I cleaned up the relay contacts -- worked well for a while and then didn't.
The relay for this Yamaha is still in production and I got the replacement part from Mouser, ($11 or thereabouts) but DRAT, the pins on the old relay were 0.064" and the replacement 0.100" -- necessitating a bit of Dremel on the PCB.
All is wired back up. I was really taken aback by how much better this receiver sounds with a new protection relay.
Hi Jack,
Yes, speaker protection relays can make a real mess out of sound quality when the contacts are shot. The last 4 Marantz 2238B receivers I fixed needed relays. Now I have relays on order.
Some of those older Yamaha receivers were pretty good sounding units.
I keep a drill and Dremel on the bench ready to go for drilling out holes or cutting off extra leads.
-Chris
Yes, speaker protection relays can make a real mess out of sound quality when the contacts are shot. The last 4 Marantz 2238B receivers I fixed needed relays. Now I have relays on order.
Some of those older Yamaha receivers were pretty good sounding units.
I keep a drill and Dremel on the bench ready to go for drilling out holes or cutting off extra leads.
-Chris
My last repair?
A pair of Cambridge Audio SX-60 speakers.
These things have been a complete nightmare.
First they glued the tweeters onto the front of the cabinet ... So I drilled them and put in screws.
Then the wooffer dress rings conflicted and rattled so I took them off and cut the edges back a little where it was vibrating.
Then the sound quality... After a full year they didn't sound broke in and seemed weak and distant on most of my music, so I just put in new crossovers and replaced their 20ga wire... and this week, for the first time, they finally sound half way decent.
I've had them apart so often I had to rotate the woofer and drill new holes in the cabinet.
Definitely not going to buy Cambridge Audio again.
A pair of Cambridge Audio SX-60 speakers.
These things have been a complete nightmare.
First they glued the tweeters onto the front of the cabinet ... So I drilled them and put in screws.
Then the wooffer dress rings conflicted and rattled so I took them off and cut the edges back a little where it was vibrating.
Then the sound quality... After a full year they didn't sound broke in and seemed weak and distant on most of my music, so I just put in new crossovers and replaced their 20ga wire... and this week, for the first time, they finally sound half way decent.
I've had them apart so often I had to rotate the woofer and drill new holes in the cabinet.
Definitely not going to buy Cambridge Audio again.
Last edited:
To Douglas Blake:
Sorry about your dissatisfaction with those little bookshelf speakers.
It seems they're an overpriced version of the "genetic" offerings that many manufacturers make today.
Those types, a simple tweeter and a 6.5 inch woofer, along with a ported box about a foot high, are made under so many names these days.
And within reason, they all sound similar - lacking real "hifi" performance.
And as they should - how can a smallish speaker sound? - mediocre, compared to a decent full-sized system.
I'd had my hands on many of them over the years to know.
Down in my basement workshop, I've got a (free) pair of speakers like those, named "Musique".
Good enough for testing amps and such, and compact for the bench, but I tore out the crappy speakers and installed some better ones from Parts Express, along with some Xover changes to suit my ears.
Sorry about your dissatisfaction with those little bookshelf speakers.
It seems they're an overpriced version of the "genetic" offerings that many manufacturers make today.
Those types, a simple tweeter and a 6.5 inch woofer, along with a ported box about a foot high, are made under so many names these days.
And within reason, they all sound similar - lacking real "hifi" performance.
And as they should - how can a smallish speaker sound? - mediocre, compared to a decent full-sized system.
I'd had my hands on many of them over the years to know.
Down in my basement workshop, I've got a (free) pair of speakers like those, named "Musique".
Good enough for testing amps and such, and compact for the bench, but I tore out the crappy speakers and installed some better ones from Parts Express, along with some Xover changes to suit my ears.
My impression as well. When I contacted Cambridge Audio about the problems and asked for a crossover schematic, they pretty much didn't know what I was talking about and, when they finally passed me on to a technician, he tells me: "We likely don't have that information".... Say What???
I'm guessing they went to China and asked what they could get, a opposed to actually designing a speaker themselves.
