Classic 80s Black and Rosewood - Sony STR-GX9ES

I too am trying to bring a gx10es back to life. I see a lot of experience on this thread and, being new to AK, I'm not sure where to go for the best experience/advice (I'm really not trying to hijack the thread). I have volume control issues and am curious if there is another controller that can be used or just from the 9 and 10ES models? Worse case scenario, can I use one from any sony receiver and just solder a new one in and forgo using the remote for volume? Any wisdom would be appreciated
 
I too am trying to bring a gx10es back to life. I see a lot of experience on this thread and, being new to AK, I'm not sure where to go for the best experience/advice (I'm really not trying to hijack the thread). I have volume control issues and am curious if there is another controller that can be used or just from the 9 and 10ES models? Worse case scenario, can I use one from any sony receiver and just solder a new one in and forgo using the remote for volume? Any wisdom would be appreciated


Almost any Sony remote will control the volume and probably many of the basic functions
 
I have the remote, the problem is the volume control is damaged. The motor works fine, it's just the right channel shorts out through 50% of the range. It is not a dirty pot issue, it is a problem with what I think is the volume pc board so it's either find a direct replacement or kluge it all with a different volume control unit (if that is even possible, thus my question) Does that make sense?
 
I have the remote, the problem is the volume control is damaged. The motor works fine, it's just the right channel shorts out through 50% of the range. It is not a dirty pot issue, it is a problem with what I think is the volume pc board so it's either find a direct replacement or kluge it all with a different volume control unit (if that is even possible, thus my question) Does that make sense?

Before you go replacing any boards, if you’re comfortable rummaging around inside the unit, you may consider unplugging and replugging every board jumper/connector cable. Sometimes it’s a simple as a dirty/weak connection at those plugs. I can’t guarantee it’ll work, but there’s a decent possibility that the signal is just being interrupted because of a faulty connection - especially since you mention that it does work sometimes. This was an issue, easily resolved, in my STR-D1090.

See all those wires running around inside?

54875F52-D740-4CF5-92CE-FE4EE3039BB4.jpeg

Be careful with some of the smaller ones - not exactly fragile, but you don’t want to accidentally rip the wires out of the plugs. Some have locking clips, others don’t. Just unplug, then plug back in - one at a time, and as many as you can get to.

Before tracking down a difficult to find 30 year old part that may or may not solve the problem, you may want to at least give this a shot. My sense with your description of the problem is that you may find it near the balance control. One sure-fire way to rule out balance though, is to put the unit into ‘source direct’ mode - that bypasses all tone and balance circuitry with the exception of the loudness button.

Also, a little more advanced: if you’re sure it’s coming from the volume board, you may consider looking for cracked solder on that board. Reflow it, and you should be back in business.

Welcome to AK, btw. :)
 
Before you go replacing any boards, if you’re comfortable rummaging around inside the unit, you may consider unplugging and replugging every board jumper/connector cable. Sometimes it’s a simple as a dirty/weak connection at those plugs. I can’t guarantee it’ll work, but there’s a decent possibility that the signal is just being interrupted because of a faulty connection - especially since you mention that it does work sometimes. This was an issue, easily resolved, in my STR-D1090.

See all those wires running around inside?

View attachment 1215554

Be careful with some of the smaller ones - not exactly fragile, but you don’t want to accidentally rip the wires out of the plugs. Some have locking clips, others don’t. Just unplug, then plug back in - one at a time, and as many as you can get to.

Before tracking down a difficult to find 30 year old part that may or may not solve the problem, you may want to at least give this a shot. My sense with your description of the problem is that you may find it near the balance control. One sure-fire way to rule out balance though, is to put the unit into ‘source direct’ mode - that bypasses all tone and balance circuitry with the exception of the loudness button.

Also, a little more advanced: if you’re sure it’s coming from the volume board, you may consider looking for cracked solder on that board. Reflow it, and you should be back in business.

Welcome to AK, btw. :)
Thanks. I will give the source direct bypass a try. The diagnosis on the card was given to me by a local, week respected tech who dug through it pretty well (I think). But I will absolutely give your suggestions a try. My own soldering gives me only about a 50% success rate.
 
Thanks. I will give the source direct bypass a try. The diagnosis on the card was given to me by a local, week respected tech who dug through it pretty well (I think). But I will absolutely give your suggestions a try. My own soldering gives me only about a 50% success rate.

