Alfagt
New Member
My Au-717 amp and TU-517 tuner arrived at Adelaide Airport from California last Wednesday, 10 September. They left California on 27 August, having first travelled across to Kentucky, then Memphis Tennessee, back across the country to Honolulu, then Sydney and finally Adelaide. Who knows why Ebay international shipping works that way. They got here undamaged with everything as described by the seller.
The next day I took them to my brother, who is an expert technician, for a preliminary check. I hadn't realised the amp was a US only voltage unit until it arrived, but my brother quickly rewired it to 240 volts by connecting the power transformers in series and fitting a new Australian power cable, after initially testing it at 120 volts. It was working fine apart from the function switch being stuck in Aux mode, which the seller had noted in the ad, along with the missing bass control knob. My brother removed the function switch and pulled it apart to discover that the nylon cog inside had the teeth worn down on one end where the metal cog drove it. He was able to take the cog out and turn it around the other way, where the teeth were perfect. Meanwhile I cleaned the amp inside, using paint brushes and an air compressor. I cleaned the metal panels and knobs with orange cleaner and it all came up very nicely. It was what I would call moderately dirty and could have been worse. After refitting the switch and lubricating the shaft, it worked perfectly. It had become stiff to turn inside, causing the cog to be stripped. A temporary bass knob was fitted while I wait for a replacement from the US to arrive. We didn't have time to switch the tuner over to 240 volts, (it is universal voltage), so I took the amp home and left the tuner. I have had the 717 running at home connected to my Accusound speakers for the last three days and it has been working fine. It sounds much cleaner than the 1990 Sony STR AV770 we have been using, with far better mid range and more controlled bass. There is absolutely no hiss or hum during or in between tracks, or with the music switched off. I am listening to Dire Straits as I write and it is a very pleasant thing to listen to. I am very pleased with it so far.
One day this week I am taking the 717 back to my brother and we are going to run it up on the oscilloscope and test the performance before stripping it and testing and replacing as necessary all the components, including caps and the famous fuse resistors. I will be kept busy scraping off the dreaded Sansui glue. We will do another performance test after the overhaul. All I can say is that if it sounds better than it does now it will be one mighty impressive piece of equipment. Below are some before and after photos of our work the other day.
The next day I took them to my brother, who is an expert technician, for a preliminary check. I hadn't realised the amp was a US only voltage unit until it arrived, but my brother quickly rewired it to 240 volts by connecting the power transformers in series and fitting a new Australian power cable, after initially testing it at 120 volts. It was working fine apart from the function switch being stuck in Aux mode, which the seller had noted in the ad, along with the missing bass control knob. My brother removed the function switch and pulled it apart to discover that the nylon cog inside had the teeth worn down on one end where the metal cog drove it. He was able to take the cog out and turn it around the other way, where the teeth were perfect. Meanwhile I cleaned the amp inside, using paint brushes and an air compressor. I cleaned the metal panels and knobs with orange cleaner and it all came up very nicely. It was what I would call moderately dirty and could have been worse. After refitting the switch and lubricating the shaft, it worked perfectly. It had become stiff to turn inside, causing the cog to be stripped. A temporary bass knob was fitted while I wait for a replacement from the US to arrive. We didn't have time to switch the tuner over to 240 volts, (it is universal voltage), so I took the amp home and left the tuner. I have had the 717 running at home connected to my Accusound speakers for the last three days and it has been working fine. It sounds much cleaner than the 1990 Sony STR AV770 we have been using, with far better mid range and more controlled bass. There is absolutely no hiss or hum during or in between tracks, or with the music switched off. I am listening to Dire Straits as I write and it is a very pleasant thing to listen to. I am very pleased with it so far.
One day this week I am taking the 717 back to my brother and we are going to run it up on the oscilloscope and test the performance before stripping it and testing and replacing as necessary all the components, including caps and the famous fuse resistors. I will be kept busy scraping off the dreaded Sansui glue. We will do another performance test after the overhaul. All I can say is that if it sounds better than it does now it will be one mighty impressive piece of equipment. Below are some before and after photos of our work the other day.
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