Anything to help train the next generation of audio techs. I live in a city of 6.5 million people and yet we only have a single audio repair tech, cash only 6 month backlog minimum. These videos help me take matters in my own hands! Thank ya.

I just paid $900 to repair my Marantz 2245. The repair costs have doubled in 4-5 years and its getting harder to find people who can do it (and I'm in Los Angeles). The shop I went to gets units from all over the world sent to them because the demand is so high and so few are well trained to work on super valuable units. This has made me want to learn how to repair these myself, and seriously considering getting into the repair trade. I know I'll have to review this video again, but it really help paint a picture of the world I'm headed into. This was very accessible and a great start-off point, I truly appreciate it.

That “mystery” tool is called a spring hook. We used them on repairing teletypes. The “hook” side is the spring hook, the other side is a spring push. Still wish I had mine!

Probably the best training/educational video I’ve seen on KZfaq. I restore/repair 8 track players for about 10 years but only the mechanical portion…the easy stuff. IC board stuff is way out of my league. Thank you and it is sad to see all of our skilled professions dying and gone.

Thanks for the informative video--very useful. That tool for the springs is called a "Spring Hook" -It was a standard tool for all the Field Mechanics who worked on adding/accounting machines in the 50's-60's-70's-I was with Burroughs for 8yrs and used one often--very handy little implement.

Excellent video! Now that I`m fully retired at 60 yrs old, I have time to play around with my vintage gear. This is very informative, thanks for posting!

I've inherited well over 50 (1970's)different tuners, amps, tape decks, and turntables, mostly JVC and Marantz. Dozens of Bose speakers. 901's, 501's and 301's 201's I've slowly been restoring the speakers and am afraid to start on the stereos. I'm glad I found your channel, I need a lot of help. lol

Enjoying a cold beer in your tropical paradise - "Priceless". Thanks for all of your videos and help.

This is a great video. One tip, HiFi Engine hasn’t been accepting new accounts for almost a year. I don’t know what is up with that but it has made getting ahold of service manuals a big pain in the neck.

Thank you for just being you ! I’ve learned so much from your videos and please please keep them coming. Love the basics on how to and your approach on diagnosis.

This is the best video I've seen on KZfaq as an introduction to working on vintage audio equipment. Nicely done, sir!

Thank you so much for making this video!!! I’ve been searching for a video like this about general troubleshooting and I learned a ton from this. Best video I have seen on this subject. I will definitely subscribe. All the best and take care!

Thanks to you, I feel confident in setting up a work shop in the corner of my basement .Am no longer terrorify on getting started on fixing my equipment.Thanjk you so much . You are a terrific instructor. Learn so much in such little time.

This is, in my opinion, a very good video on the subject. You provide the interest on the topic and VAA provides, in a way that keeps your interest and wanting to watch more, the expertise. I liked the narrative, examples, anecdotes... I thank the shared knowledge. Thumb up.

Thank you so much for this. I am just starting out doing vintage tube amplifier repair and this is so much great information.

Great video! Really appreciate the content that gives you great advice on the general repair of vintage audio.

Welcome back Chris...It is always a pleasure to see your new videos, and help educate all of us, who hope to follow your examples!

Learning so much by watching these valuable videos that you make. Thank you!

Thanks a million!!!! Everything was well explained. Not once was i ever lost. Your the man keep up the good work, God Bless you my friend!!

Excellent video sir!! I wish this kind of comprehensive material was available when I started out. I'm sure many novices will find it invaluable.

I love your videos! Keep them coming Chris. Know that you're appreciated.

Thank you so much for this video. I appreciate what you do and share your experience and expertise in restoring and repairing vintage audio. I seldom make comments but I watch every single video of yours whenever have the chance in my spare time. I am an avid fans of your channel. Keep it up and God bless. Looking forward to your next video.

A fantastic guide to help jumpstart anyone into vintage electronic repair-such like myself. Eternal thanks for your beacon of information !

Thank you for the information you worked so hard on to help your viewers, and point them in the right direction with troubleshooting their audio problems..You are helpful without expecting payment for sharing your knolege, and that is most kind of you!!!

