Luxman Suck Face Stack - My Restoration

[Recaptcha]

Welp, I've done it. I've completely gotten into the RX-103.




It looks quite bad, but trust me, it's organized chaos... I think. I've removed all of the relays and dodgy switches. I have replacements for all of them on order, even the ones I was puzzled about earlier. They are coming in soon. I want to replace all of the relays, good or bad, as relays have a limited lifespan and the coils burn after this much use... and this receiver was used a lot. I have two relays that are iffy for sure. After I get the switches and relays done, I'll move to the suck face and then the recap. I'll of course share the part numbers of the switches and relays as I verify that they are suitable.

Also, another important note, I've upgraded my soldering operation. For the past 10 years, I've been using one of these:



This is an UngarMatic Soldering Station. It was my dad's from when he repaired TVs long ago. It doesn't work super well anymore and has never had a tip change. It also looks wore out lol. Anyways, I went down to MicroCenter, and bought some things:



I figured it was time to invest in some proper tools. This is a Hakko fx-888dx and Hakko fr-301. I actually used the fr-301 on the remote to remove all those buttons. Worked a treat!! I also used it to remove all these relays. Life changing. Not pro quality stuff, but high quality for sure.

 

[Sansuiman]

A good soldering (and desoldering) rig is a thing of great beauty and usefulness. Failure to invest in those when doing this sort of work is to cause one's self unnecessary aggravation and wasted time. They certainly packed that chassis full, didn't they? Kind of makes me think of the Luxman D-03 CD players (circa 1984) I've worked on; magnificent decks with stacked boards and interconnects everywhere. Certainly not made with serviceability as a major consideration.

I think you are quite wise to shotgun all those relays. I still see people on here (in various forums) advocating for cleaning relay contacts. That might buy you some time, but we are often talking about gear here that is 40-50 years old now, and relays are neither all that costly (when considering the overall investment in a restoration), nor usually too difficult to source (obsolete types excepted, obviously) so I don't understand the reluctance to just replace them. They are mechanical devices, and they do wear with heavy use, beyond just the oxidation and pitting that form on the contact points. As far as I'm concerned, there is never a case where replacing a relay won't be better than cleaning an old one, unless one is substituting a substandard part for the original.

 

[Recaptcha]

A good soldering (and desoldering) rig is a thing of great beauty and usefulness. Failure to invest in those when doing this sort of work is to cause one's self unnecessary aggravation and wasted time. They certainly packed that chassis full, didn't they? Kind of makes me think of the Luxman D-03 CD players (circa 1984) I've worked on; magnificent decks with stacked boards and interconnects everywhere. Certainly not made with serviceability as a major consideration.

I think you are quite wise to shotgun all those relays. I still see people on here (in various forums) advocating for cleaning relay contacts. That might buy you some time, but we are often talking about gear here that is 40-50 years old now, and relays are neither all that costly (when considering the overall investment in a restoration), nor usually too difficult to source (obsolete types excepted, obviously) so I don't understand the reluctance to just replace them. They are mechanical devices, and they do wear with heavy use, beyond just the oxidation and pitting that form on the contact points. As far as I'm concerned, there is never a case where replacing a relay won't be better than cleaning an old one, unless one is substituting a substandard part for the original.

Yeah I totally agree. While I never had an issue with soldering on the old Ungar, it became clear I was screwed if I wanted to desolder anything more than a capacitor or resistor. Being as that I've never done something this big, I finally decided to pony up some cash. Hey, it also feels good using nice things .. feels like I earned them!

Relays have been a source of frustration for me in years past, so I've learned to replace them early on. For all relays except one, I've got all new Omron parts from Mouser that are rated as good or better than the originals. One of them (speaker protection relay) is a weirdo, and needs an adapter so a modern equivalent will fit. As far as the switches go, I found a seller on AliExpress selling new (replica?) speaker switches for a obsolete Alps part. I'm a little skeptical, but we'll see when they show up.

The complicated nature of this beast discouraged me from wanting to tackle it. I've found once I got in, it's easier than I thought. Instead of removing all the wires, I'm trying to just hinge boards out of the way gently. As @mrehorst mentioned in his blog and on this thread, the sub chassis with the computer stuff has me really anxious... but I was anxious about other things and we eventually got there. I think his blog will help a lot.

I'll end this post on this note, I originally intended to have a hifi shop do this work, as I have always been a reluctant technician. But, the shop Luxman America linked me with wanted well over $2000 to restore just one of these pieces, and that was a conservative estimate they said. All of that was inconsequential because the shop added they wouldn't want to take on this unit for any amount of money. Kinda frank with me, but whatever. I don't think I've spent even a third of that amount on parts. I'm glad I've taken it on, it's really challenged my beginner skills.

