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The VFDs wear out over time; recapping won't help. There's a few tricks one can try to re-establish the brightness in the displays, one of which includes slightly overvolting the anode for a few minutes. However, it could also go wrong, so I'd be careful with it. Here's some more info (in German; sorry).
totally agree with u , but why in other cases , after 40 years vfd is bright like first day? to be honest , technics is only brand which has this problem i never saw a dead vfd on pioneer,kenwood,sony,akai ..........i also have 2 sets of technics 1060 mini systems , and both of them had issues with vfd on preamp/tuner, more curiously , this vfd problem never occure on cd players from sets..........its like they used bad vfd for tuner/preamp and good vfd for cd's..........this is what im talking about


all minisistem , look at tuner/preamp and cd player , bottom left-right

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preamp/tuner bad vfd, u can see , some dots begining to fade

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cd vfd , bright and clear

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I disagree about the color of meters, I like the black background color with white or colored numbers, etc, the best, but any big meter is great. My only complaint about the blue meters sometimes is that when LEDs are replacing bulbs, they are too bright. My Onkyo's green LEDs are about 30% too bright compared to the original red bulbs that turn on when it goes through it's power on cycle. I will remedy that eventually.
i fully respect your opinion , in the end it is a matter of taste........i dont like black meters because it is hard to see needle from distance first of all.........as for leds , this is why i do not agree them instead of original bulbs, some time ago i wanted to put led stripes on my first TX 30 , something like this

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so , in a weekend , went to my local retailer , spent a lot of money on this, i buyed 3M because i always want the best for my gear , so i return home , opened receiver , the stripe was powered at 12 v , at least that was written on his box .........original current for illumination was 11 v so no other modifications were required , put stripe inside and powered receiver .......the light was damn good , wayyyy brighter than original bulbs , initially i liked how it was ......after a while i get my TX50 receiver , this one has all original bulbs in perfect condition , when i put them next to each other , and powered up , i realize how stupid i was ...........the bulbs lights is warmer , doesn t attack eyes , seems more elegant , more like vintage look , and contrast with brown case and red indicators was terrifiyng ........so , i looked bulbs like originals , i found on web a place from china , ordered 100 pieces .........

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dont get me wrong , i dont have anything against led , but sometimes , old bulbs just look better .........cheers!
 
I can see the needles fine.

They do look slightly better, but LEDs have a lot of advantages and with a little work, can be dimmed down to match the old bulbs, and you can "diffuse" them if they aren't already with some sandpaper. Number one is the lack of heat due to less power being wasted/turned into heat as incandescent lights do. A couple of times over the last 35 years, our heat went out and we just turned on all the lights and were able to survive 40 degree F weather pretty comfortably for a few days until the furnace was fixed. Can't do that anymore, the LED light bulbs don't put out enough heat.
A related advantage to LEDs is they don't cook the plastic around the bulbs like the regular ones do. I've had a couple of radios over the years with broken plastic parts due to cooking from the old bulbs.
And then there is the lifespan advantage.
 
totally agree with u , but why in other cases , after 40 years vfd is bright like first day? to be honest , technics is only brand which has this problem i never saw a dead vfd on pioneer,kenwood,sony,akai ......…

Don't say so... I have a similar problem with my MDS-JE500 Sony MiniDisc deck.
Faded VFD:

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The Technics ST-K808 also suffers from this problem. Which is a pity, since the complete set is quite nice. It even (can) include(s) a record player that can be used with a remote control, the Technics SL-Q33.

I would expect the SU-8077/88/99 to have the same problem, but until today I haven't yet noticed it, it seems these meters are more sturdy.
 
Touch wood... my 84-6 gear FL displays are all fine... ST-G3 G5 SA-550 560 SUX90 SL-PJ1 SL-P7 SL-P8 are all fine —- have more... haven’t ran in some time
 
Great amps, those 8099's, I did a couple of rebuilds on them (and on the 8088 and 8077 too)

I think both would be in need of a recap, but one thing that is extremely important; replace the trimmers for bias voltage adjustment (and while you're there also those for DC offset).
Do NOT try to turn them to make adjustments, you might blow up the power transistors in that channel, just replace them before making any adjustments.
If the amp (already) runs hot, just stop using it until these trimmers are replaced.

Be careful with the remote switch mechanisms too, these are unobtainium (as far as I know, if someone knows where to find them I'd be happy to hear about it!)
 
Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. I just love the 8099, that's why I got two of these babys. One option to get the remote switches could be to buy a cheap broken 8044 or 8055, they have the same switches as far as I know. Probably not the best and cheapest option but better than none :)
 
The same type of switches (perhaps!), but for sure not the needed length ::(

The 8099 I'm currently using (I need to test the other one a bit more) runs indeed quit hot if you let it run for a while even at low volume. What temperatures would you consider as too hot?
 
In fact it should not feel hot at all, a little warm at most after some time of use.

The trimmers for the bias adjustment in time will loose their ability to have a resistance of zero ohm and will start at something like 30 or more. This often causes the bias voltage to be too high, hence it running (too) hot.

Turning, cleaning and deoxing these will not help, they are just broken and need to be replaced. I've see an number of these amps (also 8077 and 8088) that suffered blown end stages because of this problem.

Another issue most likely will be the solder connections of the drivers of the power transistor, this needs attention urgently if indeed this problem exists.

They're absolutely worth restoring. I posted the rebuild of an 8088 here some time ago; http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/technics-su-8088-satisfactory-rebuild.608272/
 
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