Are you familiar with a cracked/cold solder connection? They’re solder connections where the electronic component is still physically connected, but the solder has cracked, resulting in an intermittent or possibly non-functioning electronic connection.

SebDLMCrack.jpg


They’ll usually look something like this image above (red arrow, but possibly bottom left too). Since you’re getting at least a bit of a signal through sometimes, this would be a likely culprit if not the cable plugs. Inspect each board, especially in the right channel signal path according to the schematics. If you see any that look questionable, get your iron/gun, heat it up, and reflow the solder is that it restores the connection. Somewhat slow process inspecting each board, but pretty easy and could again, save you from replacing or hacking in a new part. (I would not recommend hacking in a new part anyway - it probably wouldn’t work due to circuitry design, and would be tragic to risk irreparable damage to your unit.)

The schematics (inside the service manual), btw, are downloadable for free over at hifiengine.com - you’ll just need to make an account like you did here on AK.

If you have any questions during the process be sure to ask us here, and include pics of what parts you’re working on so maybe we can see if there’s something irregular.

Good luck!
 
Over the last 50+ years, I've fixed a lot of problems caused by oxidized connectors and especially before SMD construction took over for most stuff, a ton of bad solder joints. I had a ham rig that seemed to have endless numbers of them. Everytime it died, I was able to fix it for about 6 months by reflowing any joints that looked suspicious. Funny thing is, it was known as a bulletproof rig that rarely had problems. A lot of problems are caused by the plugs or cables soldered badly or not at all. I used to see a lot of Uniden made scanners where the socket that the speaker plugged in to was not soldered at all. I made some decent money fixing issues like that. Of course, it voided their warranty, but I could fix it in 15 minutes versus a trip to TX and back.
 
Are you familiar with a cracked/cold solder connection? They’re solder connections where the electronic component is still physically connected, but the solder has cracked, resulting in an intermittent or possibly non-functioning electronic connection.

SebDLMCrack.jpg


They’ll usually look something like this image above (red arrow, but possibly bottom left too). Since you’re getting at least a bit of a signal through sometimes, this would be a likely culprit if not the cable plugs. Inspect each board, especially in the right channel signal path according to the schematics. If you see any that look questionable, get your iron/gun, heat it up, and reflow the solder is that it restores the connection. Somewhat slow process inspecting each board, but pretty easy and could again, save you from replacing or hacking in a new part. (I would not recommend hacking in a new part anyway - it probably wouldn’t work due to circuitry design, and would be tragic to risk irreparable damage to your unit.)

The schematics (inside the service manual), btw, are downloadable for free over at hifiengine.com - you’ll just need to make an account like you did here on AK.

If you have any questions during the process be sure to ask us here, and include pics of what parts you’re working on so maybe we can see if there’s something irregular.

Good luck!

Just to mention, if I was working on whatever it is in the pic above, I would reflow all three pads at the bottom. The left one looks like it's about to crack, and the middle one looks "off" too. If it looks odd, it's usually never good.
 
Just to mention, if I was working on whatever it is in the pic above, I would reflow all three pads at the bottom. The left one looks like it's about to crack, and the middle one looks "off" too. If it looks odd, it's usually never good.

Yeah, what’s really got me thinking that it’s either a dirty plug or a cracked solder connection is that the problem is intermittent. The fact that it works sometimes means to me that the solution is in there to work consistently - it’s just a matter of tracking it down.

Hopefully the OP will post some good pics of the boards so we can see if that’s the problem.
 
Yeah, what’s really got me thinking that it’s either a dirty plug or a cracked solder connection is that the problem is intermittent. The fact that it works sometimes means to me that the solution is in there to work consistently - it’s just a matter of tracking it down.

Hopefully the OP will post some good pics of the boards so we can see if that’s the problem.

I had sold a friend a radio that had plug in circuit cards, and from day one he kept saying, "I don't see what's supposed to be so great about this radio!". I liked it so much I went out and bought another one. It turned out it had a problem that could be temporarily cured by flicking the card with your finger, or whacking the case. He found out when he got angry during an argument with his wife and he banged on the desk it was on and it came to full life for a few minutes, and he realized it had never worked like it should. I replaced almost every part on that board that wasn't SMD and even touched up many of those joints. Still had the problem. I tried the freeze spray, looking for a cracked trace and nothing. Finally bought an Ebay card and it was cured. We split the cost as it apparently had the issue at the time I sold it to him.
 
