Bad news what to do with my Spec 2?

PureQuill

AK Member
Subscriber
It is decision time.
My tech has given up on my beloved Spec 2.
It was serviced before I bought it & ran perfectly for about a year.
Then I lost a channel.

No big deal it is part of owning vintage gear.
So I took it back to tech who serviced it before I bought it.
Got a call a few weeks latter it needed a new diode & transistor & it was good to go!
Then about 60 days after the repair the same channel goes out again.
Take it back to the tech because he warrants all repairs for 90 days.

So today I get the call...after 5 hours on his bench he can’t find the intermittent problem & he gives up.
“Come pick up your amp & I have a refund check for the previous repair.":no:

So what to do?
Try to find someone that can fix it, sell it as a "for parts or repair unit” on the bay or make it a donor & just part it out?

It seems like a damn shame to part out a very nice unit that has an interment channel.

On the other hand I don't have the skills necessary to fix it & it doesn’t seem that anyone local is willing to work on it.
Shipping on these beasts can become cost prohibitive.

I really would love to keep it (I have the matching Spec 1) on the other hand 3 trips to the shop in 15 months makes me question if it is worth having it restored(if I can find someone) or is time to cut my loses & move on?

I drive a prius & I am retired & don't mind making a road trip to good tech in the PNW if they can fix her & make it reliable.

Any suggestions?

Bummed in Oregon:tears:
PQ
 
:lurk: looks like shipping it to a better tech who is familiar with this unit is going to be needed.
 
So sorry to hear about the Spec 2 PQ. That's a real bummer. Kinda surprised that Doug didn't get it fixed and stopped trying. I know that he was on vacation recently and was backed up but still, it's a bummer.
I have heard that John at Northwest Audio Service up in Seattle is good at repairs. If you google them there are some reviews and maybe someone here can tell you if he is any good or not.
Please keep us posted.


:lurk:

Be sure to get as complete a repair/diagnostic report as possible to take with you so the next tech can learn from what Doug did and didn't check out..
 
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John is ok but crazy slow from what I hear (years)
I hear he has Parkinson's and may be about done.
I hear the whole block where the shop is is being torn down.

I am heading through OR soon.
PM coming.
 
We have had several units that were given up on by other techs. It usually hurts because chances are very good the previous tech put a ton of hours in trying to figure it out. Sometimes its an oversight but most times its a dog of a time tracking down a difficult issue. Can be simple as a solder bridge or cold joint, but takes hours to track down.

Has it been the same problem, multiple times, with the same channel? Was the same repair done twice?
 
DO NOT PART IT OUT!!!!

It can be fixed. Worst comes to worst (I'm calling "dibs" if you want to sell), there are several people on this board that are capable of rebuilding it, whether they own it or are doing it for you or guiding you through the process.


First, look up the parts that he replaced the first time, and post them. As well as the symptoms.

They are an important clue, even for discussion's sake.

It might end up as "remanufacturing" that board, a standard practice for some of us.

The things we KNOW go bad, and can cause weird symptoms - new internal transistors with better heat sinks, bias relays, etc....
(yours COULD be a bad bias relay - especially if the outputs haven't been harmed, EchoWars has a thread on replacing that relay)

THEN, we know what it ISN'T, if it's a really sticky problem. Cost isn't that bad, because we don't waste time fiddle farting around in it, we just deal ourselves a clean deck that works like new. On top of it, the unit's good to go for at least another decade.

p.s. As far as shipping, I can send the "cabbage case" I use. An ATA-200 instrument shipping case, with it's special foam. It's just a drop in and re-ship.
 
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I think when this thread was formed Mark twitched, felt a disturbance in the force. Lol.
 
of course if you like the amp have it repaired. if you really could care less, sell it as is. i assume its working intermittently now?
an intermittent problem is one in which comes and goes, one minute works next doesn't then will work again with nothing other than a waiting period between failures. a reoccurring failure is one which the same part fails time after time. both are a tuff fix but a tech that does this for a living should easily fix the problem. if you can find out what the tech has done to try and fix the problem, it may help the next one you find. i would certainly buy it at the right price, i'm no super tech by any means but i'm i sure that even i could fix it. ( that is not an offer to buy and i only fix stuff for myself i'm not a pro)
 
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Wow!
Thanks for all of the great responses, advise & offers to help!
AK is the Best!

@ Markthe fixer I promise I wont part it out! I may be contacting you for the cabbage case if cant find someone in the PNW to repair it . And I need to ship it to be repaired. Thanks !

@ Bucky Yep I think Doug is buried after getting back from vacation & just got frustrated. I wish he would have just called me and said I have 5 hours into this & I need to shelve this repair till I get caught up. I would have been fine with that. It's a lose /lose this way. My amp isn’t fixed & he has 6+ hours bench time in this for nothing.
It is a bummer for both of us.

I received a Pm from blhasgstrom hopefully the audio gods will smile on us & we can work something out & get my Spec 2 back up to spec!

Thanks again
I will keep everyone posted.

PQ
 
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I'll vouch for Hudson Valley HiFi. He serviced my SA9100 at a reasonable cost and timeframe. He also has a lot of tube gear he works on. seems very competent and thoughtful/thorough. I am very happy with the service. You may be over putting money into the beast, but I'm sure it can be fixed, for more money of course. They don't make them anymore, however.
 
I'm one of those guys with half the SPEC system, a SPEC-1. I keep looking for a SPEC-2, and I wonder if they tend to be troublesome units. Is the one being discussed here typical, or whether it's a rare troublesome unit? If I find one, I guess I should audition it for a while...
 
I'm one of those guys with half the SPEC system, a SPEC-1. I keep looking for a SPEC-2, and I wonder if they tend to be troublesome units. Is the one being discussed here typical, or whether it's a rare troublesome unit? If I find one, I guess I should audition it for a while...
I wouldn't say that they're troublesome. Mines been working for years without a hitch. I will say that they can use a recap by now which is what I did with mine. Nice solid gear that's just getting a little long in the tooth.
 
Well I don't know about the Spec Gear but my Pioneer 9500 series gear from 1977 has been very trouble free other than a worn out power switch & bad transistor.
Not bad service for almost 40 years.
 
What was done?......

Thread update...I picked up the Spec Gear from the tech.
This is what the invoice said....2 caps & a transistor.

I have the parts if that will help anyone.
The name of the business has been blured so the tech won’t stop working on my other gear.:smoke:

Too nice of gear to be siting idle...
 

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