Hi all
I plan to "recap" my Nakamichi CA-5 Mk1. I would like to replace only the electrolytic capacitors.
My question is: Are there any electrolytic capacitors in the "signal path" (All stages, line, phono)? If not, can I replace them with panasonic FMs without any degradation in sound quality?
See the service manual in the attachment.
Thank you.
I plan to "recap" my Nakamichi CA-5 Mk1. I would like to replace only the electrolytic capacitors.
My question is: Are there any electrolytic capacitors in the "signal path" (All stages, line, phono)? If not, can I replace them with panasonic FMs without any degradation in sound quality?
See the service manual in the attachment.
Thank you.
Re solder the regulators and replace C401 & 402 with 2,200uF capacitors. Anything else will be of no consequence and may spoil the pre amp.
Nice cheap and easy repair but DO NOT do it if it is not actually faulty!
Nice cheap and easy repair but DO NOT do it if it is not actually faulty!
Nakamichi is top quality.
Unless obviously faulty, don't change components except in the power supply.
Do remember to clean off flux residue with Iso propyl alcohol and an old tooth brush.
Clean off the insides, and after cleaning the switches and pots, put contact cleaner there, it acts as a lubricant too....try getting a spare... better to extend its life this way.
And a lot of the noise comes from dirty contacts.
I did not read the manual, if it has electronic switches, that is good, check its supply while you are at it.
Unless obviously faulty, don't change components except in the power supply.
Do remember to clean off flux residue with Iso propyl alcohol and an old tooth brush.
Clean off the insides, and after cleaning the switches and pots, put contact cleaner there, it acts as a lubricant too....try getting a spare... better to extend its life this way.
And a lot of the noise comes from dirty contacts.
I did not read the manual, if it has electronic switches, that is good, check its supply while you are at it.
I would say that resoldering the regulators would be about it. Leave everything else alone unless it is causing trouble.
I did warranty on these and am extremely familiar with them. They are extremely reliable and replacing components isn't going to help. Plus I doubt you would be as neat as the factory. Its a great preamp, just enjoy it.
-Chris
I did warranty on these and am extremely familiar with them. They are extremely reliable and replacing components isn't going to help. Plus I doubt you would be as neat as the factory. Its a great preamp, just enjoy it.
-Chris
Hi all
Thanks a lot for the answers. Ok, I understand. Very helpful.
@Anatech: I'm just curious, are there any electrolytic capacitors in the signal path?
Thanks.
Thanks a lot for the answers. Ok, I understand. Very helpful.
@Anatech: I'm just curious, are there any electrolytic capacitors in the signal path?
Thanks.
They used film caps, but I'll have to look to be sure on this one for that question. Tantalums are evil, not electrolytic caps.
-Chris
-Chris
I have a Mitsubishi PLC, with a 8086 CPU, dating from 1992, power supply was based on TL494.
It still gave 5.00 volts in 2018, on the 5 volt rail.
I had to change it because another card failed, and it was an expensive and unreliable repair.
New cards went out of production around 2000, the entire PLC family was replaced by a newer range.
That is a known fault, and given its age, I put a new PLC with more functions.
The rest of the cards / modules are in good working condition.
That is an outstanding example of Japanese electronics quality.
The PLC had Japanese electrolytic capacitors, and on testing were within 10 % of spec in 2018, after running in a plastic injection molding machine since 1993.
2018 - 1993 = 25 years in hot and humid conditions, sometimes 48 Celsius ambient.
Nakamichi was highly reputed for its cassette decks, and charged top dollar. They did not have to save money by using cheap components.
So please don't go doing anything unless needed.
There have been complaints about Bose equipment made in China using cheap capacitors, some attempt at saving money.
Foolish, as they seem to be more expensive than most.
FYI, the spec for NEW electrolytic capacitors is 20% tolerance.
It still gave 5.00 volts in 2018, on the 5 volt rail.
