• WARNING: Tube/Valve amplifiers use potentially LETHAL HIGH VOLTAGES.
    Building, troubleshooting and testing of these amplifiers should only be
    performed by someone who is thoroughly familiar with
    the safety precautions around high voltages.

Willsenton R8 supplier request

Hi All
I have an R8 with what I think is a bias board issue
I have been in touch with the distributor , Audiophile Amplifier store and this was their reply to me

"We are sorry for the trouble!
Maybe we still need your help to do some tests: 1. Measure whether the light point is connected with the ground box (refer to Figure 1) 2. Turn on the power and measure whether the red point (V3) in the picture is the white line contact point to see if the voltage is between - 40 and - 45 negative (refer to Figure 1) 3. Turn on the power and measure whether the red mark point (V4) in the picture is the red line contact point to see if the voltage is between - 40 and - 45 negative(refer to Figure 2) Thank you for your understanding and trust! Take care of yourself and stay healthy. Sincerely, Audiophile Amplifier Store"




Thank you for your reply do you think it is wise for me to be testing inside a live tube amplifier? regards


"Yes, There is a fuse in the amplifier. If you operate normally, there is no problem."

With the tubes in?

"Yes"

That was the end of our conversation
Is this not a bit strange or am I being over sensitive?
 
Last edited:
Moderator
Joined 2011
This is a sign of a small company that does not want to pay the return shipping on warranty claims.
A fuse does NOT protect you from electrical shock. If you are not comfortable with it, do not do this.

Tell them you cannot do this, have no equipment, and do not wish to get injured from electrical shock.
The warranty stated below does NOT require that you do any troubleshooting on the circuit.
Say that you want to make a claim under the warranty. Otherwise you will provide negative feedback.

If they do not cooperate to your satisfaction, be sure to open a dispute before the option expires.
Report this to your credit card company as well.

"(Damaged, wrong product, sound is bad, no tracking information, package lost, apparence problem, shipping delay, etc)
Any problem or dissatisfaction after received product, If you have any questions, please be sure to contact us, communication is the only way to solve the problem. You can open dispute only when we can't give your a satisfied solution!
4.In case of returns, please contact us first, you describe the problems and reasons. Then we'll send you the return slip."
 
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There's the rub
It's out of warranty and why should I do this anyhow.
I have arranged to get this repaired but it was the attitude that got me
I was going to say shocked but it's too early for that
Just a heads up that this was a distributor and not the manufacturer

Honestly not 100 hrs on it either
 
Hi All
I have an R8 with what I think is a bias board issue
I have been in touch with the distributor , Audiophile Amplifier store and this was their reply to me

"We are sorry for the trouble!
Maybe we still need your help to do some tests: 1. Measure whether the light point is connected with the ground box (refer to Figure 1) 2. Turn on the power and measure whether the red point (V3) in the picture is the white line contact point to see if the voltage is between - 40 and - 45 negative (refer to Figure 1) 3. Turn on the power and measure whether the red mark point (V4) in the picture is the red line contact point to see if the voltage is between - 40 and - 45 negative(refer to Figure 2) Thank you for your understanding and trust! Take care of yourself and stay healthy. Sincerely, Audiophile Amplifier Store"




Thank you for your reply do you think it is wise for me to be testing inside a live tube amplifier? regards


"Yes, There is a fuse in the amplifier. If you operate normally, there is no problem."

With the tubes in?

"Yes"

That was the end of our conversation
Is this not a bit strange or am I being over sensitive?
Before you pay someone to repair it you might want to check out Stephe's YouTube channel. She has a whole series on the R8. She did some mods and shows, in detail, step by step how they're done. I think one might have dealt with the bias. I seem to recall that there are known issues with the bias and that some owners have been supplied with replacement boards.

https://www.youtube.com/c/SkunkieDesignsElectronics/videos
 
Hi Jeff
I did and the seller was Audiophile Amplifier Store
I would have sworn it was China hifi and after dealing with them for about 3 weeks and getting 2 replies I found out accidentally is was not them although they did not know either
So here I am
 
Hi Rayma
It's all under control i think thank you, I have the schematics and the guy who is doing the repair and upgrading has worked on these amps so is quite comfortable with this
I did send an email to Stephe of the conversation just to hear her views on it although I have a good idea of what they might be
 
There are some grounding faults I had to deal with when I went through the amp. I did many (but not all) of the Skunkie mods. One fault I found was a dry joint on one of the 6SL7 leads where the ground passes from one lead through the adjacent lead then to the ground rail, which was very easy fix, but I had to go through the whole audio circuit to find it, and compare it to the opposite channel to be certain.
 
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