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Does a Recap Destroy Value?

S

srunge55

Active Member
Hi All,

I kind of have a dilemma. I bought a Fairchild 248 preamp to go with my Fairchild 275 amps (which have been recapped). For the 248 to be up to spec it would need a recap. Will this destroy its value? I bought the preamp to use but also paid a pretty penny for it and don't want to destroy a rare collector piece.

I guess I thought buying an old piece of gear and making it work like new would enhance the value. Maybe I'm wrong? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve
 
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Personally getting it working at its best is a plus in my book and would add to the value.
Keep the old parts so when and if you sell it the new owner can have them and put them back if they so chose.
I say rebuild it and enjoy those great pieces of audio history. It's why you bought them.
Some pics would be nice too. :thumbsup:
 
Agreed. You need to do an excellent job or hire someone. In terms of value, I believe it is misguided to own these things in such a mentality that the mystery future owners, unknown priorities, concern you much. You don't know who might buy it, and every potential buyer will have different priorities. Put your parts in a sack, and if the new owner wants to put it back, they have that option. Working amps which sound good and which I can use worry free, any time I want is my goal, so I rebuild them properly, with my "shotgun" set for maximum spread. I do this for my pleasure, not to try and prioritize the wacky opinions of other people which are all over the map, and charting a course to Mars.


If its inop now, fixing it well will provide you with a fantastic preamp for as long as you want to keep it. The years of musical enjoyment is the value. It will go up in value over the decades, provided the work is done cleanly without "mods" and you refrain from running it over with a truck.
Build it out right, and enjoy it.
 
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To me, an original 60 year old Vintage Amp/Preamp is worth 15-35% less than a properly restored/working piece.
Of course one that has great cosmetics will always bring sometimes 30-50% more.
 
I've occasionally sold vintage pieces. People say they want "original condition" but then they ask, "Is it working perfectly?" Well, pick one. ;-) I think a respectful and discrete restoration is the best thing to do, especially if you intend to use it yourself. Down the road, someone who really values that piece will be glad that it's been restored, and not a mess of dried-out leaky caps and out-of-spec resistors.
 
Unfortunately the last 20 years of collecting have taken a toll on a lot of this old equipment, we're going to reach a point where nearly everything is going to need some sort of tune-up. The good news is they made millions of most of it so the real purist will find units that have never been taken apart but the reality is most of us want a good sounding unit that will last another 30 years.

I'm hoping that more repair shops come on line, at the rate vintage audio is going up in value, good repair shops with fast turn-around seem like that could be profitable. I still use all of the functions on my equipment, I've even got a TV transmitter for my Watchmans, I see a market for vintage audio well into the future.
 
Yeah, for consideration of a resale I'd keep the reconditioning to using closest equivalent new parts. Leave the mods/tweaks/tricks up to the next owner...
 
Maxamillion said:
For most people these days, the garbageman is the repair shop. Everything is disposable.

My wife actually got annoyed with me for fixing our microwave and dishwasher. She preferred to get new ones...
Click to expand...

Most people are not equipped to fix electronics or even a lot of electrical or mechanical stuff. And the cost for a repair shop to do it in many cases eclipses the value of the unit. So, yeah, in many cases for most people, the most practical choice is to toss it (hopefully where they have electronics recycling).
 
Unless it's a shelf queen or there's something verifiably unique about it, there's little reason to keep original components. Unlike baseball cards, these things have the power to burn down your house.

Restored mono amps not part of a pair are an exception since there's about a million different permutations out there depending on component choices and age/wear, it's just easier to start with an original unit.
 
It's a catch 22, some folks want a "Bone Stock" unit in it's original state and are willing to either do the recap and as @whoaru99 mentioned the "mods/tweaks/tricks" themselves or have a tech they know and trust do it.

On the other hand you will have folks who don't know how to or don't have access to a tech to do the work and are willing to pay for that service to already have been done.

In the case of Fairchild from what I've read they are few and far between with regards to acquirement which leads me to believe there is not that much documentation on recapping and "mods/tweaks/tricks" compared to say a Maggy 93XX series amp.

I wonder how many potential buyer out there would even know what constitutes a proper "recap" or if they could even notice it.
 
It'll affect its status as a time capsule if otherwise 100% original.
I have a couple of time capsules I don't use that are ok as such. The stuff I use has as few age related problems as possible.
 
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Before you hire a "tech" to use whatever components the tech decides are the least expensive, and thus the most profitable, or most appropriate, and use whatever procedures the tech has adopted as standard, I suggest reading on AK about upgrades and how techs may not have your best interests at heart or have the requisite knowledge to restore fancier pieces.

The research includes exactly what electrolytic capacitors are to be used to replace the dessicated cans in the power supply, as quality and lifespan varies, and what polypropylene-film capacitors to use in place of PIO capacitors, as many techs use inexpensive capacitors of inferior quality. (Polyester is a common capacitor as it has lower cost than polypropylene.) Poor component choice results in poor sound and poor lifespan, but greater enrichment of the tech.

I also suggest you research both (a) carefully disassembling and restuffing the aluminum cans to preserve the original look, or (b) under-chassis placement for the capacitors in the power supply whilst leaving the original cans in situ. A bad restuffing will be highly noticeable as will ripping out the originals and installing noticeably different replacements. By the time your unit comes back mutilated the situation is too late to fix.

I also suggest you have all of the resistor values measured, as carbon-composition resistors may substantial upwards drift in value (sometimes twice the original value printed on the resistor) and this may result in circuit malfunction. Metal film resistors will be far lower noise and are the superior choice. The purported "techs" often spout utter nonsense about the superiority of carbon composition (typically nonsense about nanoHenries of inductance, and I've elsewhere written about that if you care), and charge more for inferior components. That's the name of the game: upselling and substitution for profit.

Finally, inexpensive diodes may be installed to reduce the stress on an expensive rectifier (I've elsewhere provided a choice of suitable diodes with low Qrr for about $1.50 apiece), fuses may be added to protect the Secondary windings of the power transformer and the rectifier, and diodes may be added to protect the output transformer from unloaded operation which can occur. The transformers are unobtanium, except at great expense.

AK is chock full of the information you need, and it is well worth a few hours of research.

Abdicating such choices will result in your museum piece poorly performing, or even being damaged or destroyed.

I'm sure someone will take issue with the above, but research and take your own counsel.
 
From the view of someone buying old magnavoxes to restore it seems that an original untouched unit brings more money than one that has been "restored" on "that" auction site. I would rather mod or restore one in original condition. It also seems that one even with a nice looking restoration doesn't bring the money they should. IMHO
 
markmcmuz said:
From the view of someone buying old magnavoxes to restore it seems that an original untouched unit brings more money than one that has been "restored" on "that" auction site. I would rather mod or restore one in original condition. It also seems that one even with a nice looking restoration doesn't bring the money they should. IMHO
Click to expand...

I think the issue here is that followers of this forum know what to do with a stock Magnavox amp, thanks to Dave Gillespie's promotion of these pieces. A restored version is probably not of much interest to the wider field of consumers of tube equipment. They're also relatively simple amps that a skilled amateur can work on.

OTOH, I have a Scott Stereomaster 340 sitting here, a beautiful piece. Except for replacing the selenium bias rectifier, it is fully stock and in good working condition. So, who wants this? Someone who wants to spend umpteen hours doing a full refurb? A tube fan who heard that Scott receivers were great, but who hardly wants to spend several hundred dollars and umpteen hours restoring it *after* they've paid for it? It surely should be updated, but for who and at what price?
 
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