details on Couriers.

If you have something you don't understand, describe in detail what you are hearing or noticing. Even in everyday terms, we can understand what the "fault" is & we'll point you in the right way, be aware as we service, repair & upgrade Hifi we know every fault there is & can usually tell very quickly exactly what caused the issue in amps we get. Other "faults" you'll encounter as we do, simply as you're not born knowing an amplifier, you need to learn it. You can get free user manuals if you search online.

As you may imagine dealing in vintage electrical goods, even to the very high standards we reach, there are those who will think despite all we write & claim, think we are wrong and them, unqualified & trying the old bluff, are right. Us being good with the words can talk down a jumper on a clifftop so it's not hard for us to convince the non-believer into agreeing we're right with being able to prove the cause of their issue which on being given a direct response can deal with it, some just quietly fade away unable to admit they were wrong, human nature. It's all a part of Customer Service so we should expect this and we do so even if we get someone directly saying "I consider the work you did to 'xxx' has done 'xxx' and it wasn't like that before..." then we need to explain to them what service or goods they have bought, how we tested it & ran it in & give them the hints lower down the page, as they never read them before blaming. We'll think they are rude but to ignore the bait & calmy reply is the way to deal with an awkward customer. For this sort of reason, we will not offer Guarantees or Warranties as the easy-claim-blame eBay culture has made selling very hard. Hifi is a sealed box to most people & as with cars if one part unrelated to the failed part was repaired, they think the whole item is guaranteed. We don't deal in BS & we won't take it either, you don't have to deal with us, but you'll be glad you did.

These Help items will solve all your issues & we are here to help, but once a customer gets hostile, demanding or threatening, do not expect us to put up with that, so be nice, leave out the accusations as you will always get further by editing your replies to sound mellow rather than aggressive.

Shaken Up By The Courier?
The way parcels go through the system means we pack the amp to protect & cushion it, but it could still get shaken up a bit, if not damaging it. Vintage Amps are strong items & having had ones well bashed up by the cheaper couriers, most survive even if the outside is marked. If it might have just got shook up a bit by the courier, leave it switched off & go through all the controls switching several times & doing full rotations of tone volume input etc. Lever switches especially seem to get this issue as they rely on a soft touching of contacts, rather than the more substantial older rotary selectors.

Been Out In The Cold?
We'd assume buyers would know to let a freezing cold electrical item sit for an hour or two to warm up to room temperature before using. This is because it's been left in an unheated warehouse or vehicle in the colder weather. Condensation (water) forms & water + electricity aren't good. We get amps arriving half frozen & they cloud up with inside humidity, but 2 hours later they are fine again. Turning an amp on too early when it's clearly very cold outside is not recommended.

Upgraded Amps Need To Settle Voltages Before Use.
This is explained in the above "Help" section. It takes 1-2 minutes to get the Voltages to settle. So using Controls may bring up Noises or Crackle if you try to use it too quickly that aren't there just shortly after.

Only One Channel Works Now!
It worked, sounded distorted then no more! Assuming you've got everything plugged in correctly, you may have commited the Cardinal Sin in amplifiers: shorted the outputs together. This sadly is the most common user-based fault. Some amps with protection circuits will warn you by cutting the sound, but generally the output stages will be damaged & need repair. Just ONE STRAND of errant wire can do this. Zero resistance & current increases to destroy the output transistors. Check for blown fuses on Speaker fuses or the entire amp. Take care & you'll be fine.

It Works On Headphones But Not Speakers...
If it plays on Headphones then the Power Amp is fine. You'll not have blown any Fuses & the Inputs will be correct. Your Fault is your Speaker Cables may not be properly connected, a spring connector isn't correctly wired up, a plug on the speakers came loose. This is one you can investigate & remedy easily.

The Amp Gets Very Hot & Makes Funny Noises
We mention this above, about Older Amps only being Suitable for 8 Ohm speakers. See above with PRE 1970 AMPS ARE BEST SUITED TO 8 OHM SPEAKERS. If you use 4 Ohm speakers that can be marked as 4-8 Ohm, it can't be 2 values, it's 4 Ohm. The Amp "complains" by getting hot etc as you are Overdriving It & are sort of on the edge of trashing it by pushing it too far. Either use different Speakers or add a 4 ohm resistor to the + side of the speaker cable, you don't need to add two, as one makes it 8 ohm, two makes it 12 ohm. We now mark all amps as Suitable for 8 ohm speakers only to cover this. It means not all amps & speakers match well.

