I have an old Hafler TransNova that I got a lot of good use out of, it drives my Tannoy Reveal passive speakers.
But in the past couple of years it has developed some sort of irritating attenuator or circuit issue where, if you A/B the left channel with the right, the right channel does not put out as much power in the woofer range as the left.
It’s subtle but irritating and is messing up my sound. I have replacement attenuators but in the event that replacing the attenuators does not fix the problem, I am wondering what the people here think would be a good replacement for this old Amp?
One of the things I loved about this amp was that it is fanless. Do companies still make fanless amps?
I have a dozen Haflers.
Recently had to recap several of them.
When caps go bad the low end is the first thing to go.
If yours are more than 10 years, you need a recap.
It’s cheaper than a new amp.
Depending upon the type of caps used you can even replace them yourself.
Hey, thanks…when you say cap, you mean the capacitors? Do you know where I can get them? I am not particularly good with electrical work but I can still find someone and contract it out. Mostly I like the amp and would prefer to keep it. I probably should just take it to a shop…
Yes he does mean Capacitors, in particular the electrolytics,. The power supply and mostly the decoupling caps. If you’re not confident get someone else to do it, although it’s not usually difficult to do if you’re any good at soldering.
Get a schematic or just open it up and look and replace like with like, most electrolytic tolerances are quite large so a little deviation from the value is usually ok, as long as the replacement fits.
Yes, What Split said. Hum in an amp usually means the BIG electrolytic filter caps (big canisters with screw terminal instead of solder lugs) are going bad. These are easy to replace because the wires screw onto the cap, the canister is held in place by a clamp. If the problem is with one side or the other it can be the big filter caps, but is more likely one of the smaller electrolytic caps on the control PC-boards. These you will need to desolder and then install the new component. If you have soldered before, this shouldn’t be that hard. If not then find a local tech.
Don’t know where you are located, you might be able to find a repair service in your area. You can also check the Hafler website to see if there is an authorized repair facility near you. If you are in a smaller city ???
You can order parts from digi-key or Mouser.
Generally electrolytic capacitors are rated at 85-degrees Celsius. For things like amps that get hot if you or your tech can find 105-degree-C caps your amp will last longer. Heat dries out electrolytic caps, which then causes loss of low end, frequency response shifts, or failures.