It's Over... and the SX-3900 is Singing...
Well, the culmination of over 2 months of hard work is at an end. The SX-3900 did not win me and it is up and running and looks AND sounds absolutely stellar. Thanks to those who contributed (MTF is a stereo hero no doubt).
Just to give a final recap of the receiver project, here are the main points:
- I received the SX-3900 on October 24th (2008). It was dead in the water. Nothing happened when power was applied. Replaced 10a fuse, powered on for half a second, then blew again. Found a broken output transistor connector, causing a pin/wire to short on the heatsink. Pulled the wire away from the heatsink and re-installed a new 10a fuse and she powered up fine. Everything worked, EXCEPT the power amp (no audio output).
- I immediately posted on AK for help and MTF stepped in with much needed critical knowledge, and yes, the patience of a saint...
- I got a game-plan together to recap the entire receiver while troubleshooting and fixing it. Not an easy task. The SX-3900 is a BEAST and consumed me for over 2 months!
- I shotgun repaired (replaced virtually EVERY component on) both the Power Supply and the Power Amplifier boards. (the Power Amp board has over 100 resistors on it BTW..., in case you were wondering).
- I replaced every electrolytic capacitor on the receiver. EVERY el cap. And many of the ceramics/polys/etc.
- I deoxited and faderlubed EVERY single control and connector, multiple times and actuated them multiple times as well to ensure oxidation free cleanliness.
- I significantly cleaned up the entire receiver, inside and out. It won't win any awards, but it is MUCH better than it was upon receipt. The receiver had obviously been stored for a number of years in a very high humidity environment like a cellar or basement (it came from the eastern US). There was this smell of damp musty moisture throughout it, that took a lot of effort and time to eradicate.
- While waiting for some additional parts, I began the task of reworking the case and upper/lower metal grills (which had serious rust on them). I used solid red oak for the case, which I hand routered, sanded and contoured to ensure a custom fit. The wood was then stained with a very light (5 coats) of Minwax sealer/stain, and no final sealer was applied. The metal portions were painted with Rustoleum paint. The black top metal is a "Hammered" finish, which looks really nice. The bottom grill is a metal finish semi-rough texture paint, which made it look much better than new. Overall the case rebuild turned out top-notch. (see the pictures).
- Once the final parts arrived, I installed them and completed the final DC offset and bias adjustments and verified the voltages (thanks again MTF).
- The faceplate had 2 broken buttons (Phono 1 and Phono 2). I repaired them with a very unique process. If interested, just ask and I will explain it. Suffice to say, they look and work as advertised.
Bottom-line... all is well, the receiver has a new life and I WILL NOT be selling it, EVER. It is with me for the long haul now. Not my original intention, but with the time, energy and money invested, it aint going nowhere.
I thought long and hard on how to post photos for this project and opted for an online service. I have used this online photo hosting service for many things in the past (like photo albums with my family, who is in the Midwest BTW). It is FREE and you do NOT need to register, OR sign up OR do anything except look at the pictures. There are 70 pictures total in the "album". (I took hundreds during this project) Here is what you need to do to access the pictures, it's simple. (THE PHOTOS HAVE SINCE BEEN REPLACED WITH THE SA-9100 I REWORKED)
- Click this link
http://solutionroom.shutterfly.com/
- Click "Options" to view is various ways
- Click "Slideshow" to see pictures in largest view
IF THE TITLE AND CAPTIONS DO NOT SHOW DURING THE SLIDESHOW, CLICK "Options" AND CHOOSE "Show Titles" and "Show Captions". You will want to see this information, because I added some narrative on each photo. Some of the pictures will not display all of the written narrative during the slideshow. To see all of the text, click on the individual picture when not in slideshow mode.
I hope this either helps or at least provides some enjoyment for fellow AK'rs. I thoroughly enjoyed this process. Once again, thanks Mark (aka Markthefixer) for your golden assistance. I'm going to let this one cool down for a bit then get started on my SA-9100. At least that one is fully functional and only needs recapping and cleaning, and I am pretty good at that right now!
Oh, and sorry Mark for not heeding the "do not disturb the wire wraps at all costs" warning. I ended up ripping her apart pretty good and in the end it all worked out fine. I rewired about 90% of the receiver and soldered where the removed wire wraps had been. If anyone else decides to ever do this, use a good wire unwrapping tool, get on and off the post quick, use flux to ensure fast solder bonding, and take your time. "Haste makes waste"
Happy New Year!