The Amp Has No Bass and Sounds All Phasey!
This is because you connected the speaker cables wrongly. Most amps are with connectors + - - + but some are different & you need to look closely if not obviously 'Red' or 'Black' marked. If this is correct, check your cables. All proper Hifi cable will have one of the pair marked so to be sure + goes to + and - goes to -. If these are wrong then you get No Bass & a Grand Canyon Phasey effect that sounds weird. Easy to remedy, look closer. Be sure to turn the amplifier off & let the capacitors discharge for at least a minute before swapping cables, to remove the risk of shorting the amp, as it still holds voltage even after switching off.

Check Your Cables, Swap Your Cables!
We had one person say the amp only worked on one channel. We may assume you have a clue how to use Hifi. Everyone knows how to use Hifi but blames the seller because the buyer can't think as is the way today... The problem here was the amp has Phono sockets closely spaced as is found on many UK amps & some earlier Pioneer too. This means if you use £4.99 "Hifi" cables bought on ebay, these can be too chunky to fit neatly into the Phono socket. We'd think it'd be obvious as one would be sticking out a bit... Human nature will be to force it but odds are it'll not go or break something. But unless you properly plug something in, it'll not work as it is a wired connection. Also these cheap blue gold rinsed cables are pretty rubbish quality & we used some for a short while only to find the copper wire inside is so thin with the big outer plastic that after some use the strands break & "the amp appears faulty". The customer does no simple cable swapping or even swapping L to R to "see if the amp is broken on the other channel". Yes, it's hard to type this without being too salty as it's elementary stuff, but be sure new gear shops hear this all...the...time. We write these help pages but this person never read as they know better. Still, it cost them ££ in courier costs instead of thinking a little or getting some new cables. Be aware the cable will break sometime & you pulling out of one to go into the new one can be that time. The cable we use has soldered connections yet often needs repairing with the amount of cable swapping we do. We just chop off the bad bit & resolder it anew, but it'll not last forever even with the best plugs with strain relief springs or sheath. Things bend & break with use or being Uri Geller'd. Metal can only take so many bends unless it is spring steel.

Plugging In Or Removing Input Connecting Cables
If you do this with the Volume turned up past zero, there is a chance you could damage the amp. Amps differ in how they connect the Ground of the Input & leaving the centre Phono pin just in before the ground conects could put a loud noise through the amp which can overload it. A thing you only know by error or someone tripping over untidy cables can do similar. To be safe, always turn the Amp off before plugging in or removing cables. If you trust the volume is turneed down to zero, be sure you might have turned Bass down by mistake & still damage it, so always Turn It Off first.

Two Or Three Speaker Sets Connected?
Later amps added a notice about only using 8 ohm speakers if you are connecting 2 or more pairs, but earlier amps didn't. The reason is the Speaker Load can be 8 ohms with one speaker, but 4 ohms or even 2 ohms with more speakers. This can put a serious overload onto an amplifier & it'll react dangerously to this overloading with excess heat & irrepairable damage. If you use two pairs of 4 ohm speakers at the same time you are risking serious damage & making a fire risk by overloading the amplifier. An amplifier can take 4 ohms, but halving it to 2 ohms doubles the current it draws & problems occur.

If You Have Damaged The Amplifier Yourself
This does occur if you are careless or use our item with damaged items that other Hifi may not reveal so readily. We do not offer a repair service & your damage is of your own concern, even if you damage it 1 minute after plugging it in after it arrives, so be careful, do not rush your first use. If the Hifi is very cold, let it sit at least an hour in a warm room before turning on as condensation (water) can form. We service & run in our amps to be sure they are good to sell, but to offer Warranties & Guarantees at our isn't going to happen as noted above. You see the high prices Hifi shops with Guarantees charge & understand why. Fixing amps for over 20 years we can often tell you the life the amp has had & pinpoint what put it out of service. You may call us Experts. We don't offer any repair service as it'd involve 2 extra Courier journeys & the risks that involves as Couriers sadly do damage items, especially Yodel & City Link! But we will be aware of the amp & still keep the photos & we can help you along with your repairs but you'll have to source your own repair company.

