Amp repair cost — is this right?


I recently sent my Musical Fidelity a308cr power amp off to be recapped. This amp is somewhere around 16-18 years old and one of the power caps failed. I contacted Musical Fidelity and sent it to a repair shop they recommended. Today I received an estimate to replace 18 caps, 8 of which are large power caps, resolder the boards, and re-bias the transistors. Basically a full overhaul. The quote I received, including return shipping (prob around $100) Is over $1,300 which possibly exceeds the value of the amp. That doesn’t include the $115 it cost me to ship it out. Having never had an overhaul done on a power amp like this, I’m wondering if anyone with experience can tell me if this sounds right. I guess I was expecting something more like $600-$800 but I don’t know why since I really don’t have a frame of reference. Perhaps it was the assumption it might be 4 hours labor (say $400) plus max $200 for caps. Is $1,300+ on track? Either way I’m going to be out the shipping cost plus a $160 fee paid for the estimate.
jnehma1

Showing 2 responses by mahler123

Sorry, thought I saw in a post that the repair shop was half hour.  I would still just put it on eBay for parts.  Maybe the shop can give you something for it
OP
If the amp lasted 16 years it doesn’t owe you much at this point.  You could put a lot of money into it and then something else that is currently working and therefore not going to be fixed at this point might go bad soon.  I would make the 30 minute drive, pick it up, and sell it on eBay for parts, hope to recoup some of what you already spent, and then use the rest of the projected repair cost on a newer piece.  IMO, there hasn’t been that much development (except for the rise of Class D Amps) in amplification technology over the last few decades, and (this is personal, ymmv) MF amps were more known for grunt rather than finesse).  Change can be good