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Solid State Improvements?

beginnersluk

beginnersluk

Active Member
I am just curious if there are any standard improvements for older solid state. I have this little claricon that has become a pet project and slightly sentimental. I love the sound, but It does not power my speakers quite where they need along with the typical little bit of static and wiggly RCA connections... I am curious as to if it is possible to get more power from receivers, and if upgrading the inputs or anything else is possible or common. I would love simply upgrade everything I can on this unit just for practice on repairs and to make it the best that it can be. Any and all suggestions are greatly welcomed.
 
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Wow, Claricon, with the angled faceplate ?

Nothing to do for more power, but the tone circuit area some new caps you would hear the most change.
 
Mine has a straight faceplate. Is there upgraded caps or just find suitable stock replacements? I am also thinking of just getting better inputs as mine are loose and the rca cables fall out lol
 
Other people know more about what kind of capacitors to use.I just get at least a brand name, panasonic, or Nichicon, not sure if thats spelled right.

but the two areas to mess with would be the power supply section and the signal path, tone, and amp board input caps.

I would not mess with the tuner section, if you have records, then consider the phono section.
but don't just go whacko replacing everything.Do the power supply area first, THEN test the stereo, then another area and recheck it again, don't do a shotgun effect, things go wrong and you will be stuck.
 
I use the AUX input for the television, movies, and music from my ipod and etc. I rarely ever listen to radio and use a different reciever for my turn table
 
Power supply, AMP, Tone Control/preamp. Aux is usually at the end of the signal path with the phono circuit, So you'll need to do the EQ section also. No matter which input you use you'll need to do the same sections.

Larry
 
Alright thank you for the advice guys, I am going to open it up again here tonight or tomorrow and start researching some replacements. I will post again when I have an idea, see if you guys think I am heading in the right path.
 
Claricon Nude

I thought this would help a little in gaining some insight from you folks on what I am suppose to do lol.
 

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In the 1st picture.

The board ACROSS the CENTER, and the larger board in front are the Tuner and MPX boards. The rest are input EQ Board (Upper left corner), Main Amp (Upper Right), Tone Control/preamp (Lower right Front). No idea what the little board on it's edge next to the big caps are.

So you need to recap all the boards except the tuner and MPX. And replace ALL of the "can type" caps. Nichicon UPW for the Power supply and UKL for the rest. For the AXIAL (one lead at each end) you can use Nichicon TVX series. Note that the new caps will be at least 50-75% SMALLER for a given value and voltage.

The two UPRIGHT can caps look to be single section caps. You can either stuff the can's with new caps inside or just install new caps in place. If you do the 2nd option, you can increase the value some, but you'll still have to wrap them with something to act as a spacer to fit the clamps.

Have fun and go slowly, check operation after each board.

Larry
 
Before you start

Same advise I tell anyone willing to listen.

The traces on the OLD PCBs like you have are easily lifted. Too much heat is the worst on them. Next is mechanical movement during removal AND when inserting the new replacements.

Practice on some old junk boards of the same type you have with what ever method you plan on using to desolder BEFORE you think about putting an iron to your unit.

You may have brown glue holding some of the caps to the boards.

Use a quality temperature controlled iron for soldering, you are on a zero mistake path if you want it to look like a quality job when you are done.

Quality tools cost $$, you will never be sorry for the investment in them and they will last a lifetime with a little maintenance. If you go with a desolder station, buy your spare heating element, plenty of tips in different sizes & filters at the same time as they will be hard to find when you need them. Tips for the Wellers should never be a problem as there are so many of them out there. Mine are 25 to 30 years old and still going strong.

Larry's comment on wrapping the new big power supply caps is what I do. Sticky back Weather strip works well for me.
 
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I still have to wait a while to be able to pick up some nice equipment however on my test boards even with just a straight weller soldering iron i am still able to do some decent quality solder joints so i am not too worried there, mostly worried about getting the right parts or actually making improvements not just straight up replacements if that makes sense?
 
Due to the Technological advances in capacitors over the last 40 years, even a straight up swap with base quality caps will show an improvement. Nichicon UPW caps in everything but the signal path and UKL Series (low noise) in the signal path are my usual and customary caps for all of my PIONEER's and Sansui gear. The change is not small by any means. And the noise floor is dropped to basement levels.

Larry
 
I've had a Claricon 36-790 for years now and had it stored away and forgot about it (lost track of it). I was going through stuff, preparing to move after 20 years, and found it. There's not a lot of info, but I did take some quick pics and found an ad from 1971 about it.
Just thought I would share

Ad;
CLARICON
36-790 AM/Stereo-FM Receiver
Features 45 W/ch dynamic (EIA) power;
response 20-30,000 Hz. Has mag. ceram-
ic, aux. & tape inputs plus main/remote
speaker facilities. Size 15w xY x11 34"
$169.95
IMG_20220410_211901354.jpg IMG_20220410_212023534.jpg IMG_20220410_212055268.jpg
 
russdall said:
I've had a Claricon 36-790 for years now and had it stored away and forgot about it (lost track of it). I was going through stuff, preparing to move after 20 years, and found it. There's not a lot of info, but I did take some quick pics and found an ad from 1971 about it.
Just thought I would share

Ad;
CLARICON
36-790 AM/Stereo-FM Receiver
Features 45 W/ch dynamic (EIA) power;
response 20-30,000 Hz. Has mag. ceram-
ic, aux. & tape inputs plus main/remote
speaker facilities. Size 15w xY x11 34"
$169.95
View attachment 2536945 View attachment 2536949 View attachment 2536953
Click to expand...
Got their CD-4 demodulator.
 
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