About an Onkyo T-4970 tuner

Hi to everybody, 🙂

I just found an Onkyo tuner T-4970. It's from the 92-95 years, and it's pretty good, it was not far from the very top Onkyo tuners.

I have a few questions about it :

- On the main board there's a heat mark (a brown area) under the resistors R904 (3W) and R905 (2W). Can it be normal ?

- There are few OPA in this tuner :
NJM4560D
NJM4560D-X
NJM4558D-X
and I think we can find better now. Can I replace some of them with newer, better ICs, but without changing the component values? I have tools to measure electrical values, but RF is another world... (I have some BB OPA2604AP in my drawer)

- Final thought, are there any capacitors in the signal path worth changing for better ones? Almost all capacitors in this tuner are Sanyo, not Nichicon or Elna...

This is also a message for SinGun especially, I could read he owns this tuner, he likes it and he tweaked it too 😉
The service manual can be found here :
https://archive.org/details/manual_T4970_SM_ONKYO_EN
Thank you, have a nice week-end ! 🙂
 

Attachments

  • T4970_ONKYO.jpg
    T4970_ONKYO.jpg
    559.3 KB · Views: 153
Last edited:
Hi,
The T4970 seems to be a downgraded version of T9090 - for this reason, it is better if you check/compare their schematics.
1. Let's start with the heat: both ICs, Q902 and Q903 are better if you mount them to the backside plate for better heat dissipation. I changed the resistors R904 to 5W with the same value, R905 to 3W type, but its value was increased from 150 ohms to 180 ohms. I calculated the current through the R904 - it is the same as what is written in the service manual, 400mA.
2. Regarding opamps: yes, the BB OPA2604AP is a good choice.
3. Based on schematis, the noise from supply lines can be decreased by inserting 2.2uH instead of 10 ohms resistors: R102, R111, R118, R123 and R128.
4. Capacitors from the signal path: C404, C409, C410, C423, C424 - in all positions, I used 47uF/25V Nichicon Muse bipolar, but you can also try the Fine Gold.
 
Hi,
Additionally, if you enjoy listening to the AM or would like to get a better tuner, you can make the following adjustments or improvements:

5. I use a ring-ferrite with two coils wound in the opposite direction with a minimum 11mH inductance as my EMI filter before the transformer. On each side, I use a 1-1 pack of capacitors made up of 0.1uF/630Vdc mpp, 2.2nF/3kVac ceramic, and 1uF/630Vdc mpp. This can reduce the noise produced by switching supplies of mobile phones, laptops, and LED bulbs.

6. Install a 2.2 nF parallel to the main switch.

7. In essence, I replaced every electrolytic: ELNA SilmicII was used in the audio area and MPX, and dry electrolytics were used in the RF sector and digital part.
 
OK, thank you for all these informations !
I never listen AM, but I will follow the advices in your first post. A last question : can we use IC supports (of good quality) to mount the OPAs on them, or is it something to avoid, for cases of parasites or distortions?