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Yamaha newbie A-700 resto thread

Soundscape said:
Good to hear. Probably from all the good board cleaning & solder touch ups. I 've been toying with a solder the fuse theory. Thanks for the feedback bud.
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As in solder the fuse into the bracket? For better contact, I'm guessing?

I did take the fuse out and polished the fuse contacts and holder contacts, and slightly bent the springs on the holder so they had a better grip. Bottom of that whole board got reflowed, as well.

I really love doing all of those small cleaning and resto tasks on amps now. Any advice on how to get me to love doing laundry the same way? :rflmao:
 
Loving this thread! I have the electronics knowledge and soldering skills of a six-year-old, so kudos to you and allowing me to live vicariously through the process! I bought an A-700 (new) back in '85 and stupidly sold it in '98 when I caught the vintage bug via eBay before prices went through the roof. Missed the sound of the Yammie so much that I picked up another one about 18 months later, which I kept until around 2003 when I had to sell it for financial reasons. Been through a series of other gear in the interim (mostly Kenwood, which I also really like) but something was just missing, y'know? Last year I noticed an A-700 on eBay that was in near-mint condition and the seller was asking a reasonable price. It was packed like crap, but somehow managed to arrive unscathed and worked great. I noticed that like all untouched A-700s, it had the corrosive glue thing going on and contemplated sending it off to "my guy" for repair and being without it for the better part of a year. (He's good, but is also in high demand.) Then, while perusing eBay a few weeks ago I noticed another A-700 that had the glue/capacitor replacement already done—along with all the usual cleaning and tuning. It was going for only slightly more than what the repairs alone would've cost me on my original unit, so I hit "Buy It Now" and it arrived a week later. This one was perfectly packed, works great, and allowed me the opportunity to remove and send the speaker binding post PCB (from the older one) off www.speaker-teminal.com to have banana plugs installed. I'll put them in the new one when I get them back and this A-700 will be golden.
 
Soundscape said:
Same problem on my M-80...**** canned it. The things a sponge waiting to rot the xfmr IMO. If it hums later on I just turn up the volume F it. Anxiously awaiting chime time from the pro's on this one before I chop up my gardening knee pad and stick it up there.
I imagine Yamaha chose non-torroidal xmfr types to keep hi-fi pieces at a mid-fi cost. Is what it is, some hum will result cushion or not. Strongly recommend tightening the xfmr bolts on the chassis bottom to minimize this. Don't overtighten though due to the rubber bolt washers, just snug bro.

Disclaimer: I rarely offer these technical advisements for free. I accept payment via BeerPal, BeerMo, BeerCoin. Thank you
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This is what I replaced mine with: https://www.amazon.com/Foam-Padding-Sheets-Adhesive-Backing/dp/B0BX2D3RXC?th=1 Works great.
 
MKouts said:
Loving this thread! I have the electronics knowledge and soldering skills of a six-year-old, so kudos to you and allowing me to live vicariously through the process! I bought an A-700 (new) back in '85 and stupidly sold it in '98 when I caught the vintage bug via eBay before prices went through the roof. Missed the sound of the Yammie so much that I picked up another one about 18 months later, which I kept until around 2003 when I had to sell it for financial reasons. Been through a series of other gear in the interim (mostly Kenwood, which I also really like) but something was just missing, y'know? Last year I noticed an A-700 on eBay that was in near-mint condition and the seller was asking a reasonable price. It was packed like crap, but somehow managed to arrive unscathed and worked great. I noticed that like all untouched A-700s, it had the corrosive glue thing going on and contemplated sending it off to "my guy" for repair and being without it for the better part of a year. (He's good, but is also in high demand.) Then, while perusing eBay a few weeks ago I noticed another A-700 that had the glue/capacitor replacement already done—along with all the usual cleaning and tuning. It was going for only slightly more than what the repairs alone would've cost me on my original unit, so I hit "Buy It Now" and it arrived a week later. This one was perfectly packed, works great, and allowed me the opportunity to remove and send the speaker binding post PCB (from the older one) off www.speaker-teminal.com to have banana plugs installed. I'll put them in the new one when I get them back and this A-700 will be golden.
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Awesome! Glad you enjoyed the shenanigans. This thread went on for way too long, and I replaced way more components than necessary. I learned so much from doing this, though. I'm grateful there are still folks around here willing to share their knowledge with newbies.

I'm in love with the A-700 still, it broke my Kenwood love affair and made me realize it doesn't have to be from the 70s or have a silver face to sound amazing. I'm passively hunting for Yamaha separates to get one day.
 
MKouts said:
Loving this thread! I have the electronics knowledge and soldering skills of a six-year-old, so kudos to you and allowing me to live vicariously through the process! I bought an A-700 (new) back in '85 and stupidly sold it in '98 when I caught the vintage bug via eBay before prices went through the roof. Missed the sound of the Yammie so much that I picked up another one about 18 months later, which I kept until around 2003 when I had to sell it for financial reasons. Been through a series of other gear in the interim (mostly Kenwood, which I also really like) but something was just missing, y'know? Last year I noticed an A-700 on eBay that was in near-mint condition and the seller was asking a reasonable price. It was packed like crap, but somehow managed to arrive unscathed and worked great. I noticed that like all untouched A-700s, it had the corrosive glue thing going on and contemplated sending it off to "my guy" for repair and being without it for the better part of a year. (He's good, but is also in high demand.) Then, while perusing eBay a few weeks ago I noticed another A-700 that had the glue/capacitor replacement already done—along with all the usual cleaning and tuning. It was going for only slightly more than what the repairs alone would've cost me on my original unit, so I hit "Buy It Now" and it arrived a week later. This one was perfectly packed, works great, and allowed me the opportunity to remove and send the speaker binding post PCB (from the older one) off www.speaker-teminal.com to have banana plugs installed. I'll put them in the new one when I get them back and this A-700 will be golden.
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speaker-terminal.com does pretty good work. I have purchased from them a couple of times now and am very pleased with what they do.

:beerchug:,
James
 
analogwisdom said:
I'm passively hunting for Yamaha separates to get one day.
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Recommend a broken M-60 or M-65 with a Kenwood control amp. M-60's are easy to work on and great amps. Cheaper than the big brothers. Nothing against Yamaha control amps but, people tend to break the volume pot and sell the thing to suckers. Unobtanium pot.
 
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analogwisdom said:
I'm in love with the A-700 still, it broke my Kenwood love affair
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Ya mon...I listen to my favorite tunes & radio shows in class A. When the top cover is ready to bake an egg I switch back to class AB jones. The residual heat in AB still carries a sweet sound until it cools way down IMO. Takes awhile. Love them 80 's class A Yammies.
 
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