881: Low FM Output

[BrianPH]

Hello all,

I have a Sansui 881 that I "refurbished" three or four years ago, replacing all electrolytic caps on the F-2436 Driver Circuit & F-2437 Power Circuit. The unit sat in a storage unit for a year and now has an issue with output level from the FM & AM channels. All other inputs/outputs are fine. The FM signal meter never seems to get a very strong signal and output is correspondingly low. I have to turn the volume pot to 5 or 6 to hear program material and there is a decent hum at that point. I have never run this 881 with an FM antenna and have always received decent signal. I did just DIY a simple dipole antenna out of speaker wire and the signal meter will occasionally hit "1" on the meter but with no perceivable change in output level.

Any ideas on what could be contributing to low FM output & signal strength. Could it be simply lack of adequate antenna?

The AM channel just emits a siren-like sine wave with about a 7s wavelength.

I have used Deoxit gold to clean contacts, switches and pots and have retorqued ground screws/lugs. Bias and DC have been set.

Thanks for any insights you might have!

 

[Oldsansui441]

Hi, if you have low output and performance on both AM and FM l would check the power supply to the tuner board first.