WOW,what an amazing video. I am a novice but you have inspired me to take up vintage audio repairs. Awsome straight forward instruction. Thank you. All the best from sunny Wales😊😊

Happy Holidays to you and your Family thank you for all the videos i have learned so much from you over the years

Thank you so much for such a thorough video. I learned a lot of basics and what else I need to look into.

Listened from word to word, although I'm working with all kinds of electronic this video was helpfull for me just by giving perspective on some points. Great work and much appreciated 🙏

Priceless training video for new and old techs. Even us old guys really appreciate this excellent training tool and inciteful information. Thank you, Sir!

Outstanding video. Thank you from a Tech expanding from RF Transceivers and SMT to old audio just for something different. Found an old SX-720 as my first restoration project and just got the first bag o caps and transistors in the mail. Kind of excited to use my bench and skills anew. Anyway, I appreciate your emprirical advice more than you know. I too try and pay it forward. PCB level diagnosis and repair is becoming an endangered species.

Fantastic vid. You're so thorough and I'm glad i subscribed some time a go. If you weren't a teacher, I think you should have been. I collect and purge when I need too, Just love audio, both vintage and modern. Keep up the great work.

Absolutely outstanding learning video. It truly inspired me. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge with all of us. One cannot put a price on the knowledge gained. Thank you once again.

Amazing Video! This kind of knowledge is gold. Thankyou

Good to see you putting on a video Chris thanks, Good stuff as always

I have been a hobbyist for over 20 years but was interested to see how other folks approach it. Very nice video, novices should watch this. If you are working on tube gear, they are simpler but much more dangerous. I suggest seeking other videos on safety.

New subber. Love your very matter-of-fact/common sense approach to your passion. I’m a long time guitar amp fixer, albeit never for a living. For that, I’m a Electronic Calibration lead metrologist at one of the NASA Centers, and just came into 2 SX-1080s. One’s running fine, the other taking me down a few rabbit holes so far. Got most of the repair equipment I need, but my old reliable 465 scope lost it’s vertical. I’m also an amateur Extra, so theres Collins rigs in use as well. Tube gear everywhere. Great channel. 👍

Amazing video! I did a Teac BX 300 amplifier. Speakers kept making popping noise, so a lot of work later its a truly wonderful amp! Tons of crud in the switches, bad caps, bad solder joints.

Just found this. Great little helper as usual. Many thanks, Very helpful for anyone dallying with stereo gear. Cheers.

👍🏻😎I like your approach to the restoration process. My gear is approaching the 40 year old mark and is getting near the restoration point. All of my gear is still like new in appearance inside and out and I don't plan on replacing any of it. I have what I have because I still love it. Thanks for the videos and advice.

Excellent video. Hopefully this'll inspire some folks to dive in and learn to repair their own gear. 😎

Thank you for the video clip. Congratulations for the superb work and subject matter knowledge!

Wow, so much great information! Thank you. Subscribed!

Really appreciate the time you've put in to post this video.

Great detailed video, Probably the best one yet, a wealth of information. thank you Sir.

When I was 16, I acquired an old Heathkit oscilloscope which had problems. While working on it, I accidentally got across the 4KV HV supply. It felt like being punched hard in the chest, and the muscle spasm knocked me across the room. I learned the wisdom of the TV technician's old rule: When working around HV, keep one hand in your pocket! Later in life I was a radio/TV engineer, and worked on a Harris MW-50A 50KW AM xmttr...that thing had a 24KV plate supply. You DON'T work on a beast like that, power-on!

Man, this is SUPER helpful. Thank you.

A very good and informative video Thank you so much. Please keep them coming.

This is a fantastic video. I use exactly the same process. Some capacitors and transistors (ahem..germainium), and tubes are ridiculously expensive, so in some cases I may restore, while in others I just repair.

Easy to understand at 2X speed. Good video! Different utoobers can be sped up to different speeds.

