I’m looking for recommendations for service/repair work to be carried out on my father’s Arcam Alpha 7r/8p amplifier combination.
The volume control on the 7r occasionally cuts output to one channel - I’ve cleaned the volume pot with deoxit which has helped but it’s still not 100%. Arcam no longer stock the part- an Alps motorised volume pot.
In sympathy the 8p has now started making a very quiet ‘popping’ sound on the right channel - it doesn’t change with volume and does it very 30 seconds or so. I’m not an expert but does it sound like a capacitor giving up?
Both amplifiers must be getting on for 30 years old.
We’ve had work done on a Technics cassette deck by Wilkinson’s HiFi which we were pleased with.
I’m also aware of Amplifier Repair Services who include the Alpha series as items they repair.
However, are there any other repairers that anyone would recommend?
Given the location of Wilkinson’s, are you in the NW? I’d recommend Deco Audio n Aylesbury if you were closer to me, they have done good work for me before, but I probably wouldn’t travel that far for a normal hifi repair!
David serviced a Cyrus 1 amp for me in 2016, recommended.
I think most kit is sent by courier, just double box it. The Cyrus amp went back and forth in a box quite happily, and one more trip away when I sold it on eBay.
I am in Lincolnshire - when we used Wilkinson’s HiFi we posted the item to them which worked well. I have also used Deco Audio who got the Goldring GL75 back up and running - they did a good job except it has a ground hum - I could always see about getting them all done at the same time. I drove down to Aylesbury as I didn’t want to post a delicate turntable!
I may well contact him as he appears to specialise in particular amplifiers which probably means he knows them inside out including the symptoms and likely parts availability before going to the ‘trouble’/expense of postage etc.
Mr Tech Guy, near Peterborough. Ex Boothroyd Stuart service engineer, so obviously specialises in Meridian, but they do other manufacturers as well, including Arcam!
Definitely true for the Cyrus amps, and the arcams too as neither company services them anymore as far as I’m aware.
Between his website and posting on “blue sky” you can see the frequency that he fixes these older amps.
Can’t recall exactly, I think the Cyrus 1 service was £120.
Thank you. I did actually try Mr Tech Guy last year to get an Arcam A28 repaired but, despite several phone calls from me to chase up after sending the initial email (which they did respond to) I never heard anything back. In the end I sent it off to Arcam only to find that they no longer stocked the transformer! In fairness I think Mr Tech Guy had a very long lead time (months) when I initially enquired.
I’ve looked at the BluSky account - very interesting. He does look to be the right man for the job. I have tried the power amplifier (8p) several times over the last few days. Despite using several different sources/pre-amps it has not repeated the same fault. However, it is definitely more noisy through that channel than the other which I assume means something is not quite right.