arcam A60

Rob,
Thanks for the reply, but i've got it sorted. The problem was that, what with the amp being so old (23 years, to be precise), the electrolyte in the power supply's smoothing caps had dried out. I've replaced them with a couple of bog-standard electrolytics from the local shop, and the amp has gone from being hummy and a bit anaemic sounding, to the muscular beast that i had been told it could be. It doesn't even click when I turn it on and off although -unsuprisingly- the speaker cones do bounce a bit, as they would on any amp without output surge protection. I'm currently showing it a slight lack of respect, by running it on the computer's sound card, but since the repair, it's wiped the floor with the Tandberg receiver that preceded it. The volume pot is next for renewal as it's a bit crackly, but it's still the best £50 i've spent for a long while.

[This message was edited by wal riley on WEDNESDAY 25 April 2001 at 19:34.]

I sold my A60E to a friend after using it for 5-6 years. It too had a crackly volume pot which my friend had replaced for a very modest sum. Not only did the crackling disappear but it then made a much cleaner refined sound. You probably could get an ALPS pot that is a large leap over the original one for 10-20 UKP.

I would be suprised if the 'bog-standard' filter caps you put in were not improvements over the original spec caps. The A60 was laden with cheap and cheerful parts that could make it a DIY modders paradise. Still it was a wonderful amp for the money (I gave like 120 UKP for mine back in 1978) and didn't sound much worse than the original Nait1 I once compared it to. But even in its most pristine state it is nowhere within striking distance of the 42/110 which is what I replaced it with.

Ron
Dum spiro audio
Dum audio vivo

http://homepages.go.com/~rontoolsie/index1.html

Thanks for the tip, Ron.
Just as an aside, I've often found that volume pots don't develop a crackle if you turn the volume to zero after each session. I think the carbon (or conductive plastic) track can get contaminated by the wiper, if this action isn't taken, and that's what causes the crackle when it develops. It's one of the first things I check when buying second-hand eqipment, such as amps; if the volume is not set to zero, then there's a risk involved that it's been like that a lot of the time.
Anyway, i'm going to fire the A60 up through the big system over the weekend, to see what it can REALLY DO!