Vector Research - Nostalgia strikes again

[Dingman]

Jeesh, I guess I'm trying to live in the past.
In the middle 80's, I had some Vector Research equip paired up with a set of Altec Lansing Model 8 speakers. I didn't have it long, I was young and didn't have much cash, and ended up pawning it all, and didn't get it back.
Just because - I've always kept my eye out for that vintage\model equipment - I've been watching for years. And I do mean years. Recently a set of VR equip did show up on CL and so I spent some time driving to get it.
Cosmetically, I'm giving it a thumbs up - very few nicks and virtually no scratches.
On the bench, it did need deox, as you would expect, and kinda dirty inside. But after a bit of control cleaning, the receiver does seem to be fully functional. FM goes to stereo, inputs all work and L\R seems balanced (although 7mv dc offset on one side and 35mv on the other). All in all, it was a good price.
I know it's not "highly regarded" and I don't care. I'm gonna clean it all up, re-cap and use it. Probably pair with those CerwinVega speakers I have in the basement.
This first pic from the CL ad and of course, the other pic on my bench.

It's got some of those orange caps that I don't like (have found them failing in other units) and enlarged those holes in the switch case tops to get deox in there.
Looks like there's a little info here on AK, and I'll try to find the correct schematic.

 

[Dingman]

The cassette will need new belts for sure, that is info from the seller, I haven't opened it up yet.
Oh, one more pic of the entire VR-7000. Hard to see, but the boards are separate. I like that, will make it easier to refurb.

 

[Sandstrom]

Awesome find. My parents purchased a new stereo at Tech HiFi in the Eighties (To replace my dad's old Heathkit mono rig that he built in the Fifties) that included a VR-5000 That was one great sounding receiver. Enjoy it!

 

[Dingman]

Thanks - ya, a good find - nothing spectacular of course, but I'm happy with it. I did get a schematic for the VR-7000, it's a bit elusive, so if anyone needs a copy...
This is rated at 65wpc but I'll run a load test and we'll see. I'll re-cap and replace questionable transistors and opamps, but I'll leave the output transistors.

 

[goodolpg]

It's always gratifying to find a piece(s) of gear from the past that you had or wanted and being able to finally get it so many years later.
Enjoy!

 

[Dingman]

Moving forward on a re-cap. Many will wonder, and the answer is no, I didn't "hear" anything wrong with this receiver. I also didn't give it a good test - only set idle and checked DC on outputs. Didn't test phono, only tested FM and Aux input.
So, I've got the "switch board" re-capped and put a couple WIMAs and Nichicon KA's on it. This is the board that does the Hi\Lo filters, loudness and de-emphasis.
Next up was the power supply board. Again, no known issues. Kinda hard finding 10K\63v caps that fit - somehow the 4 pin snap-in caps I got were 40mm around and wouldn't fit in place where the 35mm's came out. These were 22.5 mm lead spacing. To get this done, I ended up putting in 10K\80v with 10mm lead spacing - the holes were already in the board, I just had to open them up (remove solder plug, then drill out slightly for the snap-in lugs).
All electrolytics replaced and a couple of ceramics replaced with smaller PP in an attempt to make more room for the 40mm caps that didn't fit anyway.
At any rate, PS done and listening test is OK so far.
Obligatory pics...
Before and then after pics

 

[teal'c]

I know it's not "highly regarded"

Sounds like something I wouldn't mind having.
http://thevintagehifishack.com/hello-world/

And it looks like they use components the big boys used, those caps are in two of my Sansui.

Too late, but Parts Connexion sells a Mundorf 10,000uf 63V that is 30mm.
http://www.partsconnexion.com/capacitor_ele_mundorf_plugin.html

 

[Dingman]

Ya, my mistake on the caps, I should have caught it. And almost made them fit, but not quite.
I got the new relay installed today. The old one didn't look bad - but easy to install new.
An interesting note, see those two new caps next to the relay are 100uf/63 volt!
But they are listed in the parts list as 1uf/63v.
Schematic has them labeled as 47uf/63v, LOL.
But wait, we're not done!
On the bottom of the board are the 1uf/63v, right across the 100uf, lead to lead. Har, I did put new caps in and matched what I found. So there are now film caps in place of those Electrolytic 1uf's.

 

[OMGCat!]

That's a great looking setup! I very rarely see Vector stuff for sale locally but I wouldn't hesitate to pick it up if some showed up at a good price. They seem to be very well made and push all of my "love of nearly everything 80's" buttons.

Good call on the relay. The amp in my main system just decided to start up on one speaker at low volumes due to the relay. It looked good when I inspected it but I should have changed it anyway.