Still with the new crossover (a simple second order at 1900hz) they are finally sounding pretty decent.
Well Douglas, the reality is.....
These speakers, among the many brands out there, are the products of china/korea/etc., and regardless of the nameplate on them, the companies are only interested in selling them in droves.
And additionally, designed to be "throw-aways" for the masses brainwashed for decades into that mentality.
I don't care if they're a long-time American company, a French one, or even German - you're getting something shipped out of asia.
And the few manufacturers that DO build locally, use asian-made parts.
You can't get away from it.
Hi wiseoldtech,
In Canada, we have Paradigm that still manufactures its own drivers and boxes locally, the small speakers are made in China. PSB may be made in China, but the important thing to know is that in China, they have the two top speaker factories in the world. You can get scrap made, or extremely high quality construction. The same thing goes for the drivers. In fact, I would be surprised if a few brands didn't have a quality boost after going to China.
One speaker factory is the original one, then they built a newer, better factory and took the best workers from the original factory and put them to work in the higher quality factory. I think that China has been serious about high quality as well as volume production for years now and they are hard to beat when it comes to any metric you care to use. You have to understand that they can out class any manufacturer of speakers these days. It isn't just price anymore, it's price and quality.
-Chris
In Canada, we have Paradigm that still manufactures its own drivers and boxes locally, the small speakers are made in China. PSB may be made in China, but the important thing to know is that in China, they have the two top speaker factories in the world. You can get scrap made, or extremely high quality construction. The same thing goes for the drivers. In fact, I would be surprised if a few brands didn't have a quality boost after going to China.
One speaker factory is the original one, then they built a newer, better factory and took the best workers from the original factory and put them to work in the higher quality factory. I think that China has been serious about high quality as well as volume production for years now and they are hard to beat when it comes to any metric you care to use. You have to understand that they can out class any manufacturer of speakers these days. It isn't just price anymore, it's price and quality.
-Chris
Hiya Chris!
I'll agree that China's manufacturing is all over the place, indeed.
The thing is, you never quite know where something was sourced from when you buy anything these days.
The confusion comes from such things as "Assembled in USA with Imported Components" and other similar statements.
To me, that is simply a way of justifying quality level by (mental) association.
The average person doesn't "look into" such technicalities when buying, at best, they may do a little research of reviews, but they often rely on outward appearances, of which the powerful draw of superficiality sells things.
The marketers and designers know this, and feed the public what it wants, of course.
Just like anything these days.
It used to be what you're spending money on gave you your money's worth, satisfying both the customer, and giving the manufacturer a gold star in reputation.
Hard pressed to find companies today that live up to the standards of yore.
I'll agree that China's manufacturing is all over the place, indeed.
The thing is, you never quite know where something was sourced from when you buy anything these days.
The confusion comes from such things as "Assembled in USA with Imported Components" and other similar statements.
To me, that is simply a way of justifying quality level by (mental) association.
The average person doesn't "look into" such technicalities when buying, at best, they may do a little research of reviews, but they often rely on outward appearances, of which the powerful draw of superficiality sells things.
The marketers and designers know this, and feed the public what it wants, of course.
Just like anything these days.
It used to be what you're spending money on gave you your money's worth, satisfying both the customer, and giving the manufacturer a gold star in reputation.
Hard pressed to find companies today that live up to the standards of yore.
Hi wiseoldtech,
I can't disagree with a lot of your post. But our young managers in the 1980's sold us all down the river. It didn't help that some of us were paddling with them by voting with their dollars for the cheap crap. Now those same folks are the most upset.
Just wait until "repair by replacement" really hits home! That is the ultimate screw, wouldn't you say?
-Chris
I can't disagree with a lot of your post. But our young managers in the 1980's sold us all down the river. It didn't help that some of us were paddling with them by voting with their dollars for the cheap crap. Now those same folks are the most upset.
Just wait until "repair by replacement" really hits home! That is the ultimate screw, wouldn't you say?
