Amstrad Amplifier Repairs

Amstrad A101 Amplifier

Amstrad A101 Amstrad A101

Before powering this up I dismantled the left & right amplifier boards, good job I did the 220µF capacitors near the big ones were almost open circuit! I replaced all the small caps and it sounded ok, yes I know it's an Amstrad but better made than the Integra (just)!

Amstrad Integra 4000 MK2

Amstrad Integra 4000 MK2 Stereo Amplifier Amstrad Integra 4000 MK2 Stereo Amplifier

Well it had to happen one day, (an Amstrad moment!) got this needing repair, just a hum from the amp, turned out the two IC's in the pre amp had given up and all the small capacitors needed replacing. For some reason the IC pins were in a staggered layout. I suspect the PCB maker couldn't do close spacing track etching. I used IC sockets and bent the pins on those rather than the actual IC's. Sounded ok after repair, Amstrad's idea of quadsound is putting the rear speakers in series with the main ones and out of phase!