Inside a Yamaha B3

[Isotonic]

A couple of guys are being a little hard on Analog King, but I appreciate their sentiments. Analog King. I am sure you a wonderful guy, but please take very good care of this amplifier. This level of gear for the mass market is simply not made any more. And it will never come back. Someday, pieces like yours will only be in the museums and in the homes of the very wealthy.

I highly recommend getting it serviced by a pro. If you maintain it, it can last indefinitely. You could give this one to your grandchildren.

 

[Isotonic]

No problems!! Another thing, I was just chatting with my mate who helped me look inside the thing and although in the original picture those 2 black screws are missing, he did in fact put them back in before reassembling..so the problem is not that!
I guess just cleaning all the dust and dirt out did the trick..oh and the Deoxit of course..

The dust and the Deoxit had nothing to do with the problem. You have an intermittent problem. With proper service the unit could be brought back to health for small money. Once those V-fets fail, that unit is worthless forever.

 

[sandawa]

I am using this in Japan, so I presume(d) no kind of transformer was required. Thanks for your picture..very nice !!!

Sorry, I thought you're in the US. True, no problem repairing that in Japan. Old-timer technicians there stock good VFETs saved from defective units.

 

[Analog King]

You think the dust and dirt wasn't the problem?
The longest I have run this without the popping (which is LOUD when it happens by the way) before cleaning it out was about 7 hours.
Been using it everyday for almost a week for 5 hours a day since then and it runs like clockwork. I know that is not a great deal of time in the grand scheme of things but the problem SEEMS to have been cleared up. I read another thread on another board where a guy with an old Marantz had the same problem. Cleaned all the dust out of it, and hey presto ! Fine !

I have a 20,000 yen (200 dollar) quote for a full overhaul/repair job.
It is tempting but for that price I could pick up a similar amp.

Decisions, decisions,..

 

[Isotonic]

Sorry, I thought you're in the US. True, no problem repairing that in Japan. Old-timer technicians there stock good VFETs saved from defective units.

Did you do a survey?

 

[Isotonic]

It shouldn't cost that much for a health check. In other words, take it to a tech who will put a meter to it, to make sure there is no untoward current running in the wrong places. It is something I do routinely to all my vintage pieces. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes.

If it checks out okay, then you should be fine. If not, then you know it will fail. You can save it.

 

[Analog King]

That figure was a hifido figure so yeah, other places will probably about 1/4 of that.

Good advice, either way!!!

 

[Analog King]

Oh and if you look at the very top right hand corner of the second picture I posted you can actually see the screws that were thought missing laying on the carpet.

 

[the-real-mandak]

Slightly off topic but how do the other "B" series Yammies compare to the B - 3 ?
How about the pyramid shaped B-6?

You can't really put all the "B's" in one groupe, most of them are quite different in design. It's kind of Yamaha's special amp line, witch contain there statement amp's. Only the B-1, 2 and 3 was V-FET, the B-6 was the first X-Power amp and has a different sound.

About running 2 sets of speakers on the B-3; I would not recon this. You will properly get a load below 4 ohm, this will be hard on the amp witch will result in not that good sound + properly over time a cooked amp (and dead tweeters in the speakers). For this kind of setups, get an M-80.

Note: Several AK'ers have reportet the B-2 + NS-1000 combo as a special magical setup.