Tandberg TR-1055

[CTB54]

I have an opportunity to buy this unit for less than $100. The owner says that the unit has output on both channels but the tuner does not move when the knob is turned it only wiggles a little. Question - is this receiver worth fixing or would it be more trouble than it is worth given that parts would be difficult to find?
Thanks for the help.

 

[repair_guy]

I have one of these, it's a loud and dynamic sounding amp. That tuner issue should be an easy fix, probably a loose tuning string. Mine was frozen like that, didn't take much to free it up. The parts that are difficult to find are the controls and switches, they're some odd German made parts. The caps in this are fracko brand and are prone to fail, but if it works then they’re working for now.

 

[CTB54]

Thanks I am picking it up tonight. I am hoping the tuner is only frozen and will free up. I will post the results when I get it acknowledge home.

 

[CTB54]

I have one of these, it's a loud and dynamic sounding amp. That tuner issue should be an easy fix, probably a loose tuning string. Mine was frozen like that, didn't take much to free it up. The parts that are difficult to find are the controls and switches, they're some odd German made parts. The caps in this are fracko brand and are prone to fail, but if it works then they’re working for now.

I picked it up last night and today I opened it up for a good cleaning, it was very dirty on the outside but not to bad inside except for some dust. I disassembled the front and scrubbed all the knobs, they are very nice all aluminum extrusions as is the chassis and front. The blue acrylic glass is in good condition only slight scratches from cleaning and around the tuner knob. I was able to free the stuck tuner and it is working well now, it seems to pull in and lock on in stereo to stations where my Onkyo had trouble. So far it sound good and I plan on re-capping to get the original Frako caps out before they cause trouble.
Repair_Guy you are correct it is certainly loud and the sound is dynamic and provides plenty of bass, quite a bit more than the Onkyo it is replacing. I notice that the speaker A B switch pulls out to a second position and activates a micro switch that is mounted above the shaft leading to the speaker rotary switch. Does any one know what this does? I have not tried it when the receiver is operating.
Thanks,
Chuck

 

[CTB54]

I picked it up last night and today I opened it up for a good cleaning, it was very dirty on the outside but not to bad inside except for some dust. I disassembled the front and scrubbed all the knobs, they are very nice all aluminum extrusions as is the chassis and front. The blue acrylic glass is in good condition only slight scratches from cleaning and around the tuner knob. I was able to free the stuck tuner and it is working well now, it seems to pull in and lock on in stereo to stations where my Onkyo had trouble. So far it sound good and I plan on re-capping to get the original Frako caps out before they cause trouble.
Repair_Guy you are correct it is certainly loud and the sound is dynamic and provides plenty of bass, quite a bit more than the Onkyo it is replacing. I notice that the speaker A B switch pulls out to a second position and activates a micro switch that is mounted above the shaft leading to the speaker rotary switch. Does any one know what this does? I have not tried it when the receiver is operating.
Thanks,
Chuck

 

[repair_guy]

Glad to hear that it works and sounds great. That pull knob confused me too, turns out that it switches the signal meter to a power output meter when pulled. Yours looks to be in great shape, much nicer than mine when I got it. On mine the meters were shot, half the caps were bad, a few transistors were out, power switch bad, fuses blown, meters broken, jacks broken. It was stored in some garage for years, but the guy gave it to me for free so I can't complain. Took alot of work to get it working again, but it was worth it.

I'm amazed, your meters look to still work, usually the glue that holds them together deteriorates with age and can't be fixed. Yours must've been stored well, indoors.


Great catch!

 

[CTB54]

Glad to hear that it works and sounds great. That pull knob confused me too, turns out that it switches the signal meter to a power output meter when pulled. Yours looks to be in great shape, much nicer than mine when I got it. On mine the meters were shot, half the caps were bad, a few transistors were out, power switch bad, fuses blown, meters broken, jacks broken. It was stored in some garage for years, but the guy gave it to me for free so I can't complain. Took alot of work to get it working again, but it was worth it.

I'm amazed, your meters look to still work, usually the glue that holds them together deteriorates with age and can't be fixed. Yours must've been stored well, indoors.


Great catch!

Thanks I was confused on the pull out switch but that makes sense. I paid $70 for this one and it had been in storage for some time and needed a good cleaning. The guy I bought it from got it used from a shop in CA 1984.