About those jumper leads with alligator clips. One time I was using some and getting weird measurements. So out of frustration I tried ohming out the jumpers themselves and, alarmingly, I was finding resistances all the way up to 20k!! It turned out that the dissimilar metals of the clips and the wire, being merely crimped together, were developing a layer of corrosion in between. I took every jumper I had, pushed back the insulating boot, hit the crimps with flux, and soldered them.

Thank you for this. I've acquired a pioneer SA-8100 as a project and wanted to know what I was getting into. Seller plugged it in and showed me it was stuck in protection mode and would need to diagnose to get it going. I have recently acquired a bench multimeter and still need a variac or bulb dimmer to start diagnosing issues. A oscilliscope would be a great gift request for Christmas, thanks for the tips.

Very useful video Keep up your great work God bless you Thanks

I’m going to give it a try starting with my Technics SU-C01 pre-amplifier. Wish me luck, I’m gonna need it.

Super helpful video, thanks so much Chris.

Great, really helpful video. Thanks v much. I started repairing broken amplifiers 4 months ago. Your video has so much practical information and tips from your years of experience. It consolidated what I have learned from hours of Googling and hands on repairing several amplifiers is what experienced repairers do, plus lots of new practical help. A practical video on tracing an audio signal with oscilloscope with reference to the schematic and safety issues would be really helpful for those of us just stating.

Wow, very interesting and informative video, thank you very much

Thank you for making this, im working on an eventide 1745 A and an Ams Dmx 15-80s

Thank you for getting the point across

Hi Chris, Thanks for making this video and sharing your knowledge. Like you mentioned, I'm also not formally trained and have taken up vintage audio equipment restoration as a hobby. It's very inspiring to watch others do this stuff. I've been able to restore a reel to reel and cassette tape deck and seeing how you approach things is very helpful. I wish I knew where to find likeminded people like you to meetup with and exchange knowledge with locally, but I'm glad there's a big online community of hobbyists like us.

Tool in question for automotive work seal puller I believe if no one has said yet great vid

Hey my friend. Just sub’d your channel as we are all about vintage Audi too. Leak Point One St.20 amp and Varislope line stage. Goodman’s 301 drivers in original factory built cabinets circa 1955. Marantz 240 power amp etc. We went through catastrophe level floods here in Oz this year and like most we lost nearly everything we owned inc the 240 which needs a transformer now😳. BUT just this week I powered up a recently purchased Denon receiver bought for better digital sound and it pretty much worked. I say pretty much because at first we couldn’t get signal to the speakers, Then after removing the top casing and spraying the boards and everything else in sight with a generic contact cleaner/rust remover the sound thru the headphone jack worked. So I got hold of a specialist electrical board cleaner and sprayed the by heck out of it left it to dry and now speakers are functioning fine. Same with the remote. Not functioning at first then a pretty hefty spray with the same cleaner and it appears to be working quite well. I’m listening to Nirvana via Spotify thru Apple TV and that receiver as I’m typing. My question is should we do anything else going forward, or leave well enough alone? The only hiccup with the receivers functionality is that the on screen setup won’t load past language choice. It just keeps cycling, however there isn’t a problem exiting “Setup”. I’ve tried a factory reset which seemed to work yet the setup problem continued next try. Any ideas on this? Denon DRA-800-H. Apple TV HD. Panasonic tv with hdmi but no CDC or app function so pre “SMART” I guess. Thanks in advance for your thoughts. God Bless 🌞

Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge.

Great video keep up the great work and thank you

I recently bought a ProsKit SS-331 desolder station for around $200 dollars and it works a charm so far. Easy to use, easy to clean, and seems to be made of quality.

One thing I would like to add , before you start to repair, be sure you turn the unit on unplugged to be sure any electricity stored in the capacitors or transformer is drained. I'm not a electrician, but, I'd do it a day prior. Better safe than sorry.

Thank You for the video very well done!

Very interesting, thanks to share

Wow. What a great job. You should be a teacher. Thank you ❤

Tool = 8" Spring Hook Push & Pull tool. Costs about $10 shipped.

Great video supper information. Thanks a lot.

Dear Sir, thank you for the video. My Yamaha CA-1010 is singing again. Happy day!

