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 1 response by mirolab

I had my 1990 Nakamichi PA-7A-II recapped by Jon Soderberg (a threshold stasis expert) and it cost me $1400 +ship!  The amp is worth only about $1k used, but I'm the original owner of this mint condition amp.  The amp came back absolutely transformed... possibly better than new with all new caps... plus he upgraded some bias trim pots. So I had to ask myself, what other amp could I have gotten for $1500 to beat this Nakamichi?  There's nothing new for under 3k that could come close.   Plus the amp LOOKS cool.  That's worth something to me. 
By contrast, Bryston recapped my 4B-ST for $600 about 5 years ago.  Far more affordable, and very much worth it.