Threshold Stasis Model 3

She always seams to show right channel is lower then left

Click to expand...

Almost certainly a bad solder joint at the front display. I had the excact same problem with a Stasis 2, not so long ago. While you have it disassembled, change all the electrolytics on the pcb's! That would be really worthwhile. Send that amp to me, and it will be going in no time Please do learn to solder, its not that difficult, and the amp will be ready for 20 more years of service

Steen (Big Stasis fan)

Hi
I have a stasis 2 that I have been enjoying for a while.

As with Steeno I found that changing all the capacitors made a big difference.

I found changing the power supply capacitors made the biggest difference. I used Kendeil 100v 15,000uf capacitors as replacements. I also increased the capacitance from 22,000uf per line per channel to 60,000uf per line per channel ( That is 240,000uf in total ) I also added a 10 ohm 15 amp surge arrestor to reduce start up surges. I found that the increased capacitance really firmed up the base. That may have been because I am using 3 ohm speakers and the Threshold manual recommends 8 ohm.

I also had an imbalance in the front delay that was a loose solder joint. Either way it did not seem to effect the performance.

Don

I found that the increased capacitance really firmed up the base.

Click to expand...

It was not the increased amount of capacitance It was because they were new Old powersuply caps give flabby bass indeed New ones sounds great!

Steen

Come on man, soldering is not that difficult!"! Get yourself together and repair this old amp. Its really worth it!!
Alternatively, you can send it to me:

Steen

Hi Dlj,
ask here if there is a fellow DIYer in your home town.
I'm sure there will be someone willing to give a demo and see you through to success.
We might even get to know your location.

DLJunkie said:

I can't solder - tried 1,000,000 of times

Click to expand...

I don't know the Stasis but I can solder.
I don't know your Iron but I know you need a better one if you tried a million times.

Note that I don't want to start a soldering iron discussion, search and you'll find plenty of threads covering the topic.

/Hugo

I'm in the North East... Am I close???
I just moved from the South West... I still have some friends... Will that help???

Well that's a good 4-5 hrs from me...

DLJunkie,

You should be able to replace the power supply filter caps without doing any soldering. In most Threshold amps it just takes a screwdriver.

In the last year I replaced the filter caps on a pair of SA-1s, an S-150, and a CAS-2. No soldering was required for any of them.

Good luck,

Bill

If you feel unsure, best leave it alone. This is not a 2 X 12V amp although even those can be lethal in the wrong hands.
Take your time to find a good tech. It’s well worth it.

/Hugo

Hi.

Good luck with the stasis three. But I think I agree with others. This is a big amplifier. Simply changing the capacitors should be ok if you feel confident to do that. But If you are not experienced in soldering/working on amplifiers this is not the amplifier to practice on. If you do decide to try on your own I find the best thing to do before you dismantle anything is to mark out on a drawing the location of all the wires and nuts and bolts that you remove. I still do this and it really helps when you have made your changes and put the amplifier back together again.

Steenoe

Just for info...

When I replaced the power supply capacitors on my Stasis 2 I initially put in the same capacitance - that is 15,000uf per rail per channel. It improved the sound a lot. But I could still hear that transiants were lacking power. That is cymbols and drum rolls loacked the hard impact. I tried a different make of capacitor but found the same result.

I then read in the threshold manual that speakers below 8ohm were not recommended for the stasis 2 and as my speakers are 3 ohm I thought it worth trying to increase the capacitance to see if that might improve the sound. I initially tried 30,000uf per rail and that helped. I kept adding untill the sound stopped improving. I now run with 60,000uf per rail. I am really really impressed by the Stasis 2 amplifier.

I have tried out a few other power amps in the last few weeks for a personal comparison. I tried a KSA100, a high power A75 and and two other lots of class a 60 watt monoblocks. The threshold held its own with all of the amps and is my current favourite. It just has a natural sound with the treble, midrange and bass in proportion.

I would appreciate your help in one area if you can. My model was updated by Threshold in 1990 to stasis version e/5. The pcb is different from that shown for the stasis on other threads and I would be interested in you ( or anyone else ) has a schematic for this version. I am particularly interested as this version does not seem to have a variable resistor on the pcb to alter the bias. If no one has any information I guess I will have to back engineer and do a schematic from that.

Don

I am really really impressed by the Stasis 2 amplifier.

Click to expand...

Yep, so am I. The Stasis amps are terrific. Unfortunately the only schematic I have is the one that was posted here on the forum, so I cant help with that.
DLjunkie, you should be able to find some radiorepairman, near you. Many of those do a little business at home, besides their regular job. Ask a little around and maybe something shows up.
The amp is absolutely worth it.

Steen

You should be able to replace the power supply filter caps without doing any soldering. In most Threshold amps it just takes a screwdriver. In the last year I replaced the filter caps on a pair of SA-1s, an S-150, and a CAS-2. No soldering was required for any of them.

Click to expand...

MashBill, I have a Threshold S-150 that I bought new as I recall in the early eighties. (previously had a Threshold 400A, then a 4000, preamp NS-10 and then SL-10). ...got rid of the wrong amp (s). What PS capacitors did you use in your S-150? How does your amp sound subsequent to the replacement? Mine is all original and sounds too bright and lacks authority on the bottom end especially in contrast to my Krell KSA-100. I don't expect the S-150 to perform like the KSA-100, but I would be very interested to hear if the bottom end improves with a cap change after 25 years. Thanks in advance.

Oz