I had to change it because another card failed, and it was an expensive and unreliable repair.
New cards went out of production around 2000, the entire PLC family was replaced by a newer range.
That is a known fault, and given its age, I put a new PLC with more functions.
The rest of the cards / modules are in good working condition.
That is an outstanding example of Japanese electronics quality.
The PLC had Japanese electrolytic capacitors, and on testing were within 10 % of spec in 2018, after running in a plastic injection molding machine since 1993.
2018 - 1993 = 25 years in hot and humid conditions, sometimes 48 Celsius ambient.
Nakamichi was highly reputed for its cassette decks, and charged top dollar. They did not have to save money by using cheap components.
So please don't go doing anything unless needed.
There have been complaints about Bose equipment made in China using cheap capacitors, some attempt at saving money.
Foolish, as they seem to be more expensive than most.
FYI, the spec for NEW electrolytic capacitors is 20% tolerance.
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I own one that is still perfectly working, I will not change anything on it. I opened it in the past, it is well built and use quality components inside. It seems that changing capacitors is a common modern trend, people change capacitors very often without first inspect them or have a good reason for that. If the unit is working fine, just enjoi it!
Two observations...
One is that not much Japanese equipment comes up in this forum as in cry for help.
The second is that recapping fans insist on Japanese, Philips / Vishay, or Wilma caps.
Possibly the equipment failures requiring recapping were because the original ones were lower spec or just junk.
I have come across Bang & Olufsen sets with Samhwa (cheap Korean) caps. Little wonder then that they are now doing aluminum machining, and have gone out of the audio business.
And on this forum, most of the sets needing maintenance are European made by small to medium size, mostly defunct factories. Those who are still around are trading mostly Chinese equipment.
Quite possibly they used under specification components, so there is room for improvement.
One is that not much Japanese equipment comes up in this forum as in cry for help.
The second is that recapping fans insist on Japanese, Philips / Vishay, or Wilma caps.
Possibly the equipment failures requiring recapping were because the original ones were lower spec or just junk.
I have come across Bang & Olufsen sets with Samhwa (cheap Korean) caps. Little wonder then that they are now doing aluminum machining, and have gone out of the audio business.
And on this forum, most of the sets needing maintenance are European made by small to medium size, mostly defunct factories. Those who are still around are trading mostly Chinese equipment.
Quite possibly they used under specification components, so there is room for improvement.
So please don't fiddle with it, not much work needed unless it is broken.
The sheer quality and attractive prices of Japanese equipment made them so reputable, and Nakamichi was one of the best.
Just enjoy the music.
For example, Kenwood set KX-A36, was 850 Euro new, for tuner, amplifier, double cassette deck, used STK 4151 as main amp.
Bang & Olufsen sets using same circuits, and in some using Philips CD transports were priced in multiples of Japanese prices.
BeoCenter 9300 is an example.
Kenwood used Elna and other Japanese caps...B&O used cheap Korean ones.
Who would you prefer after knowing this?
The sheer quality and attractive prices of Japanese equipment made them so reputable, and Nakamichi was one of the best.
Just enjoy the music.
For example, Kenwood set KX-A36, was 850 Euro new, for tuner, amplifier, double cassette deck, used STK 4151 as main amp.
Bang & Olufsen sets using same circuits, and in some using Philips CD transports were priced in multiples of Japanese prices.
BeoCenter 9300 is an example.
Kenwood used Elna and other Japanese caps...B&O used cheap Korean ones.
Who would you prefer after knowing this?
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Kenwood KX-A36 was 850 DM in German currency in 1988.
My mistake, I posted as Euros.
Some BeoCenters available for 300 pounds online second hand.
The consensus seems to be that they sound good, but troublesome to repair.
American and Japanese are well made, and easy fix if at all they break.
Enjoy
My mistake, I posted as Euros.
Some BeoCenters available for 300 pounds online second hand.