Before you go replacing any boards, if you’re comfortable rummaging around inside the unit, you may consider unplugging and replugging every board jumper/connector cable. Sometimes it’s a simple as a dirty/weak connection at those plugs. I can’t guarantee it’ll work, but there’s a decent possibility that the signal is just being interrupted because of a faulty connection - especially since you mention that it does work sometimes. This was an issue, easily resolved, in my STR-D1090.

See all those wires running around inside?

View attachment 1215554

Be careful with some of the smaller ones - not exactly fragile, but you don’t want to accidentally rip the wires out of the plugs. Some have locking clips, others don’t. Just unplug, then plug back in - one at a time, and as many as you can get to.

Before tracking down a difficult to find 30 year old part that may or may not solve the problem, you may want to at least give this a shot. My sense with your description of the problem is that you may find it near the balance control. One sure-fire way to rule out balance though, is to put the unit into ‘source direct’ mode - that bypasses all tone and balance circuitry with the exception of the loudness button.

Also, a little more advanced: if you’re sure it’s coming from the volume board, you may consider looking for cracked solder on that board. Reflow it, and you should be back in business.

Welcome to AK, btw. :)

Tries the bypass mode and it cut down on the amount of static and bad connections in the Volume but did not eliminate it. The Volume control/motor and cards are all beasts to get out but looks like that is my next step, even if I were to find some unit to replace it. Thanks for the continuing stream of advice.
 
I'm quite late to the party, but I'm glad to see Reydelaplaya has got this amp singing again.

I am sure you'd rather not have received it busted up......but......all's well that ends well, correct?

Another vote for wood looking like wood. That burl is BEAUTIFUL!!

.

I really love the veneer Marantz used on the Imperial series. I just bought a pair of Imperial 5s and they have the same veneer; beautiful grain with a touch of burl.

While I haven't seriously listened to them in a few years, I still have much love for my $35.00 pair of completely functional Marantz Imperial 6's. They sit, awaiting a place to play (I live in a small house).
 
I'm quite late to the party, but I'm glad to see Reydelaplaya has got this amp singing again.

I am sure you'd rather not have received it busted up......but......all's well that ends well, correct?

Another vote for wood looking like wood. That burl is BEAUTIFUL!!






While I haven't seriously listened to them in a few years, I still have much love for my $35.00 pair of completely functional Marantz Imperial 6's. They sit, awaiting a place to play (I live in a small house).

The 6s are my favorite speakers, period. After having the 5s for a while now I like them better than the Small Advents they replaced. They look and sound superb.
 
Tries the bypass mode and it cut down on the amount of static and bad connections in the Volume but did not eliminate it. The Volume control/motor and cards are all beasts to get out but looks like that is my next step, even if I were to find some unit to replace it. Thanks for the continuing stream of advice.

If you feel comfortable taking the entire unit apart to dig around for the problem, that would be the way to go. I’d only recommend just pacing yourself and keep all the parts/screws in little trays as you work in stages so there are no ‘spare parts/screws’ when you’re done. When I was disassembling different areas of mine earlier in the thread, I noticed that with the exception of the tuner board, most everything is pretty well laid out in layers inside. Earlier in the thread I mentioned a dead thread over on another site - that guy documented almost a complete breakdown and rebuild of his 10 with pics. Referring to his thread might be helpful - lemme edit in the link here in a sec.

Here you go, lots of good info here too:

http://www.agoraquest.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=36803

I'm quite late to the party, but I'm glad to see Reydelaplaya has got this amp singing again.

I am sure you'd rather not have received it busted up......but......all's well that ends well, correct?

Another vote for wood looking like wood. That burl is BEAUTIFUL!!



While I haven't seriously listened to them in a few years, I still have much love for my $35.00 pair of completely functional Marantz Imperial 6's. They sit, awaiting a place to play (I live in a small house).

Thank you! Yeah, after all the excitement, then disappointment and drama, to finally have this back to life, operating well, and even looking pretty good (if I say so myself LOL) is indeed a happy ending.

