One day, while MO was sitting on my lap...

[user328]

My philosophy is just enjoy playing with yourself.

Come sit on my lap and show me how you play.

[Mister Obvious]

So I've got a stereo related question for you Dev...

What could make the volume suddenly go super quiet and sound kinda static-y?

What does it means if it works again for a while if you turn the receiver off and back on?

Is it possible that you notice it happening depending on where you (as in your actual body) moves around the room?

Lol.

Asking for a friend.

Cuz honestly it embarrasses me to ask about this, but I honest to God notice that it happens when I move.

Aren't there electromagnetic thingies inside these receivers??

Or maybe I'm stepping on cords that are underneath the carpet...

Something strange is going on.

I'll know it's related to cords or something if you tell me that the "volume going down" isn't a known phenomenon with these receivers.

[Mister Obvious]

I've also noticed the performance of the stereo system in general depends on the weather.

How?

I have no fucking idea.

Shit starts getting weird when the weather turns warm and humidity increases.

Or if there's been a lot of rain, it's like it's drowned out and static-y sometimes.

Makes no sense... cuz I don't know how these machines work.

[user328]

Are you listening to the radio or something else?

I'd check for cords under the rug first since you mentioned it. The first rule of troubleshooting is to eliminate as many variables as possible to narrow down the list of possible causes.

[Mister Obvious]

No it's just plugged into my computer audio by a standard heaphone cord thingy.

And I think that's a pretty solid indicator that the writing itself is a pretty custom situation...

My guess is that it's a wiring problem rather than an issue with the receiver, but I don't understand why turning it off and back on would necessarily fix the situation if wires were the issue.

[user328]

Bad capacitors could sound fizzly and cause the volume to go down. Recall that I told you electrolytic capacitors are good for 30 years, maybe 35 tops, before they need replacing.

[Mister Obvious]

All of this was installed by an electrician with a stereo obsession, so... if it's a problem with the wiring, I'm guessing it's because it's all pretty fucking old and maybe the wires weren't the best quality to begin with or something.

Unless I wrangle around an actual vintage receiver/stereo buff, it'll never be fixed so... I'll prolly just move.

[Mister Obvious]

Bad capacitors could sound fizzly and cause the volume to go down. Recall that I told you electrolytic capacitors are good for 30 years, maybe 35 tops, before they need replacing.

They've likely been replaced during the past... hmmm, 15 years.

[Mister Obvious]

It was a totally restored and maintenanced receiver within the past 15 years.

[Mister Obvious]

People who grew up with these kind of receivers and know that there's nothing better than the old school tech...

They tend to buy 'em broken on eBay and fix them up, so that's the situation here.

[Mister Obvious]

Could be a capacitor though... who knows how old the replacement one was.

[Mister Obvious]

Sigh, it's all been very nice while it lasted though.

The receiver will work like a charm if someone is able to fix whatever needs to be maintenanced, just too bad I can't do it.

I mean, I could LEARN to do it, but my time is probably better spent doing something else with my life.

Like in general, but we're not gonna address that topic ATM...

[Mister Obvious]

And I just wanna say...

When you have a stereo like this...

It sucks you into its world and it's like you can't escape.

So maybe if it doesn't work right anymore, I can actually escape the wormhole I've been lulled into by the absurdly otherworldly sound quality.

[Mister Obvious]

If somebody didn't really enjoy music all that much, I guess it wouldn't be a huge problem for them though.

But for me it's like a pacifier and I literally cannot escape the soothing.

[Mister Obvious]

I'm like, chained to the receiver.

[user328]

Don't give up on it, and don't chuck it out.

Even if you learn to solder, I wouldn't recommend working on it yourself unless you get a lot of practice on some disposable bullshit circuit boards first. An inexperienced solderer could damage the circuit board.

It's really not a major repair job otherwise. It could be time consuming if there are a lot of electrolytic caps in the unit, but removing the old caps and putting new ones in is easy. I spent hours replacing 50+ caps in an old mixer, and that was just the four group bus cards. That fixed the problem I had, so I didn't bother with the eight channel cards or the master bus card.

[Mister Obvious]

I'm probably just going to keep it unplugged and use a few sheets of paper to cover up the back half where there's a bunch of slats in it so no more dust gets into it. It's just gonna have to sit until it can get fixed someday. These things are like worth their weight in gold, at least to me since I know how magnificent the setup is. So, it's unfortunate I don't get to enjoy it anymore but that's how it goes... seasons and cycles to life. I'll have it again someday.

[Mister Obvious]

I've known since I started using it years ago that this day would come, and I put together an entire life plan around it sooo...

Lol, I guess it's go-time.

[Mister Obvious]

And again, that probably wouldn't make sense to anybody who isn't into music or doesn't understand how epic a vintage stereo setup can be, but... those of us who do know, I think it'd be more understandable.

[Mister Obvious]

I guess I'm reduced to using Bose again...



Bose: It's Better Than Nothing™