That’s very unfortunate Barrie - I know you were really looking forward to getting the Leak system working.
I’ve had similar problems with old stereos over the past few years - even though they might be advertised as working, sometimes it does prove not to be the case. Very often I have found, and indeed have you too, that just a simple internal clean up and perhaps drive belt replacement can solve these problems, but not always.
I have a couple of old Sony items that I still keep, even though they are not working at present, just in case I may be able to resurrect them later. The thing is, quite often they have been purchased for what is basically pocket money, and because they are generally rather heavy and bulky, it doesn’t seem to be worth going to the hassle and expense of trying to return them. I am loath to just bin the faulty ones I have though - just in case.
The problem is of course, that getting these things repaired professionally is likely to cost so much more than their purchase price, that it seems uneconomical, and is more than likely cheaper to simply buy another one. In your case, with the Leak though, you have just ended up with two good looking, but inoperable units. It’s a risk we run I suppose, especially if we do not personally possess the knowledge and skills to carry out the fault diagnosis and repairs ourselves.
In the past few years, I have put together three 1970s Sony systems that work - the cute little TA 70 / ST 70 set up (in our summer house), and the lovely rich-sounding STR 6036A receiver with a PS 5520 turntable. But the rare TA 73 / ST 73 system has proven a little more troublesome, and I have a spare amp and a tuner in storage just because I don’t like throwing things away. Habitual hoarder, me !
Good luck sorting out the Leak, and I look forward to hearing how you solve the problems in the coming weeks / months.
TBH I don’t know why replacing these items would solve “intermittent functions” unless the contacts to them are dirty if they are plug-in items. Fuses are usually easily replaceable plug-in items. I would remove each fuse, one at a time, check it is not blown using a continuity tester or multimeter and replace it. If one of the fuses is blown it may give a clue as to which area of the system is faulty.
Some systems have thermal trips that prevent damage if the system overheats. It may be worth seeing if these are evident and reset them if possible.
I did wonder about poor contacts etc on fuses/switches etc. I’ve ran out of contact cleaner over the Christmas period so need to get a replacement there are two types of fuses on the DELTA amp, one being a slow blow type (from memory) without looking. All glass type though due to age of equipment. Perhaps the seller has not used the correct ones and something has got damaged? Busy today but will check things out, thank you all
I’ve just viewed the YouTube videos suggested (12voltvids) the guy doesn’t have a lot of love for the LEAK all the replacement of obsolete transistors etc, it’s frightening anyway,won’t be going that far in to it all, its way above my pay grade worth watching all the same.
I watched that video too, and as you said, he didn’t have a good thing to say about the Leak 75 did he ? Called it a joke, in fact.
The interesting thing I picked up on though, was that the receiver he was playing with, displayed the same problem as yours, namely sound on only one channel. I wonder if the same transistor fault is actually the cause of your problem !
Yes it did sound quite good didn’t it ? And at the end of the second video, after he’d done the necessary repairs, he seemed almost complimentary about it as a unit, didn’t he ?
Yes he did, and I got the impression that it was the way that it was put together, a mish-mash in order to get things to fit into the case, was the source of his criticism, rather than the performance of the unit.
Thanks guys for your contributions I read (could all be bunkum) that LEAK needed a bigger amp/receiver in their lineup and the DELTA 75 was cobbled up out of an existing tuner and a separate amp, into one casing. Hence it looks a little “home made” in there! Don’t think there’s anything wrong with these units, it’s just a shame I seem to have two, suffering from similar issues
I’ve tried the HIFI repairs guys that sorted the AIWA stacks and never had a response, perhaps they too have no love for these units
“Maybe they just had a long shut-down over the holiday period…maybe?”
Hi Roger possibility I guess? I had a direct line to the workshop boss, not even a response there They are, or can be, selective in what they take on TBH. If they take something on, they generally rescue it.
Hi everyone, some promising news on theLEAK DELTA 75 tuner/amp. After several attempts to contact my “go to” HiFi repair folk (Wilkinsons HIFI repairs) they have come back to me with a positive response, insomuch that they will have a look at it for me. Based on my previous experiences with them relating to the AIWA stack systems I own, these guys should be able to identify and sort the fault for me I need to get it over to them first and then, fingers crossed, they can resurrect the unit to fully working condition. I was beginning to give up hope as they are “selective” in what they will take on, LEAK is on their approved list!
I didn’t want to put you off by mentioning the commentry when I originally posted about the videos. Didn’t appear to have a lot of love for ‘the British‘ either.
Funny you should say that, but I did think that the way he said “British” he was having a poke, then I wondered if it was just me being over-sensitive: maybe my initial impression was right after all!
I didn’t get the impression he was having a dig at the British in general, just the quality of the Leak 75 he was playing about with. Perhaps he was more used to working on Japanese Hi-Fi units which he maybe considered superior in build quality and design.
It’s interesting what Barrie wrote in his posting of a few days ago (569), when he related that Leak apparently ‘cobbled’ together the 75 receiver to fill a gap in their range - that might explain 12voltvid’s derogatory remarks about it.
Even the modern equipment can suffer from the production engineers specifying a cheaper part because they “know better” than the design engineers.
I’ve just repaired a modern small analogue audio mixer, brilliant design, good components, well made, everything just right, except in less than a year of occasional use it had cooked the two power supply capacitors and therefore was buzzing.
The grade of the two components was superb (very low ESR so can withstand high ripple current and rated up to 105C so don’t mind getting hot) but they were 25V maximum when they should have been 35V. The measured working voltage was average 22.5V DC with 6.5V AC of ripple, taking them to a peak of 25.75V (ish), on the face of it OK, but not in practice. The high ripple voltage indicates how much capacitance they had lost, down from 1000UF to (at a guess) maybe 50uF. (Like an old car battery losing charge storage ability.)
The replacements run cold, not hot, and power consumption from the mains has dropped by about two watts and, depending on mains voltage and on which of the three spare transformers is plugged in, both can sit at up to about 26V with 0.3V ripple. Happy friend.
Love the techno-babble myself. Even if some of it goes over the head the main point is you don’t want to be running anything close to the limit and definitely not over the limit. Components should be able to comfortably do their job with a bit of leeway.
Compare it with an automotive situation. My 2.0 ND1 has a top speed of 133. V rated tyres are good for up to 149, Z rated to 150+. Mazda specifies W rated which are OK for up to 168.