Dear James...
I just took an old but pristine SAE 2201 Amp out of a road case.
I used to use it when I played out. I connected it to my stereo
(because my other amp finally bit the dust). Anyhow, I noticed that
it had a marked decrease in hi end. Not extremely severe, no distortion,
but definitely not enough hi end. I had to increase the treble control
from flat (where I usually keep it), to almost 3/4 max.
Is there a problem with the capacitors in the input stage?
I'm a little upset. I love this thing. Any advice? What should I look
for before I start opening this thing up?
Also, my old amp (an old Bozak) has a problem with power line noise.
When I run the amp with the input disconnected, It's fine, as soon as I
connect it to the preamp, every lightswitch, motor, relay etc in the
immediate area clicks through the speakers. I suspect a wierd ground loop
of some sort. I even tried to transformer couple the input and that
didn't work either. The bozak unit has a strange design in that it's what
they call "Quasi complimentary symmetry". It's a single supply amp, with
a common ground between the Power Negative, Speaker negative and input
common. (connected by RCA "Phono" plugs). It's supply voltage is 90 volts!
and it uses 2 matched 2n3055's on it's output. It's worked fine up till
recently but now with the power line problem, and the overheating, I
don't think it's worth fixing. It's a very old piece. (piece of something
alright). Anyhow, What could be wrong with it? I'd hate to loose it as it
does have a warm tube-like sound.
-=Jeff Gross=-
