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Concept Receivers Question

monsterzero

monsterzero

Member
I grew up in SoCal listening to the Old Mans Concept receiver.I was thinking about getting one,but I am now living in New York.

The go to guy out here has never worked on a Concept and doesnt know if he has the parts to properly recap and maintain it.

Does anyone know who made Concept for Pacific Stereo,and were the electronics used proprietary,or were they made with easy to get parts?
 
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Working on a Concept is easier than most. They stick to a regimented set of capacitor values, for example, nothing too odd, and certainly nothing your tech won't have seen before. The boards are often modular and can be removed. The only service problems I can think of are low quality service manuals (if available at all), 40mm bulk caps on some models (these are getting hard to find), and the later digital models used STK amp modules.

They are kind of nice to work on, actually.

Not sure who the contract manufacturer was. They were designed in-house, that's my understanding, and almost certainly built in Japan (or Korea).
 
5.5 is TO-3 also (I've got one). I believe the 4.5 is too. The smaller ones might have used something smaller (e.g. TO-220), but still discrete I believe.
 
The 2.5 and 4.5 do not have speaker relays so they are no go for me. Not sure about the older 2.0 or 3.5. I wish I had kept my 6.5, it was a gem of a receiver. My 16.5 is still around, it is a keeper.
 
thanks for the input guys...Im taking my Sansui 881 over to see him tomorrow and will show him this thread.Hopefully your input will change his mind as he seems to be the only game in town to service vintage gear,and ultimately if he says no,I cant pick one up.
 
If you can find a schematic for a particular model, it can be serviced...assuming parts are available. Present the schematic to your tech before you pose your question.
 
Service manuals don't exist as far as I know.

Every one I worked on was straight forward.

A restoration tech that can cross reference transisters would have little problem.

A bench tech that can only replace exact parts and doesn't understand simple bias and offset would be worthless.

I am amazed at what passes as a good tech. Your tech's hesitation may indicate a problem or just a caution against the unknown.
 
If he is expressing his own limitations I would say at least he is being honest.

Whether to have him do the job or not ? I dunno, let him look at the thing if you're going to have it anyway. Call make sure he is there, take the lid off yourself but don't touch anything and put the screws in a ziplock bag. Take the whole schmalz up there and simply ask him to look at how it is built and tell you if he wants to work on it. Respecting his time and yours, and if he does not want to do it we go from there.

Many of us know shipping is a bitch and they break alot of stuff. There are good people all over the place on here. I can tell you I can do just about anything, but if you live in bumfukt Egypt somewhere, that means nothing. (I think I can say that about Egypt here because music is illegal there isn't it ? )

I work for factory service and I can tellya, remember the Samsonite luggage commercial ? They must do that every day. I got one amp they dropped right on the bottom of the box so the damage was insidious, no dents. but the circuit board inside broke off a couple of its mounts because it has a big heatsink on it. If I would have designed it I would have made the mounting different but they didn't. But still, the force to do this was unreasonable. We should not have to pack things to survive a friggin jet crash into Mt. Rushmore. Bullshit.

New York is a long drive to here. There should be someone closer. If not, call me.
 
Want to thank everyone who chimed in on this thread.Showed my tech this thread,and after he read it he said:

"Ok,so its not like working on a Ferarri...yeah this wont be a problem"

So now to another question:

The highest Concept ive seen for sale is a 5.5. I am primarily wanting it to drive headphones.Do all the Concepts have the same sound signature?I really have no need for a 16.0,or an 11.0,unless they have a totally,more desirable sound signature than a 5.5.
 
There were three generations of Concept receivers. The first gen were the 2.0, 3.5, and 5.5. The second gen were the 2.5, 4.5, 6.5, 11.0, and 16.5. The third gen were the 4.5D, 7.5D, and 12.0D. IMO, the second generation models were the best. They were made in Japan while the third gen receivers were Korean.

I would say the 6.5 is the right receiver for you. Being a second gen receiver, it will have some useful improvements over the 5.5. Skip the 2.5 and 4.5 as they do not have speaker protection, which IMO is very important for running vintage gear. The 12.0D should be considered for price and performance. It is a true Monster at 120 wpc and the FM only tuner is very well executed. It is fully synthesized and very fast, unlike many other first generation digital tuners.

As far as sound goes, Concepts were designed by the great Richard Schramm who went on to further fame at Parasound. He emphasized clarity and speed in Concepts, a philosophy carried over to Parasound. Most will sound similar, the exception being the 16.5 which is a beast.
 
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I have a lowly 2.0 and it sounds wonderful.

My 4.5 rocks.

The 16.5 is sweet but seriously, unless you are lighting up the house, a small one is all you need.

I would not pass up any you find at a good price.
 
I would not pass on a good buy for a 5.5, Sam's comments not withstanding. I've owned & worked on both and thought the 5.5 held its own. The 11.0 and 16.5 are truly special, though.

The owner of the Tapeheads.net forum holds parts and service info for these receivers, was the head of the Pacific Stereo repair center before it closed. He does fabulous restoration work on these models, makes them better than new. He isn't all that interested in selling parts or providing service info but if you want one restored to tip-top shape he's the guy to ask.

John
 
Not specifically, but knowing the guy as I do I am sure it's well worth it. He cares about these products and is a craftsman, and has the right stuff to do the job correctly. That combination of things is rarely inexpensive in my experience.

There are some good threads on Tapeheads showing receiver restoration projects he's completed, including some Concept pieces.

Can also recommend Tinman here on AK, he actually did the service work on some of the Concept receivers I've had at my place, I did the other couple myself but am not looking to take on any projects these days.

Both are located wrong side of the country for the OP but if you want that expertise it's worth shipping the receivers here.

John
 
jdurbin1 said:
I would not pass on a good buy for a 5.5, Sam's comments not withstanding. I've owned & worked on both and thought the 5.5 held its own. The 11.0 and 16.5 are truly special, though.

The owner of the Tapeheads.net forum holds parts and service info for these receivers, was the head of the Pacific Stereo repair center before it closed. He does fabulous restoration work on these models, makes them better than new. He isn't all that interested in selling parts or providing service info but if you want one restored to tip-top shape he's the guy to ask.

John
Click to expand...

That guy does epic restores. Check out his photo essays:

http://www.pacificstereo.net/
 
SoCal Sam said:
That guy does epic restores. Check out his photo essays:

http://www.pacificstereo.net/
Click to expand...

I emailed him and he got back to me in short order:

"
Thanks for the contact. The Concept 5.5 and 6.5 are virtually identical, with the exception that the 6.5 has a better phono preamp in it and has 10 more watts per channel (65 vs 55). From a topology standpoint, they are virtually identical, and the 5.5 will perfectly adequate for headphones and many different types of speakers. I would not be able to help with pricing. I also don't have any for sale.

Do please thank whoever sent you to me!

Thanks,

-PS"

Does anyone here know a fair price for 5.5 or 6.5?
 
Low side $150 for one in decent shape, these days may have to add another $100-$150 to that. Prices have been going up on these.

John
 
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