@VintageAudioAddict you have a gift for teaching! This topic so fascinating and like many, I am thankful for your videos. Do you have any videos on big picture view of how an amplifier works and what all the tiny electronics pieces are and what they do?

Genius advice about turning off the unit then make your connection..turn back on ..get your measurements..bingo..! Can't believe I never thought about that b4

Sir, thank you very much for this beautiful, informative video! The hook like instrument that you have shown in this video is a Surgical probe. This kind of probe is being used in different types of surgergical operations viz. ENT, Cardio Thoracic, Dental surgery etc. You may please advise your followers to visit a Surgical Instrument dealer in his/her respective city & buy this kind of instrument. This is indeed, a very useful tool!😊

Wow! This was/is the absolute BEST and definitely THE MOST thorough video that I've EVER seen anywhere about this specific topic! Very interesting, informative, AND helpful! (And since your video was long, and you gave people "fair warning" about its length in the very beginning of it, I will do the same here and say that this comment will most likely also be quite long, based on how many questions I made note of to ask you about while watching your video, so here goes...) Me being an "electronics nerd" myself, I really wish that I personally knew someone just like you in my own town, that I could just talk electronics with, and visit anytime I wanted to "collab" on a project or get help with something I'm working on, share info I know, etc... On that last note, there is a few tips and things I would add to or further expand on about your video here, along with a few questions I thought of while watching it... One of the very FIRST things that I do when looking at and attempting to service any piece of used audio equipment is (right after taking the cover off, but before even powering it up and testing it), is to take it outside and blow any/all of the dust and dirt out of the entire insides of it using an air compressor and blow nozzle, that way you can also see better if anything is obviously wrong with it before ever powering it up. (like loose wires, obviously physically broken or blown components, etc.) I absolutely MUST add a good quality desoldering gun or station to my workbench tool arsenal, as that specific thing, (i.e. desoldering components, especially from circuit boards, and especially from "double sided" circuit boards!), has been a major frustration of mine for WAY too long already! I just need to break down and finally *invest* in a good quality desoldering gun like that HAAKO one that you have there, even though the truly good quality desoldering guns like that one, and especially all of the good quality desoldering stations, are quite expensive! (That's why I've put off buying one for so many years!) And even though I've gotten quite good at utilizing that "desoldering wick" stuff, I go through it too fast and I'm always having to buy more of it, plus I know it's still not nearly as fast OR EASY to use as a really good quality desoldering gun or station would be! While on the subject of tools needed for this type of work, I luckily already have a few of the more expensive things you mention... I already have 4 Fluke multimeters, one Model 189 multimeter, two Model 289 multimeters, and one Model 867 graphical multimeter, (ALL of which I've bought used over the years for really great prices!), so I've got THAT part covered at least, lol! Along with my multimeters I also have a very nice Fluke test lead set that includes REALLY sharp pointed NEEDLE tip test leads, that will literally instantly make you *bleed* if you accidentally touch the tip of them, but they are really awesome for very securely and safely testing individual solder joints or test points on circuit boards, or individual component leads like on ICs and such, without accidentally slipping off or shorting out another adjacent terminal, etc. They are awesome because they don't ever slip off of terminals or joints because they dig into them slightly. They also fit into the tightest and tiniest of places on a circuit board because they are slightly smaller and more of a slim profile than the typical/normal test leads that you get with most multimeters. It looks like you could actually also use some of THAT type of test lead yourself! I also got extremely lucky and I recently acquired an O-scope that is VERY similar to yours in this video. I now have a Tektronix Model 475 oscilloscope that, believe it or not, I *found for free* in a "recycling" dumpster not too long ago! (It's amazing what some people throw away!) It appears to work perfectly fine after I cleaned all of the switches and controls on it, but since I've never been able to afford or have an actual o-scope before, I'm still learning how to actually use it, lol! I also recently found at one of my local thrift stores for $15(!!), a VERY nice "vintage" Hewlitt Packard Audio Frequency Signal Generator with a nice, large dial on the front of it for very fine, precise frequency control. It has an output range of 1Hz all the way up to 1MHz, so it works for pretty much ANY audio testing I need! (except RF frequencies of course) Now, as far as places to actually still buy good quality individual electronic components go, I agree that Mouser and Digi-Key are two of the better/best places to buy those components from! Thank goodness we still have those two electronic parts distributors at least, because more and more electronic parts stores and distributors seem to be going totally out of business every single year, because most average people nowadays don't even care to fix or work on anything anymore, they just throw it away and buy a brand new one, which is a major waste of resources IMO!... Anyway, for the few of us who actually still DO care about fixing/restoring vintage audio gear, and realize that when working properly, most all of it is better quality than most new stuff is, at least Mouser and Digi-Key are still around to supply (most of) the parts we may need to fix said vintage gear! Both of those parts distributors are very reputable, long lived companies, that directly source their components from reputable manufacturers, so you at least know that anything you buy from them is of a good quality, and is backed by their guarantee of that if there's ever any issues with what they sell... Unlike what you get from buying rather "sketchy" quality stuff from unknown reputation sellers on Amazon or Ebay, lol! (I just wish that Digi-Key and Mouser's PRICES were as cheap as the electronic parts are on Amazon and Ebay!... But I guess this is a place/topic where the saying "you get what you pay for" really does apply, because many of the electronic parts that are sold on Amazon and Ebay are really cheaply made, low quality, *imitation/fake* parts, and/or "seconds" or "factory reject" parts, which usually either don't perform up to specs, and/or totally fail prematurely when put into use, which is extremely annoying to deal with when trying to repair something!) On that note, where do you recommend buying truly GOOD quality, very LARGE value, (>10,000uF), power supply filter capacitors for a still reasonable price? The only kind of those types of capacitors that I can find online are either EXTREMELY expensive, or else the more reasonably/affordably priced ones seem to just be of total *garbage* quality that either immediately blow up or leak really bad as soon as you put their "rated" voltage across them! Any serious suggestions here would be a great help, as I have a few vintage amplifiers that need new power supply rail caps, I just don't know of the BEST place to get them, and before I invest tons of money in the expensive ones, I'd like to know if you, (OR anyone else reading this), knows of a good, reliable place to buy truly GOOD quality filter caps from for a reasonably affordable price first! Now, as far as getting service manuals and such goes, (and I totally agree that having the actual *service* manual for any component that you're trying to repair, is absolutely *essential* to doing the job *properly* , because it gives you proper adjustment values and voltages, etc.!), I HAVE already at least HEARD of/about "Hi-Fi Engine.com", but I've never bothered to set up an actual account with them yet, but after hearing from you more specific details about what all that they provide on that site, it sounds like I really SHOULD/NEED TO set up an account with them!... I'm also gonna definitely have to check out that other site you mentioned; "World Radio History", because that site sounds totally awesome! I've never heard of it before now, but it sounds like a VERY valuable info site, so thanks for mentioning it in your video! (This comment got "too long" to post, so I had to put the second part of it below, as a "reply" to this one...)

