Look what followed me home

[eminence1963]

Sure thing. Nice 250 you have there, not much restoration needed on that one huh? What`s it driving?

Some home brews that I built back in the early 80's

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They Used to be Advent Legacy's....... Blew out the drivers many years ago, so they were replaced with more powerful drivers. Also there are ports in the back. These things can sustain a lot of power. The more you feed them the better they sound. I don't play them loud anymore though
As far as the amps have not touched them minus a deox on the pots.

 

[Michael F]

The later production units had much neater wiring harnesses. I removed the entire assembly as a whole and gave it a careful scrubbing using 99 percent Isopropyl alcohol. It turned out pretty good but I think a second go may get it a little better.
Transformer leads received a similar treatment.

Tip: make sure Significant Other is cool with the washing and drying process

 

[eminence1963]

Will some painting be done too, to snaz it up?

 

[Michael F]

Will some painting be done too, to snaz it up?

You mean like this? The chassis components, main housing, faceplate, handles, top cover and transformer shield were scrubbed down (yuck), degreased, lightly sanded, masked off and painted.
This amp was subjected to a fair amount of dampness/humidity or had ingested some form of liquid at some point, evidenced by corrosion on nearly all fasteners and chassis panels. Most hardware will be replaced as it`s FUBAR.
The inside chassis received a few coats of black Tremclad rust paint while it`s exterior was treated to some Krylon Satin Black.
Masking was key here as I didn't want to spray over any of the silk screening. It`s beginning to take shape.

 

[Web Police]

Wow looks good so far.

 

[eminence1963]

Looks good. Them caps are hugh

 

[Michael F]

The Coke can does provide a reference. Caps are 21 000 uF @ 85vdc, transformer isn't too shabby either 55-0-55 and 12 v secondary's, not sure about VA.

 

[Michael F]

Moving right along. Now that the cleaned and painted panels have had a chance to dry, it`s reassembly time. Everything will go back together more or less in reverse order except for the front panel and handle assembly which will be sooo much easier when the chassis completely gutted. Backside terminal blocks went in next followed by the cable harness.
Power cord was replaced with fresh 16/3 SJ and a Hubbel U-Ground

 

[laatsch55]

Excellent Mike!

 

[eminence1963]

I like it keep up the good work
Don't recall, but was that working before you dug into it?

 

[Michael F]

I like it keep up the good work
Don't recall, but was that working before you dug into it?

Yes but reluctantly. The input attenuators were barely conducting as were the phono input jacks. They were so dirty that they would only conduct at certain positions.
The new pots would take care of one issue but then there were the input jacks that needed to be dealt with. After much cleaning and Deox-ing, I was not satisfied with the result and decided to replace them.
That was not as simple as one might think because the original (Switchcraft) jacks were chassis isolated. By some small miracle, I just happened to have a couple of the exact model mounted in an old non functioning cable tester, what luck!

 

[laatsch55]

Chassis isolated input jacks are faily commonh. What was special about these Mike? Weird configuratioin?

 

[Michael F]

Chassis isolated input jacks are faily commonh. What was special about these Mike? Weird configuratioin?

Nothing special really, I just didn't want to enlarge the holes to accommodate a new jack.

 

[laatsch55]

Gotcha..

 

[Michael F]

The power supply went in after the faceplate and handle assembly, damn that transformer is heavy! Relay and meter boards were next up.
I left the fan till last in order to install the 47uF/100v Vishay bypass caps.

 

[Web Police]

Looking good so far. Real nice work there.

 

[Michael F]

Who said you cant polish a turd?

Phase 1 is completed! The amp was fully assembled a few days ago except for the volume knobs which arrived from China this morning.
The original knobs were most likely custom made so finding a suitable replacement turned out to be quite the task. I found these on Ebay, $15 shipped and I must say that I like them better than the originals. Only issue was that the shaft holes needed enlarging from 6 to the 6.3mm needed to fit the Honeywell pots.
Over all I`m very pleased with the way things turned out. I probably put less than $100 in new parts but now have a very nice example of a classic Professional amp that doesn't look, sound (or smell) like it`s been in constant service for over 30 years.

So far, upgrades were limited only to signal path and feedback loop capacitors and main filter caps bypassed, new pots and input jacks installed. Cant wait to hear what it sounds like now!

 

[laatsch55]

Impressive Mike, looks ike these folks and PL had the same rack handle vendor...

 

[eminence1963]

Very nice now tell us how's it sounds IYOW's.
I'm a thinking I am going to get the double out of the garage and strap/unstrap depends on how you look at it.......2 mono.

 

[Michael F]

American Muscle

In good company