 

[Dingman]

Ya, I'm trying to hit the typical trouble spots, so the new relay was on the list. I didn't find any transistors that are known troublemakers, so only two of those replaced. Most all electrolytics are now replaced on the tone, amp and power board. I haven't touched the tuner board.
Another interesting notes, is that most receivers of this age have a least a couple of caps that tested really bad, or failed. Not this VR7000 tho, not a single cap was way bad or failed. Only a few with high ESR, but nearly all tested really well (although I can't test for leakage). Kinda disappointing, I like finding bad parts, it makes me feel like the re-cap was needed, LOL.
I did have a little trouble with the idle current pots - I tried to order replacements but got the wrong style and couldn't use them. I did get idle adjusted right on the money, but still would have liked new POTS in there, and I might still see if I can't get exact replacements, and then I'll put those in.
A couple of caps on the amp board that I couldn't get to, without serious disassembly of the sub-frame of the unit - I just didn't want to tear all this apart for two caps, so they didn't get changed.

A little more cleanup, and replace the lights with LED's and that might be it. LED's might need some tweaking, you know how that goes.

Not a huge amount of caps in this, I liked working on it, fair bit of room for most work. At some point (half-way?) thru the amp board, the sound quality really "opened up". Seems like it gained clarity, tone is better than before and bass seems tight (as heard thru low-end bench Klipsch bookshelves). I am still having a little trouble with dirty switches, I'll have to clean them again. Hard to say since every unit I've just finished up seems like "it sounds better than others" - but it does have good sound to it so far.

A combination of Nichicon KA and KL and just a couple WIMA and Poly caps for signal side, and then Nichicon PW for non-signal. Oh, a couple of SilmacII's on the tone board. A couple of Panasonics somehwere just because that's what I had on hand.
Last few things will be a frequency sweep and clipping output test. I'll post those results as well.
When I get it back together, I'll post up more pics.

 

[Dingman]

Well, I did find a couple more caps that I missed, so I had to removed tone board again to get at them.
But got it done, and then worked on an LED lighting conversion that didn't turn out great. Got the lights as good as I could and buttoned it up, if the uneven lighting drives me nuts, I'll have to open it up again.
At any rate, I just have to do some testing - freq sweep and clipping is all. It's rated at 65 watts\ch, so we'll see.
No work done at all on the tuner board - it seems to be working fine and I have no tools to calibrate tuners.
Stupid cat hair got in on tuner dial. Grrrr. Some nicks on alum face, it is nearly 40 years old.
It's all subjective but seems to sound great on test Klipsch bookshelves.

 

[NAD80]

Dingman like the idea of the "lazy susan" to put the amp on to work on. Much easier to work on. Gotta remember that. The VR looks good. Glad it sound good.

 

[Dingman]

Dingman like the idea of the "lazy susan" to put the amp on to work on. Much easier to work on. Gotta remember that. The VR looks good. Glad it sound good.

Thanks man, ya, that lazy susan is just the trick for me. You know how when you're soldering a hard to reach cap, and the heavy amp isn't in just the right spot? Ya, I can rotate that 0.5° to get just the right angle on that lighting or soldering iron.
So, the freq sweep looks good, the square wave is steady and not showing signs of ringing or oscillation.
Clipping test puts power out right about 80 watts.

 

[NAD80]

Looks pretty good waveforms. 1khz waveforms injected into the receiver at what point? And what actual voltage input to check the amplifier?

 

[Dingman]

That's in thru Aux.
The manual has a low number for Aux input - 150mV. I'm just an amatuer but others I've tested at 1v.
At 150mv, I couldn't actually make it clip. I had to put in about 250mv to get to start clipping.
Can you tell me if that seems right?

 

[NAD80]

Yes that makes sense. So the amp inputs would not be overdriven by a normal signal. Thank you

 

[BobbyBluz]

We sold Vector Research cassette decks in the 80's. Very good audio quality but the transports had "issues" over time (all three I owned died within a few short years) and I personally switched to Sony ES series decks then a Tascam 122 mkIII I still have in use.

 

[Dingman]

Ya, I need to test out the cassette deck. Previous owner did say it had some sort of transport issues. Hoping I can install new belts and maybe rollers and have it working. Although I'm not a big cassette guy.

 

[drumbum]

We sold Vector Research cassette decks in the 80's. Very good audio quality but the transports had "issues" over time (all three I owned died within a few short years) and I personally switched to Sony ES series decks then a Tascam 122 mkIII I still have in use.

I have a VCX-250 still going on original belts. A bit sway backed though.

 

[NAD80]

Check out this if you haven't seen it before. http://www.tapeheads.net/ Not bad web site . Just have to register. They do have some stuff on vector research.