Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

Hi all,

is somebody out here who knows this British high-end amp and has
technical information about it? There is here an Elektra 150 board
inside, with thermal problems! Don't know if that's correct.

What type are these F15N/F15P end stage transistors (date code 9438);
they look very re-stamped? The left channel has blown now and i
want to add a little „redesigned“...

Anybody messed around with that thing? The manufacturer is not very
communicative.

Big thanks in advance
Thomas

Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech,uk.rec.audio (More info?)

"Dingobreath" wrote:

> I was probably drunk and out crossdressing somewhere, as is my
> wont.

What have you done with it?!?!

Before I switched to LINN I also owned the E100 with its shiny satin black fronts. I loved it. Great sound, smoth, accurate bass, warm but direct. And I always appreciated the quality of Musical Fidelity.

I'm sure you will get something similar to the F15N/F15P from http://www.digchip.com/datasheets/members_benefits.php

Good luck! You should give it a try.
regards,
pete

Hello! I was given an E100 with problems. A friend of mine is a tech and we proceeded to take it apart. This amp has a couple of problems, mostly due to design and cost cutting, fiberglass circuit boards aside. The first problem is that the power supply capicitors are run right to the limit. They are rated at 50 volts and that is exactly what they are run at. Over time they start to get a little bloated and get a little soft. Although there is not a lot of room on the board, you can get caps rated slightly over (60-70 volts) and they will still fit. The two main op amps next to the caps, the is one for each side, if I remember, are also run to their limit and are prone to thermal overload. On mine the circuit board around the amps was actually discolored because of the heat. We solved this problem by using paste and adding a couple of heat sinking fins to each one. The last problem this amp has is that in classic brit fashion, the transistors are sinked to the chasis by a strip of aluminum, and that is all the heat disapation that you get! This, frankly, is not enough. If you actually use the amp as a muscial and movie centerpiece in a system, it will eventually give up and blow a chanel, just as it did for me last week. Plus the chasis is completely closed. I might drill it out! Who knows, if I had done the mods early in the life of the amp maybe it would never have happened, I don't know. Anyway, I now have to replace a number of burnt resistors etc. and we are working wihtout a schematic. Just experince and a meter! I am still looking for a schematic for this thing if you happen to come across one...

Sean

Hi, I too have MF Elektra E100 and the unit has blown again a couple of days ago. Just spoke to Musical Fidelity and asked how much it would cost to replace the blown transistors (this is the third time it has happened). Basically the post above is exactly correct.

They have a 'Repair & service' charge of £300 plus VAT = £352.50.

The last time I had the unit fixed by them it was around £60.

I asked exactly what I would be getting and that is when it became obvious that they are just trying to squeeze customers for money.

Essentially they replace a few transistors and capacitors and 'give the unit a looking over'. There is no way it costs anything like that and considering that the unit cost £500 in the first place - this smelt like an obvious rip-off.

Inspite of the MF website saying in effect that no one else on the planet could possibly fix a unit like this with out destroying the sound quality, MF told me to seek a repair from someone else if all I wanted is for the unit to work and I was not concerned about this 'service'. They were actually very happy for me to do this and did not seem very happy to recommend this course of action.

Over the years I have spoken to a number of HiFi dealers who have all said the same thing about MF and they all ended up dropping the MF account and refused to stock them anymore. Some of the stories very accurately describe the attitude of MF that I found out from personal experience - so I had no reason to dispute what I heard from a lot of different people.

What is quite interesting is that even though MF now have a very small dealership, these dealers will try their best to keep you away from MF products and steer you away from them. Ask the dealers why and they will be very happy to tell you their reasons

Enough to say that the Musical Fidelity opinion of dealers and customers is very very very low and Musical Fidelity believe that we (dealers and buyers) are all not worthy of owing their gifts to mankind.

It is with great great pleasure that I am going to finally throw this over rated glossy piece of junk in the skip.