 

[evilstue]

I have an RX101 with a working suck face and the matching linear turntable. I would love a full stack! You are a lucky guy!

 

[Recaptcha]

Let's replace the relays and dodgy switches on the RX-103.



The new switches arrived from AliExpress today, and they look nearly indistinguishable from the originals. They are undeniably less beige, but otherwise identical even down to the ALPS logo engraving. I took both the old switch and new switches apart (to examine and compare quality) and found that the contacts on the old switch have turned black, and the new ones are shiny and bright. You can see from the AliExpress listing photos that the new switches came with a metal bracket on each part, but the original switches were bare and placed in one big metal bracket. So I carefully bent back the metal tabs and retrofitted them in-place. They were a perfect fit:



Now, they are ready to go back into the unit. FYI, the part here is an ALPS SPUN126800. It is described as a 'self-locking' switch. As far as I know, apart from the AliExpress listing, you cannot get this part anymore... and this part I suspect is aftermarket and not from ALPS... they aren't poor quality, but there are just a few subtle differences that lead me to believe someone other than ALPS made this.



Here's what the switches look like on the speaker board... factory original and clean. Functionality wise, they work great and solved my intermittent speaker switch issue entirely. These have a stronger clicking action than the originals and a super reliable audio connection... feels like new. I hope this one company keeps making these for years to come, because future readers of this post could be SOL.



Moving on to the first relay, which is the main speaker protection relay. What I have pictured here is the replacement equivalent for the original OMRON G2Z-222P-US. That original part hasn't been made in YEARS, and someone on eBay has been a Good Samaritan by carefully working out a modern replacement plus building an adapter board to make it work. Now, what's even more rare is, this relay is the 12V coil version, not the more common 24v variant. So the contact voltage is 24v, but the coil voltage is 12v. Keep that in mind if you order your own. This replacement relay the seller chose to use is a SONGLE SMI-12VDC-SL-2A, and that is the part you must have (along with the adapter).



I can confirm that the new relay works beautifully. It's much quieter than the original... so much so that at first I thought it wasn't clicking at all, but if you get quiet you can still hear a good click. Sound wise, everything sounds great, no problems. In this picture above, I have the entire speaker board shown, with new switches, relay, and also it's been recapped. (I recapped it early because it's so hard to get to)



The next relay is this OMRON G4W-1112P-US-TV8, used for the switched outlets on the rear of the unit... so not used for sound at all, but for auxiliary power. Mouser straight up still sells this part new, and in a 12V version, so I just ordered up 2, which is the number required. These are louder than the new speaker relay, but are still ~60% quieter than the old ones were. Nothing to report here, these work great also, and the switched power outlets still operate as expected.



Here you can see the two relays and where they are situated. It really feels nice getting all of these replaced, and I feel confident that they will function for decades.



Last relay. These are used throughout the unit for input switching and muting. I believe that this one is used for the tape monitor... although I haven't verified this with the schematics. The original part is a OMRON G2V-2-US-DC12. This was the rarest and oldest part... that hasn't been made in over 20 years. In fact, it is so old that the 2 consecutive updated parts are also not made anymore! You can find SOME G2V-2 relays on eBay, but they are always either the 5V version or the 24V version, which of course will not work. To add insult to injury, this is the 'US' version, which refers to 'Ultra-Sensitive'. This has something to do with the impedance/resistance of the coil windings. Long story short, through much research, I found that there is a modern part you can get from Mouser that will work... the OMRON G5V-2-H1. I'm not sure why the old one was 'G2V', and the new 'G5V', but OMRONs model codes have changed so much since the original one was in production to where now 'H1' designates ultra sensitive. So, make sure you get the 'H1' version, not the 'H' or blank designation.

These relays work amazingly well. Super quiet, very quick to operate, and they make the receiver feel very slick when switching inputs.



Last thing I wanted to do was tackle the Suckface. Good news is, a HiFi shop already replaced the belt back in 2011, so I didn't bother since it was working so well. The problem I had was with that darn micro switch again. Sometimes it would engage, other times it would keep cycling for awhile until it finally engaged. I ended up doing the same thing to this mecha that I did to the KX-102... put in that new OMRON switch and use a metal rod to keep it in-place. Refer back to an older post on the Cassette deck for more on that.

