Amp shopping Acurus a200x3

Kornbread

   Should have learned my lesson by now, don't surf the adds because eventually you will find something to spend your money on. 

   Have an Acurus a200x3 on the way.  I always thought of the Aragon as being a poor man's Krell (D'Agostino of Krell designed Aragon amps, or at least the 4004), and the Acurus as the even poorer man's Aragon.  Anyhow, this is a pre Klipsch (Mondial) era amp and it should drive about anything you throw at it. 

   One thing that worries me on an amp this old.  I'm pretty sure caps age, but what else do I need to look out for?               

dcibel

I haven't dealt with much "high end" old amps, but the old amp that I do own and love is the HK6900. I found a service manual for it, and it has trimpots inside to adjust the current bias and DC offset. These will drift over time, so re calibration every few years is a good idea. You'd have to find the service info to determine what test points and readings to adjust the bias trimpot to, however.

tajanes

for what it worth, I have a pair of acurus 150's bot new way, way back when...   they are very solid amps- have had no issues - nor any hints of needed reconditioning

Kornbread

This will be the second one I have, they will be paired with a couple of the basic minidsp 2x4 driving the 'not a khanspire'.  200+ real watts a piece for a pair of rs150, rs225, and an xt25 should be just barely enough ... right?    

I bought the first one about 12 years ago to drive a pair of Apogee Calipers.  One of the bass panels had a small tear that I 'fixed' with a defroster repair kit.  It worked with the small nad2100 driving them.  Put the Acurus in the system, cued up ChumbaWumba, turned up the volume, and turned the lights down.  As soon as the bass hit, sparks flew.  No really ... sparks literally flew out of the speaker.  Pretty sure I soiled myself.  Anyhow, the amp survived.

Bought a pair of Carver Amazings (not as difficult to drive as the Apogee but still a bear) about 6 years ago and used it to drive them.  If you play the amazings for long at high volume, the room fills with that aroma that filters from the house furnace the first time it's lit for the winter.  You can hold your hand on the amp for a while before it gets too hot.  Can't touch the amazing's crossover.  

I have to wonder how much stress a 20 year old amp can handle.  A lot of people suggest recapping old amps.  Are they replacing all those little npe? on the boards, the large power supply caps, or what?  Is this worthwhile?  Will the sound change?        

                          

PWRRYD

Electrolytic caps have improved a lot over the decades.  While it may be an improvement or even necessary to recap a 70's amp or receiver, the caps in something from the 90's are probably just fine.

Tom_S

Luckily, the main power supply caps are out in the open on those old Acurus amps. Since they were sold as (entry level) audiophile products, I would think/hope they used high temp, name brand caps. I had an a150 for a few years way back when, but never even popped the cover off - which is kind of strange for most of us DIYers!

rjj45

For a while I researched old amps, and IIRC, the big problem with old caps was that they dried out over the years from non-use. If an amp has seen semi regular use over the years, the caps should be in pretty good shape. But it sure is a cheap maintenance to pop the top and take a look at them.