sKiZo
Hates received: 92644 43.20°N 85.50°W
It's a good thing to get a unit that works, but that's just a start. You'd be hard pressed to find a true classic that either hasn't been restored - or doesn't need it. Boils down to wanting to just plug and play, or getting your hands dirty which way you go.
Lot depends on what you want to get out of the hobby also. Listening is great, but for me, half the fun is digging in and making some old timer sing. First power up after a major restoration is a magic moment.
Good example of why we do what we do ... the Sansui QRX9001. No such thing as one that doesn't need some serious bench time if it hasn't been restored. Having it done professionally is a very large chunk of money. Doing it yourself is quite the project, but the payoff is ... priceless ... I spent many an hour breathing solder, mumbling and grumbling, followed by many more hours of oohing and aahing ... with many more to come.
And yes ... a lot of the stuff is pretty reliable over the years with little or no maintenance, but even those can benefit from a little bench time. 30 year old caps lose their zing and the difference before and after can be pretty amazing.
PS ... this applies to ANY audio equipment. I just recapped a dbx BoomBox that had developed a hum. Power supply probably would have fixed it, but I also replaced all the electrolytics and added bypasses to all the signal path caps as well. Re-pointed the rest of the boards, cleaned all the contacts and controls, and ... wOw ... just wOw ... it's an eye opener what all you get used to over the years.
Lot depends on what you want to get out of the hobby also. Listening is great, but for me, half the fun is digging in and making some old timer sing. First power up after a major restoration is a magic moment.
Good example of why we do what we do ... the Sansui QRX9001. No such thing as one that doesn't need some serious bench time if it hasn't been restored. Having it done professionally is a very large chunk of money. Doing it yourself is quite the project, but the payoff is ... priceless ... I spent many an hour breathing solder, mumbling and grumbling, followed by many more hours of oohing and aahing ... with many more to come.
And yes ... a lot of the stuff is pretty reliable over the years with little or no maintenance, but even those can benefit from a little bench time. 30 year old caps lose their zing and the difference before and after can be pretty amazing.
PS ... this applies to ANY audio equipment. I just recapped a dbx BoomBox that had developed a hum. Power supply probably would have fixed it, but I also replaced all the electrolytics and added bypasses to all the signal path caps as well. Re-pointed the rest of the boards, cleaned all the contacts and controls, and ... wOw ... just wOw ... it's an eye opener what all you get used to over the years.