What a long strange trip it's been

Well, after going through many hands, I finally received my HK Citation II back:


















I bought the amp from a gentleman off the 'bay a few years ago. I then sent it to Bob Carver for his "Hot Rod" KT120 pentode modification.
I finally sent it to Chris Ready (my favorite restoration technician). He went through it wire by wire, part by part, in order to insure it is a safe, musical amp. I hope to install her tomorrow and give it a test drive.
Mike

That's a nice looking one. Good front panel.

She is a beauty. I look forward to your impression after you listen a while. My guess is to be prepared to be blow away. What is the rest of your system?

That can't be the original paint on that thing can it?

However you slice it looks to be in great shape, hope she sings..:thmbsp:

what is the black char looking stuff on the boards? Heat? burt components?

Ah cool. This is the conversion to 120 Watts per channel and the mod to get the bias adjusted way down?

Steve

Who did the actual re-building of the amp?

mjalazard said:

"Hot Rod" KT120 pentode modification. my favorite restoration technician went through it wire by wire, part by part, in order to insure it is safe

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Good Morning Mike,

From the appearance of those Turret boards, you most certainly
can deem your amp a "HOT-ROD-MOD".

It looks like identical areas of carbon burns are on both A & B channel turret boards.
Note that the boards alpha/numerics are pretty much unscathed at these places.
Could it be that the boards surface coating; carbonized around these hot spots over
time or did it appear in short order (Post Mod), without affecting the printing on
the boards.
I'm quite concerned for you over what appears (that I see) to be messy board work.
Like melted and exposed wire, over-soldered turret lugs, compromised component
leads etc!. I my book this can add up to "BIG TROUBLE".

Maybe I need a new pair of glasses.

Please Double check everything Twice!.

Be careful & Be alert, We need more lerts around here.

I would not be too concerned about the overheated/burned traces on the tagboards, most CIT.II's have burned areas around some (power) resistors and I suspect yours were there before the mods. This should not compromise the working of your amp.

However, I must agree with Zandru above, regarding the very poor workmanship of your tech. This kind of work would be acceptable from a novice D.I.Yer but not from an experienced (professional ?) technician. I suppose It will actually play (and very well) if the (loosely attached) parts have not been disturbed too much during shipping.
And why such inconsistency in the choice of parts ? Looks your tech used what he had at hand in his drawers without much attention.
This is not to distract from your listening pleasure (I'm sure it will sound great), but sloppy work nevertheless...

Tubologic said:

why such inconsistency in the choice of parts ? Looks your tech used what he had at hand in his drawers without much attention.

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Tubologic,
Yes! A consistent paradigm of using or replacing identical components on twin boards
is paramount, which distinguishes one's know-how and ability from the unconcerned.
Following this simple path will broaden your horizons. (It's a cliché, but It's works).

But what do I know!, I'm just a "ShamWow!" Loom Operator.

It look's SCARY IMHO. I would have the work looked over by another tube tech before turning it on. You may have a smoke leak sooner than later. But the amp is a beauty just the same. It should look as nice underneath as it does from above

Kegger said:

That can't be the original paint on that thing can it?

However you slice it looks to be in great shape, hope she sings..:thmbsp:

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The chassis paint is original, the iron paint is not. They didn't use primer on HK potted transformers so many times the paint will peel off. The stuff you see now is rust-o-leum leather brown. (Closest thing you can find in a rattle can)

HK Citation II

I make it a rule not to comment on other "tech's" (loosely applied here) work unless the piece is on my bench, but, since I have been asked to restore an amp like this one by a client in this area, I cannot hold my peace...

I would have washed entire board with a dielectric cleaner to help remove the burnt remains. In addition, I completely suck out the old solder with a powered solder sucker, as this would help prevent the cold solder situation evident on the board.

Lastly, I would have used the same spec parts for both channels and that means meter matching as close as possible. Also, those ceramic caps don't belong in an audio amp. In addition, some type of cooling/fan system should used to keep the temp down to safe levels.

This amateur work is a disaster waiting to happen and gives "techs" a bad name...

Just my not-so-humble opinion...

Phil Farano
Ampmedic

I haven't really looked over how well it's constructed.

But I will comment on the parts not being the same per channel, an that's just wrong.

I'd never use an different part on one channel than I have another when building here
heck I get to the point of being so "anal" about it I make sure I put resistors and caps
in the same direction on both channels let alone the same kind.