-Chris
Fixed my DirecTV Remote - It seemed to be responding sporadically
Then, noticed that LEDs were not flashing when buttons were being pressed.
Took it apart and board / carbon pads that make across PCBA fingers were "oily" - probably from eating while watching TV / skin oil etc.
Wiped it all down with dry paper towel first - then with a little alcohol.
Reassembled and it now works like new! (First Press, EVERY press = :happy
Then, noticed that LEDs were not flashing when buttons were being pressed.
Took it apart and board / carbon pads that make across PCBA fingers were "oily" - probably from eating while watching TV / skin oil etc.
Wiped it all down with dry paper towel first - then with a little alcohol.
Reassembled and it now works like new! (First Press, EVERY press = :happy
That issue with remote controls is common after some years.
Besides dirt and foreign stuff getting into the remote, there's another problem...
Depending on the quality of manufacturing, the silicone button sheet could "out-gas" chemicals used for pliancy, and leech its fluid onto the carbon tracks of the PC board.
This then requires excessive pressing on the buttons to make contact.
Besides dirt and foreign stuff getting into the remote, there's another problem...
Depending on the quality of manufacturing, the silicone button sheet could "out-gas" chemicals used for pliancy, and leech its fluid onto the carbon tracks of the PC board.
This then requires excessive pressing on the buttons to make contact.
Ah - so maybe THAT's what the "oily residue" was / where at least some of it came from.
This also happens with cordless phones, and anything that uses those silicone rubber "keypad" button pads.
WRT 'fixing' things. Haven't had a need to. Well, except for my Onkyo/Integra CD changer, which needs some work on the sled, and my Sony VHS tape deck, which needs a video head alignment. But, I'm not going to do either of those myself. Although, I fixed the sled issue once, but then the problem came back a while later, so, it became clear that new parts were needed. I don't warranty my home-fix work, so, I might take it somewhere else.
Aside: It would be good if the forum owners could devise a way for people to reply to a specific post, rather than just adding onto the end of a thread.
Aside: It would be good if the forum owners could devise a way for people to reply to a specific post, rather than just adding onto the end of a thread.
Last thing I fixed? A plugged toilet. One of my least favourite fix-it jobs.
On the plus side, I have a toilet auger now, in case it happens again. That toilet is old, and clog-prone.
-Gnobuddy
Perhaps you need more fiber in your diet.
The trouble with a lot of those types of components is PLASTIC.
Plastic, the white plastic things like gears, tend to crack, split, warp.
In the service industry, and at my shop, we called that crap "milk bottle plastic" because it was recycled, repurposed plastic.
A gear pressed onto a motor shaft is under frictional stress to be "tight" so it doesn't slip on that shaft.
Over time, the gear cracks under that stress, usually at a point between teeth where it's the thinnest, the gear teeth now seperate at the split, and the mechanism now binds because the teeth do not line up with a mating gear or worm screw.
As for VCR alignments, those white plastic "tracks" that help guide the loading pins become cruddy.
A good cleaning, along with a light smear of Super Lube synthetic grease allows those pins to slide much better, locking into their end-of-travel alignment notches better.
But depending on the era they were made, capacitors often cause issues - products made around 2002 to 2005/6 were subject to having capacitors that were involved in that massive "Bad Capacitor" scandal that made almost everything electronic a ticking time bomb.
Computers, monitors, tv's, stereos, everything, even NASA and governmental equipment was prone to it.
Last edited:
Reminds me of my FIRST CD Player - A 1980's Quasar (Technics / Panny with different label slapped on it)
One night, when I wanted to listen to some tunes - I popped-in a CD, hit play, and the darned thing started "skipping" / repeating a short phrase. Got P'd-off, take CD out, WHAM! on the floor with it / shatters into pieces. Well, that felt good. Pop-in another CD and same thing happens (whoops! / realized my mistake and out the bucks for CD...ggrrrr!....)
Took it apart, blew-out the dust, and put a little dry graphite lube on the "Guide Rails" for the Read-Head Assembly. Thing worked Purrrrr-fect thereafter.