Yup...best to do the recap!!

Hi to all my mentors out there!
I wanted to share a short story with anyone who is questioning the wisdom of doing a recap on vintage equippment.
I completely recapped and restored my 1965 Fisher Ambassador Console, including the speaker crossovers, about 2 yrs ago with the help of "the experts" here at Audio Karma. Sounds fantastic and I use it daily.
I recently added a Fisher K-10 Space Expander. After it arrived I looked under the hood and realized it would be a real bitch to recap because of the very cramped conditions and several caps being barried under resistors etc. So I hooked it up and it sounded really great so I said ....oh the heck with it....it's working just fine and why fix something that is not broken.
Well after several weeks I began to notice that the output on the left channel was weak. I started testing tubes and swapping the rt. and left channels and checked the connections, the usual tests, but no improvement.
Then it dawned on me....Could it be the K-10.
Well to make a long story short...I should have recapped the K-10 when I got it originally. After doing the entire recap(and it was a bitch to do) the system is back to its beautiful self. Must have been one of the output caps in the K-10 that weakened the output to the left channel. So as the experts always tell you...RECAP, RECAP, RECAP.
Thanks my friends,
George

I love happy endings :thmbsp: :thmbsp:

Way to go George. The one thing I DON'T have for my FUTURA is the K-10. HMMMMMM......wonder if the Pioneer 202W I have would hook up the same way until i get a K-10. Gonna have to check it out.

Larry

Well done, George :thmbsp:

Hi Larry
I have the K-10 hooked up this way. Preamp out to the 10 channel equalizer to the K-10 and then back to the Preamp In. It all works well and really improves the total accoustics in the living room. Happy Holiday to you and your family.
George

I'm thinking about toying with one of these K-10 units for my current mono tuner/30-A project just for fun. How does it sound with your console?

...and yes, the recap does help. I had anywhere from 50-100VAC on my FM-50 chassis when I first got it. It was noisy and of course would shock you on a bad day. I guess 50 year old filter caps will do that! *laugh*

Hi Little-Al
The K-10 sounds fantastic with my console. I have just about a 20% amount of reverb going out on the control pod.
I also have an additional set of really nice speakers placed about six feet from the console to each side. I have the speakers hook up to the WS ports on the amp. I have an equalizer incorporated into the system and boy oh boy does the whole system sound FANTASTIC. It sounded great before the K-10....but with the addition of the space expander ....a whole new demension was added. For my ears it was worth the cost of the K-10.
Happy Holiday!!!
George