Re-capping amplifiers

Jazzmuso

Jazzmuso

Active Member
Hi all

New here but a keen Yamaha enthusiast. At the moment my whole system is Yamaha (older stuff)

My main amplifiers are the C4 Preamp and the M2 power amp. Both in their stock standard state and playing really well. I have detected some decline in detail here and there and a bit of drop in openess. Friends are suggesting a re-cap for both pre and power amp. Is this really necessary or can a service do the trick? I enjoy them with the yamaha CDX 1110 cd player, PX3 turntable and NS 1000 M and NS 690 (alternative) speakers.

Main question: re-cap or not. Any views and experiences would be useful.

Thanks form a cold Cape Town in South Africa
 
I have had good luck so far taking a minimalist approach with my Yamaha gear and only having stuff fixed and serviced when a need truly arises. The main reason for me is money. I have no ability to do any of this myself, and my local tech, while having proven himself reliable and quite good at what he does, is not cheap. If I could afford it, I would absolutely have them re-capped. Thankfully the amazing reliability of this Yamaha gear has allowed for my negligence, so far at least...

So I would suggest (assuming you are looking to take these to a tech), finding out how much it would cost you to have it serviced vs. what a full re-cap would cost and factor that into your decision. If you have good prices to work with, consider yourself lucky :yes:
 
Clean all the switches and pots with deOxit and Faderlube as appropriate and see if it helps. It certainly won't hurt things done properly. If it doesn't clear things up, you're probably looking at audio path caps to open things up (generally 10uF and under, sometimes bipolar, sometimes low leakage are used here). If you're not getting hum, the main filter caps are probably fine. Power supply caps are usually the most abused and should be recapped at this point. Remember, you HAVE noticed a change in sound, so something is happening.
 
Thanks folks - will do an A/B with my other Yamaha amplifier and see what transpires and take it from there. I have a good technician (self employed) but he takes forever to do things and is not cheap.

I am not keen to mess with the amplifiers but if it must be done I will have to do it.
 
it's not safe

I had a Sony amp from 1970s recapped by a well known repair shop from UK and it had some problems introduced by re-capping that could not be traced down.
Many servicemen discourage from full recapping saying it can disturb the pcbs, also many told me that whenever they did it for a client they could not hear the difference.
I would like to have my Yamaha CR-1000 fully re-capped but I am scared that I could mess it up.
 
Many servicemen discourage from full recapping saying it can disturb the pcbs, also many told me that whenever they did it for a client they could not hear the difference.
I would like to have my Yamaha CR-1000 fully re-capped but I am scared that I could mess it up.
Click to expand...
Hogwash................................................
 
You're taking old parts and replacing them with new, like parts. It's like saying doing the timing belt in your car might cause problems, best to just leave it be (until it goes and bends all your valves). Sure, the guy doing the work might break something while in there but it's not the repair that caused the problem.

I have never recapped an amp over 20 years old that didn't have at least 2 or 3 caps far under value. Sure, you're replacing 30-40 somewhat decent parts to weed out a few but just as those few went, the rest are on their way.

There is really no way around it. If you want your stuff performing like new you have to replace parts that have a service life. If it's not worth the money to take to a tech for the work and you're fine with degraded sound quality (to an unknown degree) and possibly causing damage then no worries.
 
London

Does anyone know someone that does recapping well in UK, preferably in or around London and for a fair price?
 
Tantalum and Ceramics

What do you think about replacing non-electrolytic (ceramic and tantalum) capacitors?
What about replacing them with new electrolytic capacitors?
 
Tants are electrolytic, albeit solid and therefore not going to "dry" up. They, along with the Sanyo solid electrolyte caps, usually get replaced because they were a relatively new tech then and it's (now) clear that the materials science hadn't quite caught up. They have an ugly habit of failing short too which regular wet electrolytics don't tend to do.

Ceramics are usually pretty good unless they crack for some reason, they're very stable usually, similar to resistors.
 
Depending on the amp complexity and architecture, it can actually be kind of fun to DIY. It's certainly rewarding in that you will not only gain deeper appreciation of your equipment, but also gain confidence it will not tank during your stewardship.

Does my Pioneer SX838 sound better now than it did before? I'm not sure but I definitely enjoy the music more because I'm not worrying about the equipment.
 
mojoe said:
Depending on the amp complexity and architecture, it can actually be kind of fun to DIY. It's certainly rewarding in that you will not only gain deeper appreciation of your equipment, but also gain confidence it will not tank during your stewardship.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately I can't solder, I tried, I couldn't even make my own RCA leads or solder ICs to PCB, I would certainly burn something and destroy my amp. I just sold my hakko soldering station.
 
sssboa said:
What do you think about replacing non-electrolytic (ceramic and tantalum) capacitors?
What about replacing them with new electrolytic capacitors?
Click to expand...

Generally, unless you really know what you're doing (or working under guidance of someone who does), caps should be replaced like style for like style.
 
sssboa said:
Unfortunately I can't solder, I tried, I couldn't even make my own RCA leads or solder ICs to PCB, I would certainly burn something and destroy my amp. I just sold my hakko soldering station.
Click to expand...

It's good you know your limits. There are some UK folks here who work on their own gear. Perhaps one of them can help you out.
 
i can tell you that the M-2 i recapped didn't exhibit as much of a difference as some amps of a similar age. some of this depends on luck and some on the quality of cap used in the first place, besides the number of replaced caps in question. i heard a larger difference in the M-4's i've refurbed, but again sample size isn't large enough to draw significant conclusions IMHO. the A-1 i refurbed was night and day, OTOH, and one of the more solid pieces to come through here. i'd love the chance to see if history might repeat again on this model.
 
I just recapped my CX-1000 and it sounds so much better. If you have the soldering skills and can be patient I say do it. Now my MX-1000 on the other hand is a chore since the two boards underneath are soldered to the main board. Plus you cant find the big 4 power supply caps. I have all the caps with the exception of the power supply caps but I am not looking forward to taking the boards apart. I'm a bit fearful of messing up a pad.
 
If the MX-1000 is similar to the M-80 (I pretty sure they're laid out the same), then it should be a piece of cake compared to the CX-1000. I recapped a CX-2000 (same as CX-1000), it was a much bigger job the M-80. :thmbsp:

Here's a time-laps video of the CX-2000 recap (for a good laugh):lmao:: https://vimeo.com/104352260
 
Not showing off (been left handed all my life), just enjoying the work/challenge!:thmbsp:
I've recapped every Yamaha Power amp and Control Amp I have (M-45, C-45, M-4, C-6, M-80, CX-2000, & B-2x).:banana:
 
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