"Bob Simon" <nobody@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:v5gm24h3iippgfebj5ruleqabs48db23t3@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On Wed, 14 May 2008 10:56:00 -0700 (PDT), JamesGangNC@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
>
>>On May 14, 1:00 pm, Bob Simon <nob...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>> I have a McIntosh 2100 that was performance certified in 1976 at a
>>> clinic. Now it needs service - one of the channels intermittently
>>> drops.
>>>
>>> Do they still have those free clinics?
>>
>>Been a while since I heard of one but you can find people to service
>>them. The free clinic wouldn't have fixed it anyway.
>
> There's a guy in town who has a good reputation. A few months ago he
> replaced some components in my NAD preamp/tuner and it cost around
> $125. This was more than I expected but I haven't paid for electronic
> service for 10 years so I really don't know what this work should cost
> now.
>
> Do you think there may be an advantage to sending it to McIntosh for
> factory service? As I understand it, the transistors have to be
> matched.
$125 for anything over and above a quick cleaning is cheap. Shops
generally
are charging $50-$75 for a diagnosis/estimate these days.
If you've got the cash, sending it to the factory for servicing GENERALLY
guarantees a certain quality of service and availability of parts which
your
around-town guy might (or might not) be lacking. We've all heard horror
stories though, so it's not a lock on perfect results. Sending it back to
the manufacturer almost always involves a lengthy period of time too. If
you have a knowledgeable, competent technician I don't think you're going
to
do any better at the factory.
You can buy output and driver transistors in matched sets, a PNP mated
with
an NPN with similar gain characteristics. You'd only ever need to replace
a
transistor if it was bad, it's not a preventative maintenance item to
replace any.
If your channel cuts out randomly, it COULD be a transistor, but it's more
likely a cold solder joint or dirty switch in a piece of vintage gear.
Dave
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