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What will I expect to notice with a recap on a Stasis 3?

I recently purchased a completely original Threshold Stasis 3 amplifier. After blowing out the tremendous amounts of dust and visually inspecting, I hooked it up to my system. It still functions and sounds quite good. The bass is sloppy, female vocals are excellent and some mids get a little muddy at moderate volume. It is really pretty easy to listen to with minimal fatigue. Actually, sounds closer to my Conrad Johnson tube amp than the Krell. I expected a little more slam out of the Stasis but certain that some extra capacitance will help remedy that. If I were to recap, what improvements should I expect? Is this amp worthy of a rebuild? Is this amp a happy medium between an ultra analytical Krell and a gooey tube amp?
robbieshep
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
robbieshep
What will I expect to notice with a recap on a Stasis 3?
I expected a little more slam out of the Stasis but certain that some extra capacitance will help remedy that.
Yes a re-cap will improve everything, as those electrolytic caps are around 40 years old now, and don’t forget the smaller electrolytic ones on the boards also.
You will get a good improvement in the bass, but even a better if you replace those two slow release power supply ones for a a matrix of many smaller ones instead.
Something like this, with even more caps, use your own rectifiers if these aren’t rated high enough.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/HITACHI-12000UF63V-6-Capacitor-Welded-Schottky-Rectifier-Filter-Power-Supply/312720173080?hash=item48cf932818:g:sJIAAOSwh8VdQvQR

Cheers George
robbieshep OP
3 posts
 
George, Thanks for your reply. Do you have an idea of how much a recap would actually cost? I figure that the layout of the chassis will be a bit more labor intensive to remove the boards. I was figuring on $400 to $650 for a full replacement w/o the matrix.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
robbieshep OP


I’d say 2-3hrs labor at $120 pr/hr, boards are easy to take out. Parts about $150usd.
So around $600 odd to do the job just by a good technician, not a amplifier manufacturer or hifi shop, because they will charge like a wounded bull for both labor and parts.
Here is the circuit diagram should you need it, only stays up for a while, so save it. https://ibb.co/fdjZvFC

Cheers George
robbieshep OP
3 posts
 
George, you have been most helpful. A thousand thanks. I found a tech locally that is willing to do the work. I will be dropping the amp off this week. Really looking forward to seeing how this amp performs. Thanks again. Robb
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