Any interest in QRX 9001 recap/upgrade service?

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Trnsfmr

Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Messages
40
Location
Eugene, Oregon
Hi all,
I wonder if there is any interest in a service that would be recapping/restoring/upgrading the 9001? Pretty much what QB was doing, without the . . . how should I call it, problems with delivery?

I'm an audio engineer, with a 33 year career in pro audio. I founded and owned the 2nd largest PA company in the country. I have designed and built lots of gear for pro applications, everything from electronic crossovers to a big 40 X 16 mixing console. I have been playing with the 9001 for a couple years now. I have a couple of surround systems set up, HT and a quad setup. I have improved on the holy grail alignment a bit, and worked out some tweeks for the amplifier section that deal with the differential amp part of the outputs. I'm pretty good at working on electronics, I've been doing it since I was 8, I was a ham as a kid, then worked in broadcasting, have or have had a 1st class FCC license and an Extra class ham license.

I'm retired and got hit pretty hard by the '08 crash. I have two sons in college, and could use some extra income. I love working on hi fi gear, which is my winter hobby, and my summer hobby is airplanes, I have built/rebuilt 3 airplanes. I had thought of offering this service before, but QB seemed like a great guy and I wouldn't have felt good about competing with him when he had worked out most of the mods and upgrades.

I've been helping a guy in Singapore repair his 9001 over on the AK list, and someone reading the thread PM'd me and asked if I would do his 9001. He explained to me what has happened with QB, and that has led to this post. I'm working on a 9001 right now, and I will be doing this guys unit as soon as he ships it to me.

So, would any others be interested in this? What has happened with QB is interesting, cause I have seen it before. I've been a Fisher fan in the past and there is a guy who used to work for Fisher, who has gotten himself into the exact same fix as QB, lots of upset people, and he doesn't return gear or money, or emails. Go over to the Yahoo Fisher list and you can read all about it. He was called the Fisher Doc.

I would never want to end up in that place, and the way I would prevent it from happening is to only accept gear for restore on a reserved place in the lineup kind of deal. I would control people shipping to me, so that I would only have a small backlog. I do not have the space to store a bunch of gear waiting to be repaired anyway.

I can basically offer all the same service QB was doing, plus a couple extras. I was never aware of his pricing but from what my first customer has told me, I would be willing to just start with the price he has told me, that he got from QB a couple years ago, and see how it worked out. The 9001 is the biggest, most complex receiver to come from Japan, but I can tell you that it is a piece of cake compared to a big mixing console, which has 20-30 times as much electronics in it.

I can do
Complete recap with Nichicon KW and KT caps in the signal path, others for power
Add Polypropylene caps where it makes sense
Change out the fusible resistors
Pin and resolder the 4 ch board
Power supply mods
The holy grail alignment and resistor removal
Offset and bias
Differential amp tweek, balance, and mod-- in outputs
Disable the 2X power switch, but I don't recommend it
Add an RCA connector interrupt point just before the power amps
Also do basic repairs

If you have any thoughts about this, I would appreciate it. Please jump in and tell me what you think.
 

Well, such a long winded reply. LOL

I was told that $1200 was the going price before.
Even though that was 2 years ago, it seems ok to me as I know how many hours are involved. For that price I am thinking to provide complete recap including big power caps, calibrate and adjust, HG alignment, fix 4 ch board, replace fusible resistors, and clean pots and switches. Poly caps, PS mods, power amp mods, high level ins and outs, disable 2X power, would be additional charges, as not everyone would want all this. I'd have to figure out the extras, but I would try to keep it reasonable based on parts and time.

I've also been thinking about this all day. Both QB and the Fisher Doc, were not ever in business before. I have been all my life. That makes a big difference in how I deal with customers. I think what I would do is run a website, that we would update weekly with commentary and a description/pictures of the projects in the shop. My son, who is a vintage audio enthusiast also, will work with me part time, he's finishing up his senior year in college. We'll keep a list of gear in the shop and each week who would be sending in their gear for a restore and the progress of units in the shop. That is, if we had that many to do. :rolleyes:

I already have a website for a pro audio product I make and sell. I would just add a different page to that. If you wanna see that, it is here:

http://audiencereactionpedal.com/index.htm
 
$1200 sounds like a very fair price to me for the 9001, considering the caps/hours involved. How much would you charge for a 7001 for a complete restoration plus preamp outs and the decoder mod?
Thanks,
Matt
 
yikes $1200..... at least I know now what they cost to restore, before it was kinda of a hidden secret, well I guess it depends on the specific receiver

anyways I support your endeavor, I want to get a nice Sansui someday and I would love to see a website set up where you can track a repair that has been sent in.
 
