Guns N’Roses

OLD SCHOOL
18 TONE AUDIO NO.78 FEATURE
Last month our friend Mike rolled into Gig
Harbor Audio carrying a bubble wrapped HH
Scott 357 solid state receiver. This receiver was
a great example of a unit in excellent cosmetic
shape, like it had just been removed from Don
Draper’s Manhattan office. Mike’s father had
played it gently for over 25 years until moving it
to storage in a dry, clean box for another 2 decades.
The HH Scott 357 is a compact, smart-looking
receiver with an FM display that turns from
green to warm red when the station locks in! Unlike
the rat’s nest of wires hiding in an earlier HH
Scott 222 tube integrated, the 357 is a neat and
tidy 25 watt per channel receiver with a punch.
Mike was willing to sink in some cash to get it
sounding close to what it did when his dad purchased
it in 1971. This unit was special because
Mike had spent his wonder years enjoying it with
his dad, and since it was in great cosmetic
shape, he could probably get his money out of
it if he had to. Now he can pour a couple of icy
shots of Grey Goose.
Restored, this mini powerhouse came in at
$275 and with all new caps. Our goal with recapping
is to get as close as possible to what
something sounded like when it first came out
within reason. We don’t hot rod units but instead
restore them as best we can to deliver
happiness. On this 357 we overhauled the
power supply and changed all power supply
caps, recapped the tone board and tuner using
Nichicon capacitors, re-lamped and cleaned
the display, and cleaned all controls and
switches with contact cleaner and DeOx-It.
Before giving a unit back to a customer we
break it in for at least 4 or 5 days. There are
parts in a restored unit, like Mike’s 357, that
were not replaced because we considered
them still good. These parts have not experienced
a signal passing through them for 25
years and need to get a thorough stress test.
Plus the new parts need to break in. Imagine
a pair of shoes. They aren’t comfy until they
contour to one’s feet over 1 to 2 weeks. Capacitors,
speaker drivers, and even turntable
cartridges are the same. They break in over
periods of months, even years.
This brings up some of the choices of a
tech. Recap every single section in the unit?
What if the phonostage still sounds quite nice
and strong? If you recap it you might gain 20
more years of play, but you’ll lose the benefit
of break-in courtesy of 25 years of Mantovani
and Martin Denny LPs. We shoot for the best
bang for the buck to enjoy a unit again.
(continued)
FEATURE
AUGUST 2016 19