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Tubes Asylum Questions about tubes and gear that glows. FAQ |
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In Reply to: On buying a Citation II posted by Ben Brill on March 3, 2006 at 13:22:20:
Hi Ben,I'm on the road still, but I had a chance to check in for a minute or two. I see you got a lot of response to your question, and I'd like to add my thoughts if I could.
If you are purchasing an all original Cit II, you are purchasing the nucleus of an amazing amp! The circuit is one-of-a-kind, never really duplicated anywhere else, even by H-K! The output transformers were wound to an incredible quality standard, many believe the best ever wound. The power tranny is no slouch either - it can provide 170 volts AC at 1.7 AMPS to power the amp through a low DCR secondary winding (2 ohms!), a low DCR (11 ohms) 1 Henry choke, and what were at the time top of the line diodes supplying large high quality filter caps. It has individually adjustable bias for each power tube, and AC balance adjustment. It used very good quality parts, many were the best available at the time. But...
It's old and tired! As I wrote below (and have written a number of times in the past), many parts in the amp are way past their design life and are functioning poorly if at all. The power supply caps are toast. The coupling caps are toast. Many of the resistors in the amp have drifted way out of spec. The AC balance pots are tired. The RCA jacks are corroded and tired. Some of the wire insulation is heat-hardened and needs replacement. And so on.. It's a miracle any amp with original parts works at all. But even if it does work, I can assure you it is only working at a fraction of its potential. Thus comments like Tromatic's above (I suspect he wasn't listening to a properly redone amp).
I have never heard someone listen to a Cit II redone by me or properly redone with my kits say anything but WOW (or words to that effect). Many inmates here can vouch for that, Bluelobster, Eli Duttman, Dan Eaton, Pushpulltriode, and others.
The amp you are bringing home will not sound anywhere near as good as Eli's or the other guys I mentioned.
My advice? Plan on a total rebuild/upgrade. As some of the other guys mentioned my kits/parts are very effective in not only restoring the amp to original performance, but taking it beyond original in terms of sound and reliability. It will increase your investment, yes, but it's worth every penny. If you can't swing the upgrade work, then I recommend you not buy it. It WILL fail, and soon.
Drop me a note off line if you'd like to discuss more in depth.
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Follow Ups
- Re: On buying a Citation II - Jim McShane 11:48:00 03/04/06 (0)
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