Help with Counterpoint NP220

[E9GUY]

I'm hopping someone here has solid knowledge on repairing these older Counterpoint amps.

My current amp is an upgraded SA20 to NP220 status. Was recently "tuned"rebiased after all new tubes installed. It's been great for about two months after. Past day or so had a faint high pitch buzz at turn on That faded in 5 seconds untill yesterday. Was playing and then wham, no music and constant loud flutter is all that would come out. One of the many fuses (7) F2 is damaged and seems to be a different amp rating than all the rest.

Does anyone have a diagram for a NP220 so I can at least replace the blown fuse with the correct amperage fuse??
Or
Recommend a service shop that actually knows what to do with tuning this?

I no longer trust the local repair guy.
Thanks for any and all help.

 

[Drummerboy2]

First, what tubes were put in the Counterpoint N220 amp? Also were are you located?

I had a New Northern Electric (TJ Full Music) do this exact same thing but it didn't blow a fuse. I got a replacement and has been good ever since. It has over 150 hours on it now.

Now that Mike Eliott is retired from audio and the tech that actually did the upgrades does not work on the gear anymore either it going to be hard to find someone good to work on this amp. Did you get a Service Manual or schematics for it? I know it's a totally different beast from the original SA-20 amp. It just may need a new tube and rebias.

Do you have the tube/s that was in the amp before the new tubes were put in? You could try that with a new fuse just to see if it was the tube. Does it have the 9 pin or Octal tubes?

 

[E9GUY]

First, what tubes were put in the Counterpoint N220 amp? Also were are you located?

I had a New Northern Electric (TJ Full Music) do this exact same thing but it didn't blow a fuse. I got a replacement and has been good ever since. It has over 150 hours on it now.

Now that Mike Eliott is retired from audio and the tech that actually did the upgrades does not work on the gear anymore either it going to be hard to find someone good to work on this amp. Did you get a Service Manual or schematics for it? I know it's a totally different beast from the original SA-20 amp. It just may need a new tube and rebias.

Do you have the tube/s that was in the amp before the new tubes were put in? You could try that with a new fuse just to see if it was the tube. Does it have the 9 pin or Octal tubes?

Drummerboy2,

Thanks for your reply,
I had it serviced probably two or three months back. The tech installed Tung-Sol 6sn7s and a new rectifier and rebiased it. This specific amp is the low gain version as I understand it meaning it requires a preamp with a higher output than the current pre's currently offer. As such, it hasn't been driven hard at all being fed a lower input signal.

I dont have any service or manuals as I got it second hand. I believe they are 9 pin. and the tubes we replaced were toast according to the tech.

***Do you ( or anyone else ) know what fuse is supposed to be in the F2 position?? as the one that was there is not the same amperage as the other three on the same circuit board. I want to be sure I replace it with the correct fuse and not just recreate the same situation.

Also, how would I know which upgrade level it got when it was changed to a NP? i cant find any info about the different upgrade stages or the pricing from Ulta Vista.

Unfortunately, I don't want to take it back to the last tech. Does anyone know someone trustworthy in Portland Oregon??

The real unfortunate part is that I know Mike Elliott lives in the next town over, or did in the last few years. If only I could find him and beg for a tune-up =D

Thanks again for the help

 

[Drummerboy2]

Drummerboy2,

Thanks for your reply,
I had it serviced probably two or three months back. The tech installed Tung-Sol 6sn7s and a new rectifier and rebiased it. This specific amp is the low gain version as I understand it meaning it requires a preamp with a higher output than the current pre's currently offer. As such, it hasn't been driven hard at all being fed a lower input signal.

I dont have any service or manuals as I got it second hand. I believe they are 9 pin. and the tubes we replaced were toast according to the tech.

***Do you ( or anyone else ) know what fuse is supposed to be in the F2 position?? as the one that was there is not the same amperage as the other three on the same circuit board. I want to be sure I replace it with the correct fuse and not just recreate the same situation.

Also, how would I know which upgrade level it got when it was changed to a NP? i cant find any info about the different upgrade stages or the pricing from Ulta Vista.

Unfortunately, I don't want to take it back to the last tech. Does anyone know someone trustworthy in Portland Oregon??

The real unfortunate part is that I know Mike Elliott lives in the next town over, or did in the last few years. If only I could find him and beg for a tune-up =D

Thanks again for the help

Do you know if these Tung-Sol 6SN7's were the new reissue tubes? If so, it may just be the tube as I have heard some of these reissues can go bad after so many hours. Check the other fuses one by one to see what the values are. There may be a few that are the same so you could just get the value off one of the others. If you could take a pic or two of the fuse/s locations may give us a good reference of what the fuse is for.

As for Mike Eliott, he never touches the soldering iron as he told me once. It was his tech Danny that would do everything. Mike just did the designs.

Alta Vista Audio had the upgrades listed on the site but it has been gone for a while now. The was a guy in San Fransico that used to repair Counterpoint gear. It was listed over on the Agon forum. Look under Green Street Audio thread about a Counterpoint SA-100 modification and the guy's name will come up in one of the post, he is not part of Green Street Audio. There's another guy that goes by Anatech over on the diyaudio.com site that was a counterpoint repair guy as well. He has a lot of experience with Counterpoint gear and has redesigned some of their gear to fix a lot of the issues they had. He may be able to help you out.

I have worked on and repaired some Counterpoint gear but I have never worked on the NP-220 amp.

I hope the info helps.

 

[Drummerboy2]

Drummerboy2,

Thanks for your reply,
I had it serviced probably two or three months back. The tech installed Tung-Sol 6sn7s and a new rectifier and rebiased it. This specific amp is the low gain version as I understand it meaning it requires a preamp with a higher output than the current pre's currently offer. As such, it hasn't been driven hard at all being fed a lower input signal.

I dont have any service or manuals as I got it second hand. I believe they are 9 pin. and the tubes we replaced were toast according to the tech.

***Do you ( or anyone else ) know what fuse is supposed to be in the F2 position?? as the one that was there is not the same amperage as the other three on the same circuit board. I want to be sure I replace it with the correct fuse and not just recreate the same situation.

Also, how would I know which upgrade level it got when it was changed to a NP? i cant find any info about the different upgrade stages or the pricing from Ulta Vista.

Unfortunately, I don't want to take it back to the last tech. Does anyone know someone trustworthy in Portland Oregon??

The real unfortunate part is that I know Mike Elliott lives in the next town over, or did in the last few years. If only I could find him and beg for a tune-up =D

Thanks again for the help

Here's the Thread on Agon. https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/counterpoint-sa20. His Moniker is johnsonwu.

 

[kward]

Also maybe your old tech has a copy of the schematic he would give you if you tell him you want it for future reference.

+1 on looking at the tubes first before concluding it’s poor tech skills.