Hi all. I recently bought a Pioneer A-616 "Reference Series" amp. It works well with tone bypassed, but has a fault in the tone section as there is severe distortion when it is engaged - probably just the opamp in that section.
Anyway it sounds good this amp! It really blew my Arcam Alpha 8r out of the water. Not much onto on the net about this model but it has good specs. It is however 30 yrs old, and I'd like to know if anyone respects these amps and whether it would be worthwhile re-capping and/or replacing other components?
Alternatively would it be wiser to invest in a another model?
Cheers.
Anyway it sounds good this amp! It really blew my Arcam Alpha 8r out of the water. Not much onto on the net about this model but it has good specs. It is however 30 yrs old, and I'd like to know if anyone respects these amps and whether it would be worthwhile re-capping and/or replacing other components?
Alternatively would it be wiser to invest in a another model?
Cheers.
It has to be worth fixing, that's for sure 🙂
I used to have a Pioneer A80 and which I used for many years. What can I say... they are very good amps on the whole.
Whether it needs a recap really depends on the type of life it has had. I'd just fix the obvious fault for starters and then take it from there.
I used to have a Pioneer A80 and which I used for many years. What can I say... they are very good amps on the whole.
Whether it needs a recap really depends on the type of life it has had. I'd just fix the obvious fault for starters and then take it from there.
It's been doing nothing for 10 years…..probably got a bit of a shock being plugged in again.
I guess I can't test caps till I dismantle, but it could be a worthwhile project. Do caps degenerate over time when they are not being used?
I guess I can't test caps till I dismantle, but it could be a worthwhile project. Do caps degenerate over time when they are not being used?
It's a great amp, it can't get any better. You don't need to recap it because it doesn't have any caps in the signal path. You need to clean the line straight switch, and the source selector switch -- VERY thoroughly.
A failed cap wouldn't be the first suspect for distorted audio when the tone stage is engaged. Definitely check out Welcomes suggestion regarding any switches in the signal path.
An oscilloscope would nail this in minutes.
An oscilloscope would nail this in minutes.
On TV's yes and far far worse than that but for an audio item that one is pretty furry.
That would be great to dunk in hot soapy water, its so satisfying to bring a board (and chassis) up to as new condition from being like that.
That would be great to dunk in hot soapy water, its so satisfying to bring a board (and chassis) up to as new condition from being like that.