I use a mixture of types of caps an resistors in a piece so one doesn't try an dominate
the signature by imparting a strong influence of it's own, but do the same per channel.

So yah whoever did that I would be suspect, very careful with it as I proceeded there.

Now that this guys amp has been thouroghly ripped by folks I wonder if he'll be wanting to give us his impressions of its ability to truley run at 120WPC with Carvers "DC restorere mod".

Not the tidiest work i've ever seen, and the use of hot glue is not something i'd recommend. The only dissimular parts I see is resistors? Or did I just miss the rest of them?

Steve

targeteye said:

Not the tidiest work i've ever seen, and the use of hot glue is not something i'd recommend.

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That is what first caught my eye all the hot glued down ecaps. Thats not a good way to secured caps that produce crazy amounts of voltage. Hot glue is good to use to fix a small tar on a woofer. But on an amp, it shouldn't be used. I know the tech was attempting to maximize his profits, as this restoration takes some time. But you can easy order replacement cans to match what ever value you want, for usually under 35$ a can. The burnt board doesn't bother me much, as this is what happens to boards that received a lot of heat but a lot of solder joints appear to be missing solder.

I am sorry to nit pick your amp, I/we are not sure what you paid for the restore. But I would for sure want a tidier looking amp. I would be honestly afraid to use that amp. Once heat starts building up, the glue will let go.

I think "ripped" is a bit much. I think folks are trying to relay what IMHO are some potentially serious issues. Personally "tidyness" is something to strive for, but as others have stated, I'd be more concerned about the cold solder joints, burned insulation on wires and some of the routing.
Mike

Good evening to all,

The notion that "It's better to look good than to feel good" will never trump slipshod workmanship.

Jay, that rattle can paint job would immediately cause me to flip her over before I propose.
(The preceding statement was not meant to offend any member of the opposite camp).

I myself have missed the target on many projects.

I would like to ask AK Member "mjalazard" A question: After the eBay purchase a few years ago,
You sent the amp to Bob Caver for the " Hot Rod" KT120 pentode Mod. Next you sent it to
Chris Ready, your favorite restoration technician. Where he went through it
wire by wire, part by part, in order to insure it was a safe musical instrument.
Did the amp not perform properly or did you notice the troublesome
appearance under the chassis which caused you to contacting Chris?.
Did Chris do any touch-up repairs?.

There have been so many hands in the "pie" that I don't know what has been done (or not done). There are obviously flaws in the workmanship, choice of parts, etc. Unfortunately, I don't have the skills or know-how to take care of these things myself. This amp is like the tossed off child in foster care. I spent an interesting and entertaining time yesterday with a very competent technician yesterday, going through the Deuce. I want this amp to be done right. I know it will take time and dinero, but I consider this to be a lifelong investment. I certainly sounded great when I hooked it up to the Apogee MiniGrands. Thanks for all your observations and insight. The saga contines...
Mike

H&K Citation ll

Michael brought the amp in for me to look at & evaluate. A challenging restoration, indeed! The original posted pics don't show the true & complete hacking involved to what was once a collector's item and audiophile's pride & joy.

Part of the problem being that it is not clear if some of this hacking existed before the amp was ever sent out to be reworked by the rest of the hackers..

Holes cannot be drilled through this chassis to install additional clamps to secure the extra power supply caps installed by Carver, because the exposed chassis would look like a pin cushion with the additional screw heads. So he hacked in the caps with glue... The entire operation is haphazard at best with the grounding scheme being compromised.

In addition, Carver must be ashamed of the parts he uses as only one cap had a partial logo exposed! All other logos and specs are facing the chassis with the inclusion of sloppy solder work. LOL!

I would never agree to perform such a mod on a vintage piece such as this for fear of destroying the amp's resale value. Beefing up the power supply could have been accomplished with off the shelf parts installed in the original twist-lock slots. I would have kept the original pt lineup & not installed KT120's...

The work on the other side of the power section is as atrocious as well. There are as many as 6-1/4 watt (that's right, 1/4 watt resistors in this amp) paralleled together in both channels to make up for not installing the correct 1/2 or 1 watt part. That is just the beginning.

I will keep a detailed log & pics of this restoration and do my very best to live up to Michael's vote of confidence.

Wish me luck, I'll need it! LOL!

Phil Farano
Ampmedic
The Tech With Ears