It Sounds Perfect On Headphones But Distorted On Speakers
This one is becoming a common issue we hear of with amps, ones we get or hear of later. the Speaker Cables have shorted even momentarily, two seconds is long enough to damage output stages. If you use Headphones, it sounds great still. This is because a Headphone works through a resistor giving no direct connection to the power amp. On average amps this is 500 ohms resistance, your Speaker has usually 8 ohms so will draw full current & then as the output stages are partly damaged, it clips out. Amplifier outputs can partly damage & not blow fuses, but the only remedy is to replace the full set of Transistors affected. It can affect other stages of the amp too, so to just replace output transistors often won't solve the issue. One for the repair tech. If you have Speakers connected, but a switch puts the Speakers off, then the Speakers are not connected to the live amplifier. But if you put the Speakers AND Headphones on together, the Headphones will sound distorted too. If you find this issue with an Amplifier, turn it off Quickly. It can put an unsafe DC voltage on the speakers & trash them. High powered speakers may not be affected, but lower power ones less rugged will fry.

No Sound Even With Inputs Plugged In Correctly!
Recheck the input really is plugged into the right input. If using a soundcard check the volume isn't muted & the right source output is selected. Check Tape or similar isn't on. Check the speaker switch is selected & that the Headphones are plugged in correctly, not into a Mic socket or another item.

No Sound On FM Even With An Aerial Connected!
Check "Mute" isn't set on as it will only play sound on the strongest stations unless you unswitch Mute. If you only use a basic 'T' type aerial, don't expect good results, noise free FM stereo or Muting to work right, some Tuners will not play FM Stereo if the noise level is too high from a weak aerial, which is a user issue.

Only Plays One Channel On Headphones!
Check the plug is fully plugged in else it won't connect properly.

The Sound Is Very Loud & Horribly Distorted!
You've plugged a Line Level source item into the Phono stage which is only for input directly from a Turntable. Many budget price mini or system type Record Players inc USB ones have a built-in phono stage that will output a full line-level signal, so use Aux instead.

It Makes Noises On Turning On or Turning Off.
Vintage Hifi is sometimes made like this. The higher models usually don't have this if the lower models can. A Click or Rustle on turning on or off is standard with some amps. Ones that make a small noise may be unusual to those only knowing Modern gear. Learn it's how it's made & priced to a sales point. Most amps still play music after turning off until it fades away, some designs Mute it. Amps without Relays which is the Majority pre 1973 are like this. Some of the Earliest Transistor amps make a bigger bassy noise on turn on. If the noises can be repeated by further use, it's How It's Made.

Nothing Works Though It's All Plugged In!
Check it actually is plugged in, not another cable that looks like it, be it mains or input connectors. Check it's Switched On. Check the Socket with another item.

It Doesn't Sound Very Good On Speakers!
Beyond user errors, some amps don't match very well with all speakers yet some can do. We've tested your amp on small modern speakers at least as well as our Tannoys, but there are no guarantees any speaker will match any amp.

The Tuner FM Sounds Noisy & Very Poor!
You need a proper aerial with an Analog Tuner to receive a Stereo transmission clearly. A bit of wire will pick up stations, but it picks up noise & will not bring the best sound. Using the Mono switch or similar will make FM sound better until you use a better aerial.

My Input Worked Properly On Another Amplifier!
Check another input if you hear something that is not expected, your Sound Card on your Computer or any other input could be faulty. Volume could be turned down or Muted, or you've plugged in or selected the wrong Input! Some modern items you may use may have a different impedance to a 30-50 year old amplifier, these issues are beyond our control. Some items you use can have faults that a lesser quality amp won't pick up but to use a better recapped upgraded serviced one will reveal problems that lesser amps will hide through being off spec. We test using a MM cartridge from a Record Player & Line Level from our Computer Soundcard.

My I-Phone, Or Similar Portable Device, Sounds Awful Played Through The Amplifier
Really. Are you expecting Hifi sound from a Portable Device? You can plug these into Amplifiers & Computer Soundcards, but they Sound Awful, oddly like a Telehone Call Quality as that'sd the Fidelity the Phone is used for.

The Amplifier Hums!
User Error: This is because your other items are creating an Earth Loop, or the cables, other items are defective. Also Vintage Amps may only have a SN ratio of 65-80dB which means background hiss & hum can be audible, but not affect music. Unplug Everything from the Amp except Speakers, turn it on, turn it up quite loud? No Hum now beyond typical light background noise? Then the items You Are Using Have The Issue, the Amplifier is fine. Swap the L+R inputs, does the Hum now move to the other channel? Your other items have the issue. Please do not tell us we are wrong because we fully test items & every single time, as this page of Help Advice shows, it's a User-Based issue. Ask us nicely & we'll help you, if probably just tell you to read this page deeper. Have a little faith & do some reading, it's all here for you & the Search Box finds all these pages too. These can be bought on ebay cheaply. Search for "Ground Loop Isolator" & look for ones with Phono plugs & Sockets on. Plug your Aux cable into that & into the amp and no more Ground Him or Crackle.

The Amplifier Hums Loudly With Bass Up Full & Volume Very High with No Source Playing!
Really. As we've heard this one now, we'll explain: the amp has a noise floor of about 80dB on earlier amps without the overdesign on later amps that makes them almost silent with 120dB. Why you need to turn it up very loud with no music playing makes no sense, you'll forget it's loud & play music & blow your speakers. Depending on the design, the bass control being after the volume control means the full 'noise' of the tone stage, as treble will bring up the hiss, will be audible.

We Later Moved The Amp To A Different Place & Now It Hums!
Oh really? Can't you think just a little here? If it worked fine before you moved it & assuming you didn't trip over down a flight of stairs with it leaving you a little dozy, the answer is... you have external issues. The amp might be the other side of a non-brick partition wall that has a thermostat, a noisy fridge motor. the house mains box or issues like incorrect or failed ground connections somewhere.

Why It Hummed When You Moved The Amp To A Different Place...
Some amplifiers do not have a full metal shielded case. This is quite common by the early-mid 1970s & those with just a Wood or Vinyl Wrap Case can pick up Hum from items nearby or put on top as it picks up the radiation from the other Mains Transformer when it's switched on. Searching online will tell you more, Eddy Currents & the like. The solution is to move the item that gives the hum away or add some of that aluminium tape, like that which gets put behind radiators, inside the lid, being very careful of loose or stray bits of it.

There Are Crackly Clickly Noises When No Music Plays!
Got the amp grounded via another unit if it has 2 core mains only? No? You're picking up interference! Soundcards & Computers can be a source of interference if the amp has a ground connection also as you ground the amp via the computer to & bring up the computer noise like mouse movements & processor noise, this is a symptom of an Earth Loop. We use an Isolator on our Aux output from the Computer to lose these noises. These can be bought on ebay cheaply. Search for "Ground Loop Isolator" & look for ones with Phono plugs & Sockets on. Plug your Aux cable into that & into the amp and no more Ground Him or Crackle.

The Sound Is Strange & Phasey Grand Canyon Effect!
On some amps bass & treble controls are ganged L+R on one control, get one set different to the other & there's an imbalance strangely... You could also have wired the speakers up wrongly with the + and - swapped, be sure to turn off the amp & let it settle before disconnecting & reconnecting speakers.

Volume Control Turned Very Low Just Before Zero Still Plays Music On One Channel!
Until modern times most potentiometer type volume controls often had channel imbalance as this was the technology of the time. It's just how it is. To replace Volume controls is never recommended. The amp will generally play very loud at 2 on the volume, showing the input signal is too loud or the speakers are of too high dB efficiency for your use. You see some amps with 4 gang volume controls to use 2 pots to ensure volume balance is more even, the Yamaha CR-2020 has this if the CR-1020 doesn't

One Channel Is Louder Than The Other!
Most older amplifiers have a Balance control to match the Left Channel to the Right Channel Volume, some get louder at the extremes rather than quieter, as designed. Hardly anyone uses them, but make sure it's adjusted midway to make the Sound equal. Or your input could be faulty so swap cables.

I Don't Know How To Connect It! What Does This Do? Where Does That Go?
This is a tricky one, but we've heard it now! We'd expect you to have an idea how to connect things. If you don't know how to connect mains & hifi related items, or how to connect an item you are paying money for online, then simply we suggest you shouldn't be buying items like this. How do you know you even need it?

Bass Clips Out Or Distorts With The Volume Set Quite Low!
Some amps have a huge amount of bass gain on the tone controls, up to 18dB. Modern amps usually have 6 to 10dB gain, so roll back the bass control a few notches. Similar if treble is too bright.

If I Play It Really Loud It Sounds Distorted!
Why are you surprised it does? An amp has a finite amount of power & if you play it really loud into small speakers that are always of low sensitivity, you are playing it into the clipping region that could damage the tweeters. Some amps play louder than others for their power rating, some are more modest. The key to high volume from an amp is more a case of having high efficiency speakers than high wattage as there could be 20dB difference in volume between small & large PA type speakers. If you want the volume the Marshall Guitar Stacks have, look at their specs compared to small speakers.

