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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
audiom3
151 posts
 
I had the same thing happen to me from a shop out of Southern CA.  $1400 to replace a total of 53 capacitors.  I didn't think my old Krell amp had 53 caps!  To add insult to injury, and after the hard sell to get me to pay for it rather than buy a new amp like Pass Labs or Ayre, he told me my amp would be better after they rebuilt it.  Riiight.  When I still refused he offered me $200 for it.  Such snakes.  So I would up buying an Ayre VX-5 Twenty instead.  Cost to do the same work from Ayre?  $300 including shipping it back!  This coming from Ryan Berry (the CEO).  Talk about a company who wants to keep their clients happy even when amps are out of warranty, etc.  So my Krell KAV-250a is just collecting dust because I don't trust anyone to do the cap work honestly.
denverfred's avatar
denverfred
252 posts
 
Simple idea: What can you buy for $1300 that would suit your needs better? Or are you upgrading so that you can sell it for more as a used amp? You haven't listened to it for 2 years, so why not sell it as is and use the $1300 to go to Sandals?
n2000s's avatar
n2000s
6 posts
 
My feeling based on amp restoration I've paid for in the past. $700-900 US seems about right. I would look into other restoration routes and then make the call. All the best! Nick
ebm
9,311 posts
 
No you got beat big time.
timlub
2,039 posts
 
I didn't see it in here.  What is the charge to say.  "Do no repair?"  I'm not a tech, but I have repaired and rebuilt many amps.  This looks like 6 hours or so for me, which makes me think that a tech that is familiar with this model could do it in 4 hours or less.  Also,  I have a shelf of a varied quality of caps that are all 50, 63, 80 or 100 volt parts,  10,000 to 47,000 mfd caps. This amp most likely has somewhere between 10 to 22,000 mic parts and realistically 63 to 80 volts... These caps run from $15 for 10,000 to around $25 for 22,000 80v and all can be had for half of that if you don't mind chinese parts.  Current labor around me averages around $95 an hour.  Lets say 5 hours of work, 8 filter caps at $20 each and 8 smaller caps at $4 each... That puts you at $675, maybe a couple of odds and ends.  Puts you at $700,  plus return shipping.  
You may feel like a cheap skate or something, but I would put numbers to Musical fidelity,  tell them what you feel and ask them to see what they can do.  If you love the amp and will keep it for years, fix it.  If not, cut your losses.  I suspect that there is some wiggle room and they may offer a better price.   Good Luck,  Tim 
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