 

[CTB54]

After listening to this last night I am finding the phono input seems to be low on the left channel and the right channel low frequencies are distorting. FM and Tape inputs are fine. Will be going through and cleaning the pre out connections and then try using a separate pre amp to see what happens. Any pointers on what to look for?
Thanks,
Chuck

 

[dr*audio]

There are 2 controls on the bottom, they are gain controls. Can't remember if they are for the phono section. This is a wonderful receiver with separate power supplies for each channel, a 5 gang tuner and great sound. If the controls on the bottom are not for the phono, recap the phono section.

 

[CTB54]

dr*audio, the 1055 has the 3 gain controls on the bottom and it does include the phono section, but adjustment did not make a difference. I went through and cleaned all the switches and let them dry all week. I tested today and everything is working well. Checking DC offset I have -1.3 mV on the left and 8.3 on the right. I'm thinking this is good.
Thanks for the advice.

 

[NAD80]

Hello CTB54. Welcome to AK. That Tandberg looks nice. I would recap the entire receiver. The fracko caps are a bomb waiting to go off. The roderstein caps are better but need replaced. There are other threads of recapping later Tandberg receivers. The Service Manual is on both HiFi Engine.com and HiFi Manuals.com. Only thing is in Norwegian but has full schematics and parts placement. If I had the receiver I would rework it to like new. Too nice not to. The member jdurbin1 is a good guy. He knows a lot on Tandberg receivers.

 

[CTB54]

Hello CTB54. Welcome to AK. That Tandberg looks nice. I would recap the entire receiver. The fracko caps are a bomb waiting to go off. The roderstein caps are better but need replaced. There are other threads of recapping later Tandberg receivers. The Service Manual is on both HiFi Engine.com and HiFi Manuals.com. Only thing is in Norwegian but has full schematics and parts placement. If I had the receiver I would rework it to like new. Too nice not to. The member jdurbin1 is a good guy. He knows a lot on Tandberg receivers.

NAD80 - Thanks for the welcome and the advice. I called a local repair tech that has a great reputation and many many years of experience, he does not want anything to do with repairing a Tandberg and warned me that not many experienced techs would. I will attempt to replace the caps myself, I have the schematics from HiFi Engine and HiFi Manuals. I need to put together a list of components, if any one has a list of appropriate replacement caps it would certainly be welcome.

 

[NAD80]

Repair techs don't recap due to the amount of labor involved. Need to get work done fast and as cheaply as possible to make a profit. That's why we do it ourselves, Maybe jdurbin1 has experience with this particular receiver.

 

[dr*audio]

If you tell us where you are located we may be able to direct you to a reliable tech in your area. Tandberg no longer supports their audio products with parts, that's probably why the tech didn't want to work on it, but knowledgeable techs know that transistors, resistors and caps have generic replacements and the only thing you can't get are special parts like mechanical parts and transformers.

 

[CTB54]

If you tell us where you are located we may be able to direct you to a reliable tech in your area. Tandberg no longer supports their audio products with parts, that's probably why the tech didn't want to work on it, but knowledgeable techs know that transistors, resistors and caps have generic replacements and the only thing you can't get are special parts like mechanical parts and transformers.

I'm located in southern New Hampshire

 

[dr*audio]

Member Grateful is a wonderful tech in Boston.

 

[jdurbin1]

I have just enough to know that I'd rather work on the TR 20xx models

Repair techs don't recap due to the amount of labor involved. Need to get work done fast and as cheaply as possible to make a profit. That's why we do it ourselves, Maybe jdurbin1 has experience with this particular receiver.

John

 

[dr*audio]

The TR-1055 is really special. I sometimes regret selling mine.

 

[CTB54]

Looks Like I will be recapping on my own. Any advice will be appreciated this is a great receiver the tuner is amazing.

 

[dr*audio]

Buy solder removal braid, don't use a solder sucker or you will tear the traces on the board. Use a heat controlled iron. Do one board at a time, then test. Watch the polarity markings on each cap before you remove it and make sure it agrees with the silk screen on the board. If not, mark the board with a Sharpie. Replace with the same capacitance value as the original, and the same or higher voltage. Always upgrade any caps that are rated below 16V, as low voltage caps tend to fail early.