Easiest Amplifier/Receiver to work on?

Oh, yeah ... and about the easy part ... just kidding! Here's what one looks like torn down for a simple control cleaning ...

stage-two-teardown.jpg


And that toroidal certainly does eat up some serious real estate ...

skizo-label.jpg
 
Oh, yeah ... and about the easy part ... just kidding! Here's what one looks like torn down for a simple control cleaning ...

stage-two-teardown.jpg


And that toroidal certainly does eat up some serious real estate ...

skizo-label.jpg

I thought maybe there was a touch of humor--Looks like you fix these professionally; I like the blue sticker you add to the trafo. I'm about done with stuff that requires convolutions such as you have illustrated.
 
A new one to add: Scott R74S. Just about all the boards slide off these little square posts--no connecting wires holding them in place! Neat wiring, plenty of space.
 
I like the 1970s Sansui receivers, like the 890DB, 9090DB, etc. Takes no time at all to pop the hood and start troubleshooting.

Opposite end of the spectrum would be SAE amplifiers, man what a pain to get into!
 
My early Sherwood SS integrated is pretty simple. Take the lid off and everything is right there, and there isn't much "everything". Each circuit is on it's own board too, phono, line stage, and power amp for each channel. Not much to the power supply, its a handful of parts on a terminal strip plus a cap strapped to the bottom. Early SS circuit design, just barely enough parts to make the thing actually function.
 
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Realistic STA-77A. I especially like how the output transistors are mounted, especially since one of the left side ones was open. Soooo much room to work on.
 
Another two to add: JVC 5010--there's like, nothing in there! How does it make sound?! Sherwood S-7100A: You can get to pretty much everything, and there's not much in there to start with. Less is more! Kiss clutter goodbye! Lamps: easy to get to and replace. Knobs: pull -em off. Face plate: 2 or 3 nuts, then entire face is in your hot sweaty hands. Case: ok, a few bolts to unscrew on the bottom and some awkward flipping and wrestling with the chassis, but then....two screws and the steel bottom cover is off! Two. 2. II. [sound of horse stomping twice]. Dial pointer is painted Day-Glo orange and has no bulbs or stupid little wires. It's just naturally bright. God I love this thing, especially after owning an SX-980 and a Luxman R-117. Going in there was like trying to get a drink during happy hour.
 
Marantz 26. Don't have to remove anything but the covers to rebuild the whole thing.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Marantz 2330 is easy too. Almost all the boards are modular, couple connectors and they're out. It does weigh 5 times as much as the little 26 though.
 
Marantz separates are pretty easy. All of the integrated amps, tuners, power amps and preamps have been pretty easy. I usually don't even have to unsolder any or maybe a couple wires. Pull some screws, flip them over and go to town on them. The model 140 power amp was great to work on.
It's very modular. Remove screws, unplug the wiring and your good.
 
You won't find practical amplifiers more simple than the Nelson Pass Zen amplifiers. Then there's the F5 which can be realized with 4 transistors, about a dozen resistors, and no caps at all. All that jazz makes my old Marantz gear look like rocket surgery. My 2230 was a simple unit, well laid out. My 2252 isn't bad either. My 2238B... If it had a soul and I was God I'd damn it to hell. I truly hate the way that thing is laid out and built.

On the upside, a lot of modern stuff is looking simple and well laid out these days. Schiit actually makes stuff they intend the end user to open and upgrade!
 
I thought the several mac pieces I've been inside were very user friendly. Tag boards on the power amps and harnessed easily removed PCB in the preamps
 
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