A-700 find

Celt2006

Active Member
Im excited. Just made a deal on a great condition smoke free home an A- 700. ...for a hundred bucks. Think i made a good deal. I may however take it to the local hifi shop to have it deoxed and recapped with updated caps before playing..ill be pushing cv d9 dpeakers for now but want up grade speakers
 
Nice find and that is a great price.

I'd definitely recommend doing the service work on it before putting it into regular use. Also getting rid of the corrosive glue and solder joint touch up is a must.
After you're done with that work you'll have one of the best integrated amps out there IMO.

There are quite a few threads on the A-1000 which is the big brother of the 700 and the 700 itself. Read up and you can get a good idea of which repairs you'll need.
 
Cool. Thanks.. I will read more and have been...looks like ill have more into it after the hifi shop gets done with it but thats ok... Ill give her a listen this weekend on cv at 10s in my house then drop it off for resoration... Yup excited
 
Yeah, you did good. The A-series are some very good sounding integrateds. What OMGCat said about the old glue removal is seriously important. That stuff sucks up moisture and corrodes everything that it contacts. Solder joints are going to start failing, re-flowing is a must.

Cheers,
James
 
Never did that kind of stuff. I know basics like solder sucker and have soldered a couple resistors about 25 years ago..lol
 
You probably have all the skills needed, can always practice on any other board to get used to it again.

This thread is a great read, from someone in the same boat as you:
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/a-700-restore.813092/

You can probably clean the glue out, change the caps, and resolder the main board yourself.
Just build a dim-bulb tester first if you go the DIY-route, as it'll save you a blow-up from a small mistake.
 
I too just purchased an A-700 from ebay. does anyone know of a good repair tech who is familiar with these amps who can do the above maintenance?
I watched the youtube video from stereopolice and read the comments from zaibatsu. sounds like he knows how to work on these amps.
 
On a somewhat related note... What might a decent soldering kit be..not too expensive...cheap as i could go and have something that would get the job done. I think i want to take a stab at recapping my cv d9s before putting them all together and in use
 
I never used a cheaper soldering station since my cruddy 20w pencil iron I had as a kid.
I'd recommend looking at a used Weller or Hakko on CL or eBay. You can usually pick them up cheap and they last forever. Also parts are easily sourced and you've got a known good quality tool.
 
I never used a cheaper soldering station since my cruddy 20w pencil iron I had as a kid.
I'd recommend looking at a used Weller or Hakko on CL or eBay. You can usually pick them up cheap and they last forever. Also parts are easily sourced and you've got a known good quality tool.

This is good advice. A good iron will just make the work easier. A decent used 50w Weller won't cost the world and you can trust it not to quit half way through the job. If you find that you like doing this stuff you can always sell the iron on ebay and buy an 80w soldering station.

Cheers,
James
 

A good soldering station is a great thing. My kids gave me a nice Ersa 80w station for Christmas a few years ago and I love it.

IF that X-Tronic thing holds up a station is much nicer to use than a simple iron. For $60 if it holds up that would be a useful starter. I don't know the brand but if the 3 year guarantee is real and gets honored that would imho be quite a good starter kit for the money.

Cheers,
James
 
Not familiar with that brand from china.I know a lot of people use Hakko's.I have no opinion. I've been using Weller since I was in my mid teens.Every CTK in the F-15 integrated avionics backshop, world wide, had a Weller station.

CTK - consolidated tool kit-
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom