MX130 All decked out in LED's!

[hadrian333]

This MX130 now has no incandescent lamps. Replaced them all with 8 Northridge Electronics 12VAC LED lamps. No soldering necessary and no polarity on the LED's. No modifications necesary. Simple as pie!

 

[Snoober]

Looks great! Thanks for the type of bulb too, as I will likely follow your lead and replace my MX130 bulbs as well.

 

[jlovda]

I have a related question. I own one of these preamps. There are two areas on the front panel on either side of the tuner window that are quite dim, as if something is blocking the light in these areas. Have you seen this with your unit?

Thanks

 

[Melsmcintosh]

I have the same issue with the dimness next to the turner with my MX130.
How difficult is removing the front panel? Do the switches along the bottom and access door pose problems?

 

[guest109]

I could have sworn I just posted to this, oh well, I'll try again. Is 500.00 a good price for a MX130?

 

[Snoober]

I have a related question. I own one of these preamps. There are two areas on the front panel on either side of the tuner window that are quite dim, as if something is blocking the light in these areas. Have you seen this with your unit?

Thanks

I had the balanced output version (defective), and it was exchanged for the 6 channel version. That dim portion was there on both versions.

Hi hobie,

$500. is steal for the unit. I paid $900. for the balanced output version (older version). The 6 channel version was $1100. but I wasn't charged the extra $200.

 

[markd51]

I also own an MX-130. Mine is not the balnced output version, has 50 FM Presets, some I understand only had 11.

Could you possibly provide some more info, about the company (I could not find any info), about the specific model # Lamps, and if not too much trouble, a close estimate of the cost of Lamps?
Thank you. Mark

 

[hadrian333]

I have a related question. I own one of these preamps. There are two areas on the front panel on either side of the tuner window that are quite dim, as if something is blocking the light in these areas. Have you seen this with your unit?

Thanks

I didn't notice any dead spots on the panel on the MX130 but perhaps some of the bulbs in your preamp are not working. You can take the top cover off the unit and turn on the unit and verify that all 8 lamps are working. If they are working fine, there must be something obstructing the light from spreading evenly across the glass front panel.

 

[hadrian333]

I have the same issue with the dimness next to the turner with my MX130.
How difficult is removing the front panel? Do the switches along the bottom and access door pose problems?

To replace the lamps, the lower row of switches do not have to come off since they are on a different printed circuit board. Replacing the lamps took me about 45 minutes because no soldering is necessary.

 

[hadrian333]

I also own an MX-130. Mine is not the balnced output version, has 50 FM Presets, some I understand only had 11.

Could you possibly provide some more info, about the company (I could not find any info), about the specific model # Lamps, and if not too much trouble, a close estimate of the cost of Lamps?
Thank you. Mark

You can purchase the LED's from at ebay at:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190649138195&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

 

[markd51]

Thanks for the Link.

To ask further, about details on installation, I gather the front Faceplate is removed?

Just would like asking the brief rundown on what gets removed-taken apart?

I'm assuming all Rotary Knobs, the two End Caps, the Outer Case, then access can be gained for further removal of other retaining Screws?

The lower row of Pushbuttons, do the then come away with the front Faceplate? Are they just plug in with Contacts, a Ribbon Cable, or?

I do notice a slight bit of hazing-clouding on my Unit at the clear glass area for the digital readout for station presets, etc, and would perhaps like to clean this area.

Any further info would be of great help, thanks, Mark

 

[capt.chaos]

Very cool!

 

[hadrian333]

Thanks for the Link.

To ask further, about details on installation, I gather the front Faceplate is removed?

Just would like asking the brief rundown on what gets removed-taken apart?

I'm assuming all Rotary Knobs, the two End Caps, the Outer Case, then access can be gained for further removal of other retaining Screws?

The lower row of Pushbuttons, do the then come away with the front Faceplate? Are they just plug in with Contacts, a Ribbon Cable, or?

I do notice a slight bit of hazing-clouding on my Unit at the clear glass area for the digital readout for station presets, etc, and would perhaps like to clean this area.

Any further info would be of great help, thanks, Mark

The whole front panel assy was removed from the rest of the unit and cables do need to be disconnected to remove the front panel assy. Knobs do have to come off and the upper pcb have to be removed from the glass front panel. I didn't remove the end caps nor the lower rows of pushbuttons. I'm sure there's many ways to skin the cat but that's how I changed my lamps. Be careful with the glass front panel because it cracks really easy. Cheers!

 

[jlovda]

The whole front panel assy was removed from the rest of the unit and cables do need to be disconnected to remove the front panel assy. Knobs do have to come off and the upper pcb have to be removed from the glass front panel. I didn't remove the end caps nor the lower rows of pushbuttons. I'm sure there's many ways to skin the cat but that's how I changed my lamps. Be careful with the glass front panel because it cracks really easy. Cheers!

Why does the front panel need to be removed? The little white bulbs can be pulled out of their rubber grommets with tiny pliers after the white sockets are pulled away. All you need do is remove the cover.

 

[jlovda]

I didn't notice any dead spots on the panel on the MX130 but perhaps some of the bulbs in your preamp are not working. You can take the top cover off the unit and turn on the unit and verify that all 8 lamps are working. If they are working fine, there must be something obstructing the light from spreading evenly across the glass front panel.

Someone else had the same problem. I think the problem is that the bulb(s) that light up that area are behind the Mcintosh logo and the two upper corners of the tuner window are blocking the light to those spots.

 

[hadrian333]

Why does the front panel need to be removed? The little white bulbs can be pulled out of their rubber grommets with tiny pliers after the white sockets are pulled away. All you need do is remove the cover.

I removed the front panel because when I was trying to remove the original light from the rear, the glass portion of the lamp cracked on me. The new LED's have a slightly lower diameter so I put a dab of silicone glue on each one of them so that's it's perfectly vertical with respect to the front panel.