New to me PL400 - how to start up?

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Philos70

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I got a PL 400 off ebay that arrived today. I'm going to rebuild it, but thought I would like to hear what it sounds like before doing so. This is probably a total newbie question, but is it safe to start up a 40 year old amp by plugging it in? The seller said it was tested and works. It was shipped USPS and the box was tossed around a bit by the looks of it. Packing was less than stellar.

Thanks...

Jeff
 
Welcome aboard. There are some really smart and experienced people on here and I have no doubt they can answer your questions.
Until they show up, I will offer my less smart and less experienced 2 cents.
The first thing I do is check the fuses, are they the correct type and the correct rating? Beware if they are not, especially if they are a higher amperage.
If the fuses are correct then I plug the amp into a surge protector with no inputs and no speakers connected. If no fuses blow and no smoke or weird sounds after being powered on for 30 minutes, I power it down and hook up a pair of cheep speakers, I then power back up and listen to see if there is any weird speaker behavior. If all goes well then power down and hook up a cheep preamp and test the system.
This is the cross your fingers and hope for the best procedure. There is a much safer procedure using a Variac and a test bulb that hopefully someone will explain for you shortly.
 
Philos70 said:
I got a PL 400 off ebay that arrived today. I'm going to rebuild it, but thought I would like to hear what it sounds like before doing so. This is probably a total newbie question, but is it safe to start up a 40 year old amp by plugging it in? The seller said it was tested and works. It was shipped USPS and the box was tossed around a bit by the looks of it. Packing was less than stellar.

Thanks...

Jeff
Click to expand...

The meters are notorious for coming loose during shipment , pop the face plate, check meters for tight and check for loose screws or washers lying aboot.....If you don't have a DBT or variac and don't care because you are WOPLing it anyway...yeah, plug it in..
 
Welcome to Phoenix. Dim bulb tester has saved my untested amps a number of times. Recommended.
 
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