I have a Sony Esprit TA-E901 Esprit pre-amp. It's a bit of a unique beast.
On the phono stage only (all other inputs are fine), I have an intermittent right channel problem in stereo. Especially when warm, the right channel will go dead. Sometimes it will work for days at a time before not working for days at a time. All other inputs will still work perfectly when the phono stage is acting up.
I took it to a known good electronics shop, and they were baffled on what was wrong. They couldn't find anything. They successfully reproduced the right channel issue only on the phono stage.
My question is because the problem wasn't obvious, do you think one of the epoxy modules in the EQ or Flat Amp? Or something that takes more diligence like finding a cold solder or something given the complexity of the unit.
On the phono stage only (all other inputs are fine), I have an intermittent right channel problem in stereo. Especially when warm, the right channel will go dead. Sometimes it will work for days at a time before not working for days at a time. All other inputs will still work perfectly when the phono stage is acting up.
I took it to a known good electronics shop, and they were baffled on what was wrong. They couldn't find anything. They successfully reproduced the right channel issue only on the phono stage.
My question is because the problem wasn't obvious, do you think one of the epoxy modules in the EQ or Flat Amp? Or something that takes more diligence like finding a cold solder or something given the complexity of the unit.
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Considering the age of the device, I think you should try to clean all the connectors with Deoxit first of all.
If the electronics shop was good as you said, they should have checked the solder joints as the most common source of intermittent problems
🙁
Last idea: the intermittent fault could be a thermal or vibration issue (cracked contact, PCB track, etc.), so hook up the preamp to a low power amp and cheap speakers and start hitting softly the different parts with a small rubber hammer.
I hope you can find the origin of the problem, good luck!
Last idea: the intermittent fault could be a thermal or vibration issue (cracked contact, PCB track, etc.), so hook up the preamp to a low power amp and cheap speakers and start hitting softly the different parts with a small rubber hammer.
I hope you can find the origin of the problem, good luck!
Cold solder joint at phono output or input selector switch. There would likely be a thump if it was the phono input.
I was thinking... this thing has a lot of the electronics in those epoxied things.... it might be impossible to figure it out?
And the "simple signal path" wasn't respected, although, true, custom-designed relays to switch inputs and functions made up for that - and the "Esprit" surely was encased in the mysterious epoxy-potted modules
So given its age, it might be easier to just get a modern phono preamp and plug it into one of the working AUX inputs.
https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/sony/ta-e901.shtml
http://www.thevintageknob.org/sony-TA-E901.html
Thinking outside of the box, how about. troubleshooting with...
https://www.chemtronics.com/ultimate-guide-to-diagnostic-freeze-spray
Good luck.
And the "simple signal path" wasn't respected, although, true, custom-designed relays to switch inputs and functions made up for that - and the "Esprit" surely was encased in the mysterious epoxy-potted modules
So given its age, it might be easier to just get a modern phono preamp and plug it into one of the working AUX inputs.
https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/sony/ta-e901.shtml
http://www.thevintageknob.org/sony-TA-E901.html
Thinking outside of the box, how about. troubleshooting with...
https://www.chemtronics.com/ultimate-guide-to-diagnostic-freeze-spray
Good luck.
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Thank you all for the suggestions. As of now, this is what I'm going to try based upon the advice:
1) I'll try a bit of out of the box testing with some freeze spray and maybe a wooden chopstick to mimic some slight vibrations or pressure changes.. I hope it's a cold solder on where the epoxy modules connect. I'd assume the tech went over this twice given he called me pretty stumped.
2) If push comes to shove, I will probably even swap out the L and R flat amp epoxy module to see if that changes things.
Worst case is a different phono stage.... like you said. I'm trying to avoid it. This thing has an amazing phono stage complete with head amp.
1) I'll try a bit of out of the box testing with some freeze spray and maybe a wooden chopstick to mimic some slight vibrations or pressure changes.. I hope it's a cold solder on where the epoxy modules connect. I'd assume the tech went over this twice given he called me pretty stumped.
2) If push comes to shove, I will probably even swap out the L and R flat amp epoxy module to see if that changes things.
Worst case is a different phono stage.... like you said. I'm trying to avoid it. This thing has an amazing phono stage complete with head amp.
Hmm... the 900 also had potted modules....
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/what-should-i-replace-a-sony-ta-e900-with.767848/
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/what-should-i-replace-a-sony-ta-e900-with.767848/
Here's the manuals.... hifiengine's server was down for maintenance last night...
Hmm... the schematic is too large....
Hmm... the schematic is too large....