Your comment on safety working with 120/240 volts +, work with one hand behind your back and make sure not to lean on any component where you become a ground circuit. In addition to 2 mechanics tickets, I also picked up an instrumentation ticket. I got sent out with a young lady apprentice to perform calibration checks on an oilfield pumpjack installation. The instruments function on 12V or more likely 24V and 4 - 20mA current. To do our job we shut the electric jack down, some use a one lunger gas engine. She pulled the wiring out of the instrument, which grounded and blew the fuse. When she put it back together the device was not reading, so we found and replaced the 250mA fuse. When we tried to restart the pumpjack it would not run. Now inside the panel is the fuses for the 4800V motor. Some I had a little discussion with her on procedure to avoid being shocked. That voltage will do much worse than light you up. The Fluke meter is good to 600V so you can not test for the 4800V. I popped the fuses out to check continuity. One fuse was blown. How that happened I have no idea. I tried phoning our electricians, the operator and our electrical foreman. Nobody would answer the phone. Closed the panel up and drove to town 1 hour away and rummaged for a fuse. We did not have the proper one, but I found one the next amp rating up. Went back to site and installed that fuse and got the pumpjack operating. In the morning I told the electrical foreman the story and handed him the blown fuse so he could get the proper one and replace the over size one. I got my backside chewed by him and the manager for being in the 4800V area, as instrumentation I should not be touching anything because of the danger. I related how I had instructed on using only one hand in the cabinet to prevent being shocked and not trying to measure the voltage, but to safely remove the fuse and test continuity. An interesting bit of knowledge is the ignition coil on older cars is a transformer. When the points open the coil outputs 10kv to 50kv to the distributor rotor. Measure the voltage at the battery connection on the coil and it will read 200v to 300v while the engine is running. Backwards induced voltage in the primary.