The consensus seems to be that they sound good, but troublesome to repair.
American and Japanese are well made, and easy fix if at all they break.
Enjoy
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You know, my opinion only, but the Beocenter is poorly made, doesn't perform well. You would be much further ahead buying a Panasonic lifestyle product.
I have worked on a lot of B&O product over many years and have never been impressed with them. Circuit design has always lagged significantly behind the market average. They just look nice (to some). They area pain to service and represent a risk to the service person since they are easy to mark up and must be laid flat - taking the room of 2 ~ 3 normal units. I would much rather use the space for a McIntosh or turntable (not a B&O!).
To each their own I guess, but I would not recommend a B&O to anyone.
Don't worry, there are many "high end" expensive makes that are easily outperformed by many other brands. For example, Linn makes a great table - but not for the money. Thorens will outperform it for much less. I have a real issue with the fact that Linn electronic design isn't very good and the fixes are sold as upgrades while they continue to sell the defective product. I'm referring to the "power supply" which is actually the motor driver and power supply. There is zero excuse for that.
-Chris
I have worked on a lot of B&O product over many years and have never been impressed with them. Circuit design has always lagged significantly behind the market average. They just look nice (to some). They area pain to service and represent a risk to the service person since they are easy to mark up and must be laid flat - taking the room of 2 ~ 3 normal units. I would much rather use the space for a McIntosh or turntable (not a B&O!).
To each their own I guess, but I would not recommend a B&O to anyone.
Don't worry, there are many "high end" expensive makes that are easily outperformed by many other brands. For example, Linn makes a great table - but not for the money. Thorens will outperform it for much less. I have a real issue with the fact that Linn electronic design isn't very good and the fixes are sold as upgrades while they continue to sell the defective product. I'm referring to the "power supply" which is actually the motor driver and power supply. There is zero excuse for that.
-Chris
I live in India, and B & O was never sold here by a dealer to my knowledge, import of many things was restricted. The only way to get those were personal imports and sales by departing diplomats.
Now we see Yamaha, Onkyo, Denon and Bose, but a dealer in a city of 5 million will be lucky to sell 30 sets monthly.
Bose I do see in restaurants and home theatres, priced about 200$ or so, the Indian home theatres go for about $40 for 4 small speakers and a woofer. The woofer also has a FM tuner built in most of the time.
With the trend for ear pods, and smart TV, the requirement for all hi fi has more or less collapsed, to the extent that blank CD and DVD are not easily available.
Music is exchanged on memory sticks or cards, Bluetooth sometimes.
So those highly expensive sets are more or less not useful to anybody except audiophiles.
And Thorens is okay, most of them are re branded Dual made on Slovakia or some other East European country.
Slightly off tangent - BMW cars have a reputation for failing in the rain here and in Dubai.
Here FM, internet sound and PC based sound are common, and everybody in the same room is listening to or watching on their phone or TV to different things.
No need for HiFi.
And if I tell somebody $400 for a used BeoCenter, your risk if it fails, the response will be that nobody wants it.
That said, B&O got away with it for a long time, selling fancy shaped junk, and were reputed for it as well. Now gone, and even Hasselblad cameras were struggling, as the film camera is out of production, and digital cameras except high end ones also gone from production.
Here I get FM module and amp combinations starting at $8, and going up to $80, brand new, serviceable, parts and kits available.
In that situation, paying $400 for used stuff of doubtful quality is not a good idea.
And like I said before, the mass production capacity of Japanese factories, who were taught by American makers, with origin in military based quality systems, meant that they gave consistent quality, at a good price. You work on them, see well made units with lots of simple design, sound good, good components, easy to trace faults if they broke.
I don't think European sets sold well outside Europe, and their volumes were low compared to Japanese sets even in the 80s, which was more or less the peak sale period for HiFi.
So an arcane memory some years down the line, as even the running sets will go to storage, or disposed off.