I for one would be interested in your service, it is very hard to find someone who is familiar with these QRX units, I have found that a lot of techs say no problem,
and then when they see what is involved, either screw it up or admit that this job is beyond their expertise.

I also wonder if the price would be the same for all the QRX models,
as I have several 7001's, two 9001's, and a 8001, and other misc Sansui amps. All of which could use a good going over.

Tom
 
I for one would be interested in your service, it is very hard to find someone who is familiar with these QRX units, I have found that a lot of techs say no problem,
and then when they see what is involved, either screw it up or admit that this job is beyond their expertise.

I also wonder if the price would be the same for all the QRX models,
as I have several 7001's, two 9001's, and a 8001, and other misc Sansui amps. All of which could use a good going over.

Tom

Hi Tom,
Yeah, I think most techs are not prepared for the level of complexity, and when you throw in the double sided 4 ch board which needs all the passthroughs repaired, it is a bit much. The 8001 is pretty much the same as the 9001, as they both have the 4 ch board problem. The lower models do not have that board and so require less time. The 4 ch board, by itself. takes a day to do.

I have already quoted someone $900 for the 7001, base price. I may end up adjusting that, depending on how long it takes. I have a 7001 which I haven't gone through yet. I plan to put it at my computer, so I can have some nice quadliness there, also. I'm hoping to have my website up maybe next week, with all the data I can conjure up on the 9001 series. I don't believe in secret technology, so I will put everything up there.

:cool:
 
I think your tapping into a real fertile market here man. I know the X001 series are technically the best of the best, but I have my QRX-6500 that I love, right now its perfect, but I'm afraid it may give me some problems years down the road. When/if that time comes, would you be able to do the restoration and/or upgrade the QS Synthesizer and decoders? Any idea on a cost. In guessing 500-700 bucks for a 6500, but im not sure because I don't have a ghost of an idea how much is really involved with them... Although when I got it, I did have to replace the output transistors for a few channels.

-RS
 
I'm sure I'd be willing to restore your receiver. I'd have to take a look at the service manual to get an idea of what was involved. Drop me a line when you want to talk about it.
 
aghhh! all this talk of Sansui's and theres a qrx-9001 on ebay now......

if I can't get a sa 6700x soon I will have to buy one
 
Hi all,
Well, I can tell you that I now have a lot of respect for how much work goes into a web site. I gots one. :eek: Any comments, criticism, etc. would be greatly appreciated. And I really mean it, I'd be much more interested in hearing what you don't like about it, or how it could be better, or where it is confusing.

http://www.qrxrestore.com

We are getting set to update the "Shop Action" page, weekly, with photos and a rundown of what's in the shop and what's happening.

This just couldn't be going better. I have a 9001 and a 7001 in the shop right now and another 9001 on the way. It's the encouragement I got from this forum and the other one, that has given me the enthusiasm to move forward.

Thanks all. (y)
 
great job on the website, I initially thought it would be hard to navigate because you put it up so quickly, but its looking great

you mentioned about payment that you are unable to take credit cards at the moment, have you tried using pay-pal? thats what I found works best for online transactions and I think would help get more people interested in doing business

also if you have any foreign customers (like Canadians who need your services, its a good, quick way to change the currency to American)
 
Hi all,
Well, I can tell you that I now have a lot of respect for how much work goes into a web site. I gots one. :eek: Any comments, criticism, etc. would be greatly appreciated. And I really mean it, I'd be much more interested in hearing what you don't like about it, or how it could be better, or where it is confusing.

http://www.qrxrestore.com

We are getting set to update the "Shop Action" page, weekly, with photos and a rundown of what's in the shop and what's happening.

This just couldn't be going better. I have a 9001 and a 7001 in the shop right now and another 9001 on the way. It's the encouragement I got from this forum and the other one, that has given me the enthusiasm to move forward.

Thanks all. (y)

Great job there!!!!

I know what a restoring process costs in terms of money and time but I'm sure it's all worth of it.

I wish I could send you my 7001 for restoring, but it'll cost me hundred bucks just for shipping to USA from Italy... :(
 
Two-cent's worth (at best) from a Old Coot.

Better to do the task correctly, ask for too much beforehand, and return the completed unit completed properly and return any overcharge as you see fit.
 
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