Bill Thalman, (THE cj expert) passed away almost a year ago, but I think his company is still doing repair work. Pretty sure both Corey & Tim are still active.
Check with them...
Conrad Johnson Mf-2500a amp and PF-1 Preamp Recap?
Does anyone have experience or educated knowledge on if it makes sense to recap these. I've owned them for 6-7 years but at this point they are getting to be 20+ years old and was wondering if there would be benefit. I've read somewhere CJ doesn't really like to do recaps on old gear so looking for some guidance. Costs?
- ...
- 13 posts total
IMHO, recapping/referbing "vintage" gear is worth it. If you are unsure, just pull and test a few of the caps, see how good/bad they are. From my experience, lower voltage caps go first, they usually start to drift up, ESR goes up. When you replace these, you will get bigger soundstage, more clarity, wider dynamics, just more of everything. Finished my pre and power amp refresh a couple weeks ago, got all audio grade caps, diodes, metal film resistors, and new fuses. Total cost was under $150, took me about 12 hours total for both pieces. should be good for another 20 years. For shops doing it, look in the $500-1000 range for a full refresh per unit. But they will sound better than new. New caps are superior to old ones. |
bcupari... just stumbled upon this thread. FYI, we have a couple DIY techie members in our local Suncoast Audiophile Society, who may be able to recap your C-J gear, if you haven't otherwise found a solution. Also, you might want to attend the upcoming Florida Audio Expo (Feb 21-23) and ask local audiophiles for advice re value of upgrading. |
Hey thank you for that. Actually I just got the amp back last week. Had the 8 large electrylytic caps replaced by ProAudio here in Tampa for just over $500. I haven't had a lot of time for listening yet but I do know the reliability should be vastly improved. Preamp I decided to leave alone unless told otherwise as I found out there isn't much in there that would need replacing. I have a pair of Tekton Pendragon speakers I'm looking to sell (just too big for my space and I'm anticipating a move in near future) in black, no grills that are about 5 yrs old if you know anyone interested. Need $850 firm for them. I'll try to check out the show. |
If you like the amps, then consider recapping. The PF 1 has polypropylene caps which do not need to be replaced. The 2500A would need new electrolytic caps in the unregulated power supply. The factory price for replacing them would be in the $1200-1500 range. Having CJ recap the amps means that they would also go over it in detail. It would be hard to replace the 2500A for a better amp for $1500. |
- 13 posts total