DIY 2325 Service (in)experience

R

Roddi

Audiophyte
Hi guys.

Being your typical male, I blindly believed I could recap/service my newly acquired Marantz 2325, (which sounded fantastic when it arrived.)

After a few brief inquires into servicing, (costs etc) I felt I could do the job myself, and brought a rebuild kit from IRebuildMarantz.com.

I had some minor soldering skills, but had never taken on a task involving circuit boards. But: How hard could it be, right?

I followed the step-by-step instruction on IRebuild's website, and to be honest, the recapping was not that difficult, nor was Deoxing the pots and replacing the old lamps with LED's (Note: Use Warm-whites, not the bright blue disco-lamps that seem to be the trend, its just to intense, in my opinion.)

However, inexperience started to factor when I incorrectly reverse-polled the large power filter caps. When I attempted to fire the Beast up, it just looked back at me.

In a panic, I emailed Randy at IRebuildMarantz.com, and in a 10 email exchange, he basically held my hand through the whole diagnostic process. End result: Problem fixed, no damage, working receiver.

My confidence once again at an all-time high, I threw myself back into the project and accidentally shorted the power supply board when attempting to adjust the bias: Once again, I contacted Randy, and suspecting I had fried something on the board, I decided to pull the P800 board out and send it to him.

He received it and over the weekend, replaced all the caps and the transistor I had shorted. Given my amateur soldering skills, I had also lifted a trace or two on the board which he also repaired.

He put it in the mail and changed me $14 (for parts). $14. Apparently the guy likes helping out idiots like me. Thanks Randy and IRebuildMarantz.com. Above and beyond.
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
Being your typical male, I blindly believed I could recap/service my newly acquired Marantz 2325, (which sounded fantastic when it arrived…
The first rule in DIY is, If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It. If that receiver sounded good when it arrived, why did you want to recap it?

It seems like common sense, but few, if any, of those DIY kits include that advice. I'm glad you eventually had a good outcome, despite your inexperience.
 
R

Roddi

Audiophyte
The first rule in DIY is, If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It. If that receiver sounded good when it arrived, why did you want to recap it?

It seems like common sense, but few, if any, of those DIY kits include that advice. I'm glad you eventually had a good outcome, despite your inexperience.
Simply, it's a 42 year old receiver, and who doesn't want their gear sounding as good as potential? While it sounded good when I received it, there was a significant improvement after recapping and re-biasing.
 
agarwalro

agarwalro

Audioholic Ninja
He put it in the mail and changed me $14 (for parts). $14. Apparently the guy likes helping out idiots like me. Thanks Randy and IRebuildMarantz.com. Above and beyond.
I hope you can find a way to better compensate this guy. We need his kind to say in business.
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
The first rule in DIY is, If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It.
I've got a couple of BETTER rules that I go by:

1) If it ain't completely broke, don't fix it!
2) If it ain't broke, don't break it!

A sticker I've seen around work that I like, somewhat related:

If it won't fit, force it. If it breaks, then it needed to be replaced anyway :D
 
WaynePflughaupt

WaynePflughaupt

Audioholic Samurai


I hope you can find a way to better compensate this guy. We need his kind to say in business.
This ^^

Who can pay the bills $14 at a time? You should send the guy a check for a couple hundred, especially considering all the time he spent hand-holding.

I love that old Marantz gear, simply beautiful stuff. My first two stereo integrated amps back in the late ’70s were Marantz pieces. I hope Randy can stay in business a long time.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 
-Jim-

-Jim-

Audioholic General
I too was once the happy owner of a Marantz 2325. You probably won't believe me, but I used it to power some large 4560 JBL bass bins / Lamelex Horns with Peavey Spider Drivers, and banks of Piezos on each side (with a Pan Fan on top of the receiver to help cool it) in my part time DJ days. I did some pretty large dances (hundreds of people) and it performed every time without a hitch. It was my home stereo for quite a while until some Thug broke in and stole it while we were at work.



One of my brothers bought the speakers from me and still has those monsters all these years later. He recently unexplicitly lost the hearing in one ear (which is bizarre as he almost never was exposed to loud sounds), and is now trying to sell them.



The Marantz 2325 was the best stereo receiver I ever owned as it was at the zenith of their capability in home stereo receivers. They were the premier OEM at this time. Probably no where near as good as what's out there today, but I have fond memories of it.
 
G

gweevz

Audiophyte
Hi guys.

Being your typical male, I blindly believed I could recap/service my newly acquired Marantz 2325, (which sounded fantastic when it arrived.)

After a few brief inquires into servicing, (costs etc) I felt I could do the job myself, and brought a rebuild kit from IRebuildMarantz.com.

I had some minor soldering skills, but had never taken on a task involving circuit boards. But: How hard could it be, right?

I followed the step-by-step instruction on IRebuild's website, and to be honest, the recapping was not that difficult, nor was Deoxing the pots and replacing the old lamps with LED's (Note: Use Warm-whites, not the bright blue disco-lamps that seem to be the trend, its just to intense, in my opinion.)

However, inexperience started to factor when I incorrectly reverse-polled the large power filter caps. When I attempted to fire the Beast up, it just looked back at me.

In a panic, I emailed Randy at IRebuildMarantz.com, and in a 10 email exchange, he basically held my hand through the whole diagnostic process. End result: Problem fixed, no damage, working receiver.

My confidence once again at an all-time high, I threw myself back into the project and accidentally shorted the power supply board when attempting to adjust the bias: Once again, I contacted Randy, and suspecting I had fried something on the board, I decided to pull the P800 board out and send it to him.

He received it and over the weekend, replaced all the caps and the transistor I had shorted. Given my amateur soldering skills, I had also lifted a trace or two on the board which he also repaired.

He put it in the mail and changed me $14 (for parts). $14. Apparently the guy likes helping out idiots like me. Thanks Randy and IRebuildMarantz.com. Above and beyond.
Hi guys.

Being your typical male, I blindly believed I could recap/service my newly acquired Marantz 2325, (which sounded fantastic when it arrived.)

After a few brief inquires into servicing, (costs etc) I felt I could do the job myself, and brought a rebuild kit from IRebuildMarantz.com.

I had some minor soldering skills, but had never taken on a task involving circuit boards. But: How hard could it be, right?

I followed the step-by-step instruction on IRebuild's website, and to be honest, the recapping was not that difficult, nor was Deoxing the pots and replacing the old lamps with LED's (Note: Use Warm-whites, not the bright blue disco-lamps that seem to be the trend, its just to intense, in my opinion.)

However, inexperience started to factor when I incorrectly reverse-polled the large power filter caps. When I attempted to fire the Beast up, it just looked back at me.

In a panic, I emailed Randy at IRebuildMarantz.com, and in a 10 email exchange, he basically held my hand through the whole diagnostic process. End result: Problem fixed, no damage, working receiver.

My confidence once again at an all-time high, I threw myself back into the project and accidentally shorted the power supply board when attempting to adjust the bias: Once again, I contacted Randy, and suspecting I had fried something on the board, I decided to pull the P800 board out and send it to him.

He received it and over the weekend, replaced all the caps and the transistor I had shorted. Given my amateur soldering skills, I had also lifted a trace or two on the board which he also repaired.

He put it in the mail and changed me $14 (for parts). $14. Apparently the guy likes helping out idiots like me. Thanks Randy and IRebuildMarantz.com. Above and beyond.
 
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