Oh, by the way Panasonic also doesn't sell much audio here, but Philips were using components from Panasonic / Matsushita, Toshiba, Mitsubishi and NEC...Japanese parts in sets made here, and well made overall.
Now we see Yamaha, Onkyo, Denon and Bose, but a dealer in a city of 5 million will be lucky to sell 30 sets monthly.
Bose I do see in restaurants and home theatres, priced about 200$ or so, the Indian home theatres go for about $40 for 4 small speakers and a woofer. The woofer also has a FM tuner built in most of the time.
With the trend for ear pods, and smart TV, the requirement for all hi fi has more or less collapsed, to the extent that blank CD and DVD are not easily available.
Music is exchanged on memory sticks or cards, Bluetooth sometimes.
So those highly expensive sets are more or less not useful to anybody except audiophiles.
And Thorens is okay, most of them are re branded Dual made on Slovakia or some other East European country.
Slightly off tangent - BMW cars have a reputation for failing in the rain here and in Dubai.
Here FM, internet sound and PC based sound are common, and everybody in the same room is listening to or watching on their phone or TV to different things.
No need for HiFi.
And if I tell somebody $400 for a used BeoCenter, your risk if it fails, the response will be that nobody wants it.
That said, B&O got away with it for a long time, selling fancy shaped junk, and were reputed for it as well. Now gone, and even Hasselblad cameras were struggling, as the film camera is out of production, and digital cameras except high end ones also gone from production.
Here I get FM module and amp combinations starting at $8, and going up to $80, brand new, serviceable, parts and kits available.
In that situation, paying $400 for used stuff of doubtful quality is not a good idea.
And like I said before, the mass production capacity of Japanese factories, who were taught by American makers, with origin in military based quality systems, meant that they gave consistent quality, at a good price. You work on them, see well made units with lots of simple design, sound good, good components, easy to trace faults if they broke.
I don't think European sets sold well outside Europe, and their volumes were low compared to Japanese sets even in the 80s, which was more or less the peak sale period for HiFi.
So an arcane memory some years down the line, as even the running sets will go to storage, or disposed off.
Oh, by the way Panasonic also doesn't sell much audio here, but Philips were using components from Panasonic / Matsushita, Toshiba, Mitsubishi and NEC...Japanese parts in sets made here, and well made overall.
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If you look around on this forum, there are maybe a dozen basic amplifier types, based on chips, BJT, Mosfet and valves.
This implies that the manufacturers also are restricted in their selection of amplifier, unless they can afford to have chips made for them or use a new design circuit.
So beyond a reasonable margin, nobody will buy them.
And also as the market has changed, smaller sets for individuals to use in their personal space will be selling in larger numbers.
So the bigger sets will sell in smaller numbers.
CD/DVD drive belts are not being made any more
and cassette player parts are not available any more here, you have to try at larger cities. My city has 2 million odd people, about the same as Chicago I think.
Anyway, enjoy the classic sound from the Nakamichi, perfectly reproduced by best quality Japanese materials and workmanship.
And please please don't try meddling with it without any real reason.
Like changing to OPA2134 from 4558/5532 and so on...I don't think that is worth the effort.
This implies that the manufacturers also are restricted in their selection of amplifier, unless they can afford to have chips made for them or use a new design circuit.
So beyond a reasonable margin, nobody will buy them.
And also as the market has changed, smaller sets for individuals to use in their personal space will be selling in larger numbers.
So the bigger sets will sell in smaller numbers.
CD/DVD drive belts are not being made any more
and cassette player parts are not available any more here, you have to try at larger cities. My city has 2 million odd people, about the same as Chicago I think.
Anyway, enjoy the classic sound from the Nakamichi, perfectly reproduced by best quality Japanese materials and workmanship.
And please please don't try meddling with it without any real reason.
Like changing to OPA2134 from 4558/5532 and so on...I don't think that is worth the effort.
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