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Bad news what to do with my Spec 2?

PureQuill said:
LOL really not for sale.:D
I hopefully have a tech lined up to fix the amp.
Fingers crossed.:rolleyes:

PQ
Click to expand...

Send it to MTF, not only do I think he would ably fix it, we'd also get a thread about what happened with it and how it was troubleshot and fixed. Worth sending it to the best.
 
Well, it took forever but I finally got the amp to blhasgstrom last weekend.
Waiting to hear what his verdict is.
Cheers
PQ
 
One channel distorted.

It's getting closer to the bench.

I have gotten a flurry of restores and repairs suddenly.
 
Spec 2

I bought my spec1,spec2 new in 1976 , no problems with them until 2008 or so. Had echowars go through it and it purrs right along till this day. I don't think they are problematic by design, it's just like life IT SUCKS GETTING OLD.
 
blhagstrom said:
One channel distorted.

It's getting closer to the bench.

I have gotten a flurry of restores and repairs suddenly.
Click to expand...

No hurry being busy is a good thing!:thmbsp:
I am more interested in it being done right rather than done fast!:music:

Thanks for taking on the repair!:rockon:
PQ
 
I got it on the bench and popped the covers and fired it up.

Distorted on the channel.

Fairly sure it's the reed relay.

Previous work looks OK but it's filthy in there!
Can't belive previous tech didn't at least blow out the dust.
 
I hear you and what is sad is it has been on his bench 3 times in the last year.:no:

Unfortunately he is pretty much the only “reputable tech" in the Portland area that works on vintage gear.
I have never been very happy with anything that he has worked on but he is pretty much the only game in town.
So what is one to do?:dunno:

Thanks again!
PQ
 
A tech will play heck discovering the cause of problems, when it is this relay. It causes all kinds of weird symptoms. Once you catch one like this, you know where to go from then on.

Good luck on the repair.

Enjoy,
Rich P
 
It's good to see it is getting handled by someone who knows the importance of Pioneer Spec. The historically intelligent "modern techs" that have seen the guts of mine seem to always have an "OMG moment".
 
blhagstrom said:
I got it on the bench and popped the covers and fired it up.

Distorted on the channel.

Fairly sure it's the reed relay.

Previous work looks OK but it's filthy in there!
Can't belive previous tech didn't at least blow out the dust.
Click to expand...
Not to defend the failure to purge the dust, but, when you are trying to make a living and cover your overhead, pay the taxes and keep the lights on, etc, you need to fix the reported problem and clear the bench. This is especially true, when your charged labor rate is $50-$75 per hour (necessary to make the ends meet). Customers generally will not pay for anything more than "fix it and get it the heck back to me." There will always be the occasional unit that just keeps snapping at your heels. It happens to the best of us techs. That is why I do not do this stuff to try to make a living. I never could keep from doing cosmetic detailing, and other tasks not related to the specific issue reported on the work order. A dusty unit would never leave my bench, but then I'm making on the order of 50 cents an hour, considering all of the time I put into a unit.

As for choking on a weird problem, that is par for the course. Those of us that restore generally limit ourselves to a few manufacturers and a few models. We need detailed, product-specific knowledge that comes slowly and with significant difficulty. I work on pieces that others would not touch with a stick (and have told me so), and others work on pieces that I would not touch with a stick. When you are a full time repair/bench tech, you cannot afford to specialize, and will need to fix whatever comes in. In the old days, that meant anything from a toaster to a television. You gotta be pretty good, or you go right out of business. Here on AK, we have a network of specialists. Bench techs may not have the time to peruse hundreds of posts on a forum, and maybe stumble across the key to a persnickety malfunction. If I am not mistaken, most of us, around here, know about the beastly SPEC-2 bias relay because our beloved EchoWars had to fight with one or two funky/weird issues caused by it, in the past, and cared enough to share the learning he obtained from the fight(s) -- Thanks Glenn. And EW has restored countless SPEC-2s. I'm sure he would agree, that, every now and then, you get a piece from the very pit.

I guess I'm just yelping at the perceived nipping at this tech. I know that is not what was intended. But it is the way it could come across, especially if I was that tech and read this thread -- not too far fetched a possibility.

OK. I'm off my soap box now, and I did not mean to offend or chastise anyone participating in this thread.

Enjoy,
Rich P
 
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^^^^^^^

(The name of the tech & his business have been purposely replaced with **** because I don’t want to trash anybody's reputation in a public forum without giving them an opportunity to state their side of story)

This is from the techs website...

********* has over 30 years experience in the stereo equipment business.

"****** opened ******* in 1992 after working for other stereo businesses here in the ***** area. We buy,sell and repair home audio equipment and specialize in audio built in the 1970's .I have a whole store full of vintage receivers,power amps,preamps,reel-reel and cassette recorders as well as speakers,cd players and turntables for sale..I have extensive knowedge of the 1970's gear.”



Do you think they should know how to work on “Spec Gear?” And does taking 30 seconds to spray out decades of dust really affect ones bottom line? Or does it show that they don’t care much about the gear or the customers who bring their vintage gear to him to be repaired?:dunno:

I think generally that anybody that owns a Pioneer Spec set up is not your every day Walmart electronics dept audio consumer.
They buy & try to keep this gear running because they appreciate that what they have is something special in design & build quality that isn’t seen often anymore except in very hi-end or boutique gear.:music:

I expect to pay a fair price when I have work done & to have quality repairs & workmanship done in return.
I don’t think that is asking too much.
YMMV
PQ
 
Even so: You can look-up almost any audio issue related to 70's Pioneer gear and it leads to the Audiokarma site for, in most cases a detailed plan of attack. Granted, a few minutes of research but you should think a seasoned tech should be able to decipher it quickly.

Also: A guy trying to make a living can't spend much time on anything that takes more than a few minutes of troubleshooting especially if there are easier fixes and flips in the Que. I've seen this first hand from a good friend trying to turn his audio hobby into a small living.
 
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