Ping Trevor Wilson

[Trevor Wilson]

On 21/05/2017 3:52 PM, Phil Allison wrote:

Trevor Wilson wrote:

-------------------



**I can assure you that they most certainly did. Perhaps not
quite as low end as those Sansui atrocities, but models that
were significantly less costly to make than their good models.
As an authorised service agent for the importer, since 1980,
I've seen them all, though Interdyn no longer import Luxman.



** Did you deal with Gordon Hoskins at any stage?


**Of course. I even did work for him for a few years. To his
credit, bills were always paid by the due date. I mostly dealt with
Dianne down there at Arncliff, I never bought Luxman spares from
him.


** Think I dealt with her over the phone once, to get some Luxman amp
BJTs.

She was polite, efficient and I got the *correct* parts in the mail
the next day. So I rang her back to say how pleased I was.

I remember her being astonished that anyone bothered to do such a
thing.




Despite the store stocking various Interdyn items, he refused to
supply any spares or info on Luxman etc.


**That's because he is a massive dickhead.



** ROTFL !!


Certainly be 1980 (and probably a long time prior) Interdyn were
the importers for Luxman. Hoskins was their Sydney agent and pretty
much sole retailer for a long time.


** After taking on Alpage and Celestion plus opening the "Quality
Hi-Fi" store in York Street, he didn't get any better.

Gordon must have been a sleazy used-car salesman in a previous
life....

**Well, a new car salesman. But close enough.



--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au

 

[Phil Allison]

Trevor Wilson wrote:

------------------

Gordon must have been a sleazy used-car salesman in a previous
life....


**Well, a new car salesman. But close enough.

** Really ??

When I first came across the horrible man, I suggested to the owners of Woollahra Hi-Fi ( Roger and Sue Tonkin ) that he must be linked with the nearby " Larke Hoskins " car dealership.

When asked, Gordon strenuously denied any connection.

Are you saying he lied ?




..... Phil

 

[Trevor Wilson]

On 21/05/2017 9:54 PM, Phil Allison wrote:

Trevor Wilson wrote:

------------------



Gordon must have been a sleazy used-car salesman in a previous
life....


**Well, a new car salesman. But close enough.




** Really ??

When I first came across the horrible man, I suggested to the owners
of Woollahra Hi-Fi ( Roger and Sue Tonkin ) that he must be linked
with the nearby " Larke Hoskins " car dealership.

When asked, Gordon strenuously denied any connection.

Are you saying he lied ?

**Oh yeah. He was, indeed, the 'Hoskins' part of Larke-Hoskins.


--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au

 

[Phil Allison]

Trevor Wilson wrote:

------------------

Gordon must have been a sleazy used-car salesman in a previous
life....


**Well, a new car salesman. But close enough.



** Really ??

When I first came across the horrible man, I suggested to the owners
of Woollahra Hi-Fi ( Roger and Sue Tonkin ) that he must be linked
with the nearby " Larke Hoskins " car dealership.

When asked, Gordon strenuously denied any connection.

Are you saying he lied ?


**Oh yeah. He was, indeed, the 'Hoskins' part of Larke-Hoskins.

** I know the question was put directly to him by Roger Tonkin.

Wonder why he denied it??

Natural instinct to lie?



..... Phil

 

[Phil Allison]

Phil Allison wrote:

---------------------

I have a Marantz SR2000 on the bench with both STK080G modules blown
and signs of attempted repair. I know the PSUs and tuners are OK.

WES does not stock the 080G but has the uprated 083G which appears to be pin compatible.

Can it be a drop in replacement?

Any mods needed ?

** New Sanyo STK083Gs are now installed and working fine.

The old, blown modules were an STK080G and an STK084G - the latter having its white markings obliterated. I cut them both open for a look revealing all the chips inside. The output devices in the 080G are puny, similar to TIP34s while the ones in the 084s are larger, more like 2N3055 ones.

But this is not the problem.

The problem is that there is simply NO current limiting at all - making the modules fail instantly if there is a short on the speaker line.

ALSO there is a thin, phenolic PCB *between* the thick copper headers used for the output devices and the alloy heatsink on the back of each module. The temperature drop across this would be many times that of the usual mica or silicone insulators.

PLUS there are no emitter ballast resistors employed at all - making the output stage prone to thermal runaway.

I intend to write a stern warning to the owner to be VERY careful with the speaker wiring from this unit and to NEVER use 4 ohm speakers.




..... Phil

 

[Trevor Wilson]

On 22/05/2017 5:22 PM, Phil Allison wrote:

Phil Allison wrote:

---------------------


I have a Marantz SR2000 on the bench with both STK080G modules
blown and signs of attempted repair. I know the PSUs and tuners are
OK.

WES does not stock the 080G but has the uprated 083G which appears
to be pin compatible.

Can it be a drop in replacement?

Any mods needed ?



** New Sanyo STK083Gs are now installed and working fine.

The old, blown modules were an STK080G and an STK084G - the latter
having its white markings obliterated. I cut them both open for a
look revealing all the chips inside. The output devices in the 080G
are puny, similar to TIP34s while the ones in the 084s are larger,
more like 2N3055 ones.

But this is not the problem.

The problem is that there is simply NO current limiting at all -
making the modules fail instantly if there is a short on the speaker
line.

ALSO there is a thin, phenolic PCB *between* the thick copper headers
used for the output devices and the alloy heatsink on the back of
each module. The temperature drop across this would be many times
that of the usual mica or silicone insulators.

PLUS there are no emitter ballast resistors employed at all - making
the output stage prone to thermal runaway.

I intend to write a stern warning to the owner to be VERY careful
with the speaker wiring from this unit and to NEVER use 4 ohm
speakers.

**All good reasons to avoid any products using those horrible output
stages. I never liked them. When Marantz began employing them, I was
very concerned. When I started at Marantz, even their 35 Watt amps
(Model 1070) used proper, TO3, output devices (matched sets). By the end
of the 1970s, the SR shit-boxes had appeared, with their unreliable
output modules and very unreliable tuner ICs. I liken it to someone who
works at Lexus, then being presented with the new model, which was as
sophisticated and quality built as a Chery. I recall the boss calling me
into the office, sometime around 1977-8 and explaining to me that
Marantz was engaged in an exciting new concept called
'value-engineering'. I soon learned what that term really meant. Even
after Philips took over, they persisted with using those driver modules.
They proved to be quite unreliable too.

FWIW: I have an ancient Pioneer here, which has a blown module. There is
no replacement available, but the client still wants the thing repaired
(God knows why). I've suggested that he look for another amplifier and I
can canabalise it to fix his.


--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au