Phono Stages - Tape Head Inputs
These are for Low Level Moving Magnet (MM) Cartridges only. Do not plug a CD player, TV, i-Pod or any Turntable that has a built in Equaliser Amplifier into this socket as you may Overload & Damage it as you will be putting 2v maximum into an Input that uses 20mV usually, ie 100 times smaller. On pre 1970 amps you see a 'Tape Head' input, this is for direct connection to the Tape Head of an Open Rell-Reel to Reel tape player to not use the player's internal ones or if they never had one. It's use today is obsolete beyond using old tape recorders.

It Fades Like We've Turned It Off But We Haven't
Assuming it's not a Power Cut or House Fuse failure, this means you are doing something seriously wrong with a speaker connection or playing it much too loudly into inefficient speakers & the Protection Circuit is triggering. It may or may not work right again on the next time you try after turning off or not, depending on what has happened.

Don't Plug In Sources With The Amp Switched On
Sometimes why you've damaged the Amp is plugging in a Source with the amp switched on. Some amplifiers only get True Ground from items being connected, if there is no Ground wire in the cable, this is the sort & we do rewire these ones now. What can happen is the Source you plug in might not be properly connected & it'll put whatever voltage potential there is, ie 4v AC, straight into the amp & blow the output stages! So always turn off an Amplifier before connecting, or at least set the volume to Zero to save upsets.

Hum Gets Louder When The Volume Goes Up?
A variation on the note above. Your input source or cables have a grounding problem, ie they're damaged. Having 2 separate items plugged into the amp that are Grounded at 2 points creates an earth loop & you need to buy a Ground Insulator. To confirm this, unplug everything from the amplifier except Speakers or Headphones. Go to the Input that had Hum & see it doesn't now. Search Google for "Mains Hum Problems" and you'll read how complex the issue of Mains Grounding is, but once understood & connected right it'll be fine.

The Bulb Stopped Working!
As you'll know with any incandescent lightbulb, it can work fine then fail the next time you turn it on. With Hifi the little bulbs can often be got working again with cleaning contacts or simply removing & replacing, unless the filament has obviously failed. No seller can guarantee vintage bulbs will last for any time & may fail in transit. Any we note that have failed we replace & the amp is used several times & for some hours to see all is good. We'll help you identify the values, but Bulbs are strictly 'sold as seen'.

We Know Nothing But We Think You're Wrong!!
Difficult. Some buyers who take no time to learn the Amplifier we've spend many hours getting right, will rudely & thoughlessly tell us We Are Wrong because of their inability to learn things or read this page. For the fact they'll never read this, be sure every person involved in selling or services gets this all the time. People today want spoonfeeding & not to take any sort responsibility so will blindly accuse because of their ignorance. No, we are Not Wrong, you haven't understood something. If you are one of those tiresome Accuse Before Think sorts, you'll get a nicer response by not accusing as we'll happily help. So instead of ignorantly saying You Cheated Us, calmy say your issue in a Polite Way & you'll get pointed in the right direction. If you do accuse, be sure of a Stern Reply explaining things. We know people aren't born knowing things, or are as investigative as we are, so we'll help you if you ask nicely, but to do a little sensible searching for an answer first instead of having a 'Barraco Barner' moment.

**Beware Of The Complex World Of Grounding Issues!
Ground hum loops are a problem. If you plug one unit into one plug socket & another into a different one which could be in the same room & there is a slight ground potential difference that results in hum or noise of some sort. All your hifi TV in one room should be connected via 1 adaptor trailer plug to keep grounding equal, but note max wattage. If your connecting wires are too long, there can be hum too. The worst hum is when a cable-TV cable isn't isolated, the earth loop hum is huge. You may need to buy a RCA phono plug isolator to stop any audio earth issue.

**High Frequency Noises
On upgrading amps, we always test to be sure the amp doesn't pick up RF noises. You can get similar high pitched noises with Ground Loops, some amplifiers with ground cables create a random white noise if another Grounded item is plugged in, such as we hear with the Computer Soundcard sometimes. If this is an issue, you need to search online about Ground Loops & this will remedy it for you. A Modern Problem is Broadband by BT & possibly others putting a RF signal as Broadband on the Mains, this needs filtering out else you hear computery crackly noises, plug it in on a different Ring Main or Circuit or get a Mains Filter.

**Mains Wiring & Earth Connections
Some amplifiers do not have an Earth cable, and require Earth connection via another unit. A 3 core cable including Earth is not always how the item was designed. If in Doubt, Consult A Qualified Electrician. For amps we know from testing that have an AC voltage on the case to ground, as noted above, we'll rewire it with 3 core mains to avoid issues as not everyone uses a turntable these days.

ANY OTHER PROBLEMS? = ASK US!

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