Never ended up putting on a spray lacquer, btw. Just added another coat of teak oil and then eventually a paste wax and buff. I’d like to get around to doing a set of rails for the CD player to match now that I’ve got my planes shipped in from my mom and dad’s house - (dad sent me his *good one* ;) as a bonus, an older Stanley 4 with rosewood handles! :D ). Can’t wait to sharpen these up and put them to use!
 
If you feel comfortable taking the entire unit apart to dig around for the problem, that would be the way to go. I’d only recommend just pacing yourself and keep all the parts/screws in little trays as you work in stages so there are no ‘spare parts/screws’ when you’re done. When I was disassembling different areas of mine earlier in the thread, I noticed that with the exception of the tuner board, most everything is pretty well laid out in layers inside. Earlier in the thread I mentioned a dead thread over on another site - that guy documented almost a complete breakdown and rebuild of his 10 with pics. Referring to his thread might be helpful - lemme edit in the link here in a sec.

Here you go, lots of good info here too:

http://www.agoraquest.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=36803



Thank you! Yeah, after all the excitement, then disappointment and drama, to finally have this back to life, operating well, and even looking pretty good (if I say so myself LOL) is indeed a happy ending.

Never ended up putting on a spray lacquer, btw. Just added another coat of teak oil and then eventually a paste wax and buff. I’d like to get around to doing a set of rails for the CD player to match now that I’ve got my planes shipped in from my mom and dad’s house - (dad sent me his *good one* ;) as a bonus, an older Stanley 4 with rosewood handles! :D ). Can’t wait to sharpen these up and put them to use!

Good choice on NOT going with the hideous shiny poly! It blows me away that people like the plastic look. I just sanded down and re piled a set of Rectilinear Mini 3s today. After they fully dry in a few weeks I will put a coat of FeedNWax on them for just a bit of sheen.

20180625_184403.jpg 20180625_161340.jpg
 
If you feel comfortable taking the entire unit apart to dig around for the problem, that would be the way to go. I’d only recommend just pacing yourself and keep all the parts/screws in little trays as you work in stages so there are no ‘spare parts/screws’ when you’re done. When I was disassembling different areas of mine earlier in the thread, I noticed that with the exception of the tuner board, most everything is pretty well laid out in layers inside. Earlier in the thread I mentioned a dead thread over on another site - that guy documented almost a complete breakdown and rebuild of his 10 with pics. Referring to his thread might be helpful - lemme edit in the link here in a sec.

Here you go, lots of good info here too:

http://www.agoraquest.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=36803



Thank you! Yeah, after all the excitement, then disappointment and drama, to finally have this back to life, operating well, and even looking pretty good (if I say so myself LOL) is indeed a happy ending.

Never ended up putting on a spray lacquer, btw. Just added another coat of teak oil and then eventually a paste wax and buff. I’d like to get around to doing a set of rails for the CD player to match now that I’ve got my planes shipped in from my mom and dad’s house - (dad sent me his *good one* ;) as a bonus, an older Stanley 4 with rosewood handles! :D ). Can’t wait to sharpen these up and put them to use!
I've tried to get on the Agoraquest site but it won't allow you to register. Anyone know if it's still active or if it's dead. The have a captcha confirmation bit, but that seems broken so you can't register or contact them.
 
I've tried to get on the Agoraquest site but it won't allow you to register. Anyone know if it's still active or if it's dead. The have a captcha confirmation bit, but that seems broken so you can't register or contact them.

I tried to make an account there too a few months back, went through the whole setup process but haven't yet heard back - to the best of my knowledge, it is now a dead site. :( That means get any info off it that you may find useful - it may not be there too much longer.
 
I've owned the STR-GX9ES and STR-GX10ES at the same time and compared them. They are virtually identical with the exception of a couple of front panel buttons, copper plated chassis (which no one sees), and a few watts that you will not notice. They sound identical. The 10 gets a hefty premium for being TOTL but the 9 is nearly as good for a lot less. IMO, the 9 is one of the finest values for ES receivers.

There are no differences in the panel buttons.
 
I have owned a lot of 60s and 70s Sony stuff. Definitely prefer the sound to Pioneers of the day, haven't really had enough Marantz in my life to judge. I'll bet that's a fine sounding piece though, the last of great analog Sonys.
 
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