 

[Recaptcha]

It's very important that I test all of these new parts thoroughly before proceeding with the full recap I have planned. Here is the receiver fully re-assembled and working flawlessly, with all new relays and speaker selection switches!



Once I know there aren't any undesired effects of my work, I'll recap this beast, and it will be good for another 100k miles!

EDIT: Here are all of the old relays from the RX-103, plus one more G2V I just now pulled & replaced in the GX-101:

 

[Blue Shadow]

Replacing relays is the right way to go. Many are going the way of Nichicon small diameter electrolytic caps, eol, and cleaning only refreshes them leaving the damaged contact surface. When that surface is done so is the relay and the part might not be available in the future when you have to have a replacement.

 

[Recaptcha]

Things got a little more interesting today. A few months back, I found a Luxman D-405 CD player on eBay for ~$50 untested. It showed up and had melted tray belt, and after replacing the belt and getting to actual test it... it acted totally erratic. Clicking laser, disc spins super fast, crazy. I finally got time today to breakout the oscilloscope and test. Long story short, the pots on the main board were all maxed out, so after reading the eye pattern and adjusting down the focus balance and tracking gain, it sprung to life. If this thing keeps working reliably, I'll add it to the recap list, but I'm skeptical of a laser from 1984. Anyways, it's sounding and looking good now so that's a confirmed win.

This player doesn't have its box which bugs me, but it does have the manuals. It's a tiny bit newer than the suck face components, but it kinda matches I suppose.

 

[Blue Shadow]

It's a tiny bit newer than the suck face components, but it kinda matches I suppose.

With 97.5874% of all cdps being black, having silver, same brand name and a year newer is a matching unit in my book. Hope it keeps playing for years. Not only a year newer but one of the early CDPs from Lux. They did not have one in the suckface era which was just before CDs showed up to take over the market.

 

[Recaptcha]

Ok, so it's been awhile! I have been rigorously testing the setup for a good (almost month?) and I can honestly say it's working great! Not a glitch to be seen... no crackles, pops, or random weirdness to be seen (or heard). I have posted a quick update video here for you... sadly, you have to put up with the weirdness that is my voice. Sorry

Sound wise, my phone's camera does an awesome job making it sound thin and lifeless, but I promise (famous last words), it sounds better in person!

 

[damacman]

Very well done. I enjoyed the thread and video. What a great setup!

 

[Aerobat]

Ok, so it's been awhile! I have been rigorously testing the setup for a good (almost month?) and I can honestly say it's working great! Not a glitch to be seen... no crackles, pops, or random weirdness to be seen (or heard). I have posted a quick update video here for you... sadly, you have to put up with the weirdness that is my voice. Sorry

Sound wise, my phone's camera does an awesome job making it sound thin and lifeless, but I promise (famous last words), it sounds better in person!

Great video and system, have you tried the phono pre in the receiver?

 

[Recaptcha]

Great video and system, have you tried the phono pre in the receiver?

I have actually! BOTH MM and MC have been tested and work as expected. I uhh, am having difficulties getting the turntable I want... ordered 2 and both arrived destroyed in shipping. Hopefully very soon, I'll have the turntable I want added in, but I'd say the recap to the receiver is coming sooner than that.

 

[Recaptcha]

Very well done. I enjoyed the thread and video. What a great setup!

Thanks much!

 

[Apatheon]

What incandescent bulbs did you go with for replacing the old ones? I have a CX-100, RX-103, TX-101 (2), MX-100, and KX-102 that all can use some upgraded lights that aren't LEDs. In addition to this, I got the PX-101 and D-405. Currently suffering, trying to replace the belts on the KX-102 tape deck, I don't want to take it apart and get lost.

 

[Recaptcha]

What incandescent bulbs did you go with for replacing the old ones? I have a CX-100, RX-103, TX-101 (2), MX-100, and KX-102 that all can use some upgraded lights that aren't LEDs. In addition to this, I got the PX-101 and D-405. Currently suffering, trying to replace the belts on the KX-102 tape deck, I don't want to take it apart and get lost.

I think the bulbs are quite uncommon. I got them on eBay from this listing. The KX-102 isn't terribly hard to service, you just have to be confident with it and very detailed about every move you make. You should make a new thread about these, I'm sure we'd all love to see them!

Incidentally, I haven't started on my recap of the RX-103, because honestly it's been working great, and I've had lots of life stuff getting in the way... like working.

 

[Bone Yard]

Beautiful stereo and great write up the only Luxman I've ever seen up close was a curb find in Paris and I didn't have room to stash it. The just don't show up around here.