I wanted to share my experience on buying a used preamp , how it was damaged, and how I did some more damage to it and How finally fixing it, actually worked out in my favor. This is so that someone else who might have bricked an expensive audio gear can actually salvage it pretty easily.
I got a used Musical Fidelity A5 Preamp (1 year old According to the seller) for 50k,
during the sale the seller sent me couple a pictures of the preamp and right away
I noticed a 1 cm dent in the Solid aluminum handle.
I guessed this could happen only if someone had
dropped the preamp on its handle or if someone had filed it off. When I asked the
seller he told me that the amp got dinged when the amp was being pulled out of the
Rack and he also assured me that everything else was fine and the Unit was not opened.
Here is the email I got fom the Seller
The Pre amp was not dropped. The pre is working fine and we have not experienced any problems in the Volume pot or other any other parts in the pre amplifier. Rest Assured , all the buttons in the front panels work flawless and the sounds the way it should.
I believed the seller and ordered the unit and it arrived the next day (Did not have original packing).
Right away I noticed that the amp either had been used for much longer than a year
or the owner did not take very good care. Second I noticed when pulling the amp out of the
cardboard box that something was rattling inside the amp. Third I noticed that the
volume control knob was loose and was shaking as if the POT screw was loose. Now I knew
that someone had infact opened the unit.
This is when I realized Buyers Beware !!!! . No matter what the seller said, I should have checked the Amp personally visually before buying. I would never have paid 50k for a used bangned up Amp with stuff rattling inside the cabinet.
Now I know that if a seller says there is very little damage, You should assume that the damage is a lot worse than what he is revealing. If the seller says there is a little crack, assume that the whole thing is broken in two
, do a visual inspection and then buy it.
To the sellers credit, he did offer to take the Unit back when I told him about the state of the unit. Since I had opened the Unit to see what was rattling and did some damage of my own, I could not return the unit to the seller now in right conscience.
I wanted to see what was rattling inside the cabinet because I did not want to switch on the unit with some loose screws shorting some power circuit.
I had some reservations about opening an audiophile grade preamp , and I was wary of letting out the Expensive Pixe Dust and Magic Spells the Audiophile druids have locked inside the cabinet during the assembly. I assume that is why these devices cost a fortune when you buy them new.
Well I decided to open it, When I opened the unit up I found that two screws that held the main PCB were missing, these had come loose and were rolling about in the cabinet. All the other screws on the board was also loose so I tightened all of them. I wanted to now fix the loose POT , this is where a I should have had a little patience.
I assumed that the volume knob was just pressed on to the POT shaft so I tried to pull it out, so that I could fasten the Pot screw.
I did not realize that the Volume Knob had its own screw that should have been first loosened with an alan Key. When I used some force and yanked the Knob, the whole shaft from the Pot came out along with the Knob destroying it completely.
Now I thought, well Ive lost Rs 50k. After a brief self loathing , I decided to look if I could get a replacement part. It was an ALPS 50k Log Pot, I looked online and found the part both in RSIndia and on Ebay from a german seller. Just to be safe I ordered from both the places and got the EBay unit first. I de-soldered and removed the Old POT and Soldered the new Pot. The new POT was bigger but the Pot Pins matched perfectly, The mounting pins did not match so I just bent them away. Since the POT is support by the body with the screw it did not matter that much.
With the new Pot in place I found that the volume control was a lot more smoother and then a little research i found out that the POT I got is infact called ALPS Blue Velvet POT that is preferred in audiophile gear. The one that was already in the unit was a standard motorized pot. So things did work out well.
Now I have a perfectly working Musical Fidelity A5 Preamp with Upgraded Audiophile POT for volume control. I'd have to say that internet , ebay etc have enabled us to locate pretty hard to find parts easily.
The First Image is the Old Pot with the Shaft pulled out.
The Second Image is the Blue Velvet Pot.
The Third is the Ding on the amp handle.
I got a used Musical Fidelity A5 Preamp (1 year old According to the seller) for 50k,
during the sale the seller sent me couple a pictures of the preamp and right away
I noticed a 1 cm dent in the Solid aluminum handle.
I guessed this could happen only if someone had
dropped the preamp on its handle or if someone had filed it off. When I asked the
seller he told me that the amp got dinged when the amp was being pulled out of the
Rack and he also assured me that everything else was fine and the Unit was not opened.
Here is the email I got fom the Seller
The Pre amp was not dropped. The pre is working fine and we have not experienced any problems in the Volume pot or other any other parts in the pre amplifier. Rest Assured , all the buttons in the front panels work flawless and the sounds the way it should.
I believed the seller and ordered the unit and it arrived the next day (Did not have original packing).
Right away I noticed that the amp either had been used for much longer than a year
or the owner did not take very good care. Second I noticed when pulling the amp out of the
cardboard box that something was rattling inside the amp. Third I noticed that the
volume control knob was loose and was shaking as if the POT screw was loose. Now I knew
that someone had infact opened the unit.
This is when I realized Buyers Beware !!!! . No matter what the seller said, I should have checked the Amp personally visually before buying. I would never have paid 50k for a used bangned up Amp with stuff rattling inside the cabinet.
Now I know that if a seller says there is very little damage, You should assume that the damage is a lot worse than what he is revealing. If the seller says there is a little crack, assume that the whole thing is broken in two
, do a visual inspection and then buy it.To the sellers credit, he did offer to take the Unit back when I told him about the state of the unit. Since I had opened the Unit to see what was rattling and did some damage of my own, I could not return the unit to the seller now in right conscience.
I wanted to see what was rattling inside the cabinet because I did not want to switch on the unit with some loose screws shorting some power circuit.
I had some reservations about opening an audiophile grade preamp , and I was wary of letting out the Expensive Pixe Dust and Magic Spells the Audiophile druids have locked inside the cabinet during the assembly. I assume that is why these devices cost a fortune when you buy them new.
Well I decided to open it, When I opened the unit up I found that two screws that held the main PCB were missing, these had come loose and were rolling about in the cabinet. All the other screws on the board was also loose so I tightened all of them. I wanted to now fix the loose POT , this is where a I should have had a little patience.
I assumed that the volume knob was just pressed on to the POT shaft so I tried to pull it out, so that I could fasten the Pot screw.
I did not realize that the Volume Knob had its own screw that should have been first loosened with an alan Key. When I used some force and yanked the Knob, the whole shaft from the Pot came out along with the Knob destroying it completely.
Now I thought, well Ive lost Rs 50k. After a brief self loathing , I decided to look if I could get a replacement part. It was an ALPS 50k Log Pot, I looked online and found the part both in RSIndia and on Ebay from a german seller. Just to be safe I ordered from both the places and got the EBay unit first. I de-soldered and removed the Old POT and Soldered the new Pot. The new POT was bigger but the Pot Pins matched perfectly, The mounting pins did not match so I just bent them away. Since the POT is support by the body with the screw it did not matter that much.
With the new Pot in place I found that the volume control was a lot more smoother and then a little research i found out that the POT I got is infact called ALPS Blue Velvet POT that is preferred in audiophile gear. The one that was already in the unit was a standard motorized pot. So things did work out well.
Now I have a perfectly working Musical Fidelity A5 Preamp with Upgraded Audiophile POT for volume control. I'd have to say that internet , ebay etc have enabled us to locate pretty hard to find parts easily.
The First Image is the Old Pot with the Shaft pulled out.
The Second Image is the Blue Velvet Pot.
The Third is the Ding on the amp handle.
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