Your video is gold mine 😊👍🏻

Techspray Prowick #4 desoldering braid is INCREDIBLY effective. It’s NOTHING like the run of the mill braids. It has a ton of flux in it and soaks up solder like a sponge. It’s worth every penny of the $7 it costs for each spool. A tube tester isn’t vital. Most tube testers aren’t reliable anyway. The best tube tester I’ve found is a Fender champ. Just measure the current while the tube is working. Most tube sellers seem to be fairly honest about the quality of the NOS tubes they sell. And new ones are still sold if used or NOS tubes make you nervous.

Very helpful video I'd like you to do one on using a volt meter and its hookups.

Thank you so much, love ur videos

Great vid Tool is an “o” ring pick Available from any auto parts store

regarding solder suckers, I have one that is similar to what you have in the video. I really don't use it anymore, its too heavy and cumbersome and I would occasionally would accidently push the button while trying to remove solder. and when upgrading myriads of capacitors, it can be challenging.

Thank you, really enjoyed this video! I'm a real amateur with old hi fi, have an old Sony and sounds like the speaker relay clicks on and off during use, I'm trying to work out what to do to fix it! Nothing changed in my set up but suddenly began, would love any ideas from you folk! :)

Thank you so much for this video, well done sir! You need a link so that I can buy you a cup of coffee. ;-)

I have found many excellent quality tools at flea markets and garage sales. If you know what you are looking for you can find that Fluke multimeter etc. for $3.00.

Thank you VAA. You are a great teacher! What did you do for a career?

think the tool may be an o'ring pick. or at least very close to one, as the set of those I have resembles it but that one is nice and slim. nice tips and info here thank you !

This is a great video

Thanks for the tips. 2245 Marantz. Went through Ian, salt water..3'drop. thought I had it with deoxit but just clipped out with no return. May not be easily fixed. But hope I can.

The red hook tool you showed looks like the ones used for threading knitting machines back in the days

most important technical knowledge is having a basic understanding of electrical, and electronics background, because with out it you can not service anything. I been fortunate to have a skill trade background in Hvac/R and some electrical so that being said it very important to have that. There not too many schools that teach this it more, but my former school Mckim technical Institute in Akron, Ohio did, but they been close over 30 years now .

The little.odd ball tool, I would call a pick, often part of a hook and pick set. I've also had one for 30+ years :)

Excellent

You are the best for me 😉

Great Video :-) Thank you for your wisdom. As for the Handtek O. 6022BE what is your thoughts on the higher models for the laptop?

Great video, thanks. I have a question on how to check the voltage shown in the schematics. Where do you hook the ground probe of the multimeter?

The way to use hex keys, and believe me - Floyd Rose style guitarist here and for sure for sure know what time it is with this... You want to make sure it is inserted well, obviously. But then the real trick is to use it for real and turn hard, relatively. Nothing crazy or obnoxious. Just hard enough and fast enough to say you did it that way and that's it. This ensures that stripping will not occur. Stripping happens when you try to baby it tight.

HiFiEngines is not allowing new users to register, any reason why?

I would try a small plier or tweesers for manipulate springs & hooks , if missing the "spring hook tool". Also useful: magnifier lamp/glasses.

Nice Video, Thanks. Do you have any advice on dealing with wire wrap board connections. Old Pioneers seem to use it a lot. I am not sure which tools are needed for disconnect and reconnect.