Sony TA-F6B Resto

TA-F6B is one of the best integrated amps that I have heard. I got into collecting amps about a year ago, internet research pointed to Kenwood, Pioneer and Sansui. I bought TA-F6B on ebay because it seemed like a really good deal. When I hooked it up for testing the music sounded so sweet that I played it at 12'o'clock for about 5 hours. And then it suddenly quit working, it turned out to be the thermal fuse in the power supply, before PLPS, that tanked. I ended up buying one more TA-F6B in as is condition, and it won't power up. it turned out to be a bad solder joint in PLPS, and it works fine too. Just one question, on both my TA-F6Bs, it seems that when balance control is turned completely towards either side, there is still some sound, albeit very little on the other channel. I wonder if thats the normal behavior for this amp. Can someone else who has access to TA-F6B test their amp, at moderate loudness and see if there is significant crosstalk. Hopefully, someone will come back to this old thread...

Clean your controls and switches.
 
Are you sure it's corrosion, or is it mineral deposits? If it's the latter, use vinegar. I had the same kind of stuff on the ST-A7B I sold last year and I knew that if I used a strong cleaner, it would screw up the anodizing and possibly the silk screened lettering. Then, I remembered what we used to get mineral deposits off of boats and bought some plain, white vinegar. It looked better than ever. It looked like the day it was unpacked for the first time and having worked for a Sony dealer, I unpacked a heck of a lot of their equipment.

I will try that, thanks for the tip! Do I soak a rag and wipe it or can I let the knob sit in the vinegar?

Any suggestions on how to fill the lettering back up? I was thinking some thin paint, a syringe, and lots of patience.


Philip.
 
No dice with soaking the knob in vinegar :(

The spots only show up in a very limited rage of lighting conditions, so it doesn't bother me :) The knob in front of me looks great in sunlight and darkness, but there's this one mid range area of light where I can see the spots, it's hard to check, even.

Thanks for the tip all the same, highfi!


EDIT: I eat my words. A quick wipe on the face of the amp and all (but one or two) of the spots vanished! Awesome! I got out some Q-tips and detailed the amp with white vinegar. Beautiful!
 
Thanks thefragger for checking, please let me know what you find. It seemed that doing research on internet for classic integrated amps, specially for newbies, always point to Sansui, Pioneer, Kenwood and Yamaha, roughly in that order. So when I started my hobby, I got mainly Kenwood and some Pioneer. I was also kept some other brands like Sansui, Yamaha, Denon, Technics, HK on my list. Sony, I added after reading some about it on the excellent VK website by Axel. When I got my forst Sony, a TA-F6B, I already had Pioneer SA-9900 & A-9, Kenwood 7100,8100 and 701 and few other Technics, Akai, Denon and HK amps. The only reason I bought TA-F6B was that I got a really good price for a 100 watt/ch amp. After listening to TA-F6B, I can safely say that it sounded better than all the other heavy weights I mentioned, although they are all great amps in their own right. Maybe its my listening taste, I like an open sound with clear midrange and specially unmuddled vocals. Anyways, I have now several Sonys, TA-F6B, TA-4650, TA-5650, TA-F70, TA-5A and I like all of their sound. 5650 probably is the best sounding of the lot but TA-F6B has a special place for me since it introduced me to vintage Sony. Ok enough of that, Please let me know what you find on the crosstalk issue.
 
I will try that, thanks for the tip! Do I soak a rag and wipe it or can I let the knob sit in the vinegar?

Any suggestions on how to fill the lettering back up? I was thinking some thin paint, a syringe, and lots of patience.


Philip.

I'd just wipe the knobs with a cloth that is damp with vinegar. Cotton swabs for getting itno small spaces. For the lettering- I have no idea. I can't see why it would need anything but there's no telling how a previous owner treated it. I would use a good magnifying glass/loupe with a fine artist's brush, cut shorter and trimmed thinner if needed.
 
I'd just wipe the knobs with a cloth that is damp with vinegar. Cotton swabs for getting itno small spaces. For the lettering- I have no idea. I can't see why it would need anything but there's no telling how a previous owner treated it. I would use a good magnifying glass/loupe with a fine artist's brush, cut shorter and trimmed thinner if needed.

The thing with the paint is that some of it's patchy and stained. I was thinking of just taking the face off, laying it flat, and filling the lettering with some thin paint (in a syringe for all the narrow spots) to bring it back up to snuff. It doesn't bother me, but it's just one of those things that would finish it off.

That vinegar wipe trick worked great! Thanks for that tip!


Philip.
 
SONY TA-F6B out of work!!

Hi everybody, I'm Ben from France and glad to see all over the world the attraction for this unit, my request is: I have an amplifier SONY TA F6B which does not ignite, the problem comes from the PLPS? it makes a noise persisting in the ignition.
How can we repair it? My professionel repairer did not know how to make it, he says to me that defectueuses piecesrooms are not any more in stock at SONY.

For me that is the best ever so can you help me.
Thanks a lot.
 
Hi thefragger, thanks for reply.
I am not able to tell what is wrong inside but the repairer said that some circuits of the PLPS died.
That I wanted knowledge it is if it was possible to repair it or if there is still somewhere this unit PLPS.
ben.
 
Ben,

Do you see the black box on the right side in this photo?

That is the PLPS.

This is what is inside the box;

Because it is closed it gets very hot inside. I had to replace some parts that were damaged by heat. I don't think you can buy the box by itself from Sony anymore.


Philip.
 
Hi, I am going to take some pictures of the inside of the PLPS and so maybe could you say to me what would be repairable or not?
Thank you.
 
I am no expert, but I see burn marks, and proof of really hot temperatures. Several caps have burst, or are on the way of getting their little jacket off ;)

Totally recapping it with 105C grade caps, and measuring to see whether the values of other components are still ok, would be in order, at least :)
 
Bonjour Stoffie, on peut peut-être parler "in french" pour une fois, merci d'avoir vu mes photos, le soucis c'est que mon réparateur ne peut pas réparer parce qu'il ne trouve pas les pièces chez SONY??d'après lui!!
Faut-il que je trouve un autre réparateur? est ce réparable électroniquement?
Merci ben.
 
Wow, this is a really great thread. Thanks for showing us all those pictures of your work in progress, you are really doing great.
 
Bonjour Stoffie, on peut peut-être parler "in french" pour une fois, merci d'avoir vu mes photos, le soucis c'est que mon réparateur ne peut pas réparer parce qu'il ne trouve pas les pièces chez SONY??d'après lui!!
Faut-il que je trouve un autre réparateur? est ce réparable électroniquement?
Merci ben.

I suggest we keep it in English, that's easier for everyone to follow. :)

I guess it's pretty normal that there would be no more spare parts from Sony, as this amp is more than 25 years old.

You might try to find another repair guy. I've always heard that, while expensive because of some scarse components, these PLPS' are usually repairable.

I guess you could try to have the caps and the resistors, and the 'normal' components replaced, and see where that gets you. Faulty PLPS' are usually because the caps and resistors fail, because of the intense heat in these sealed boxes.
 
I return to look for a better repairer and I inform you of the evolution, see you soon on this post.
Oh!I forgot, I have a second ampli TA-F6B and he works marvelously, it is for it that I would like to find the first one, them was coupled with 2 pre-amp SONY TAE 5450!!
The sound was incredible.
Thanks for all.
 
Can anyone answer me about the specification of the light fuse in the vu-meter, both are out and nothing is write on this to give me clude.
thanks.
after having changed all the caps of the PLPS I always had the problem of ignition, I think that it comes from transistor HITACHI 2SB655 and 2SD675, are they easy to find?
 
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