At the Stereo Lab, we specialize in repairing vintage gear. Many times the piece that comes in here has not been serviced in 45 years if ever. We repair, clean, and test a unit and send it back to the customer. We are confident enough that we offer a 90 day warranty on all repairs. Sometimes, a piece will come back, we put it on the bench and no faults can be found. Remember, your environment and other components matter when using this gear.
It is human nature to jump to the conclusion that your vintage receiver is faulty, after all you just had it in the shop and they did find problems with it. Keep in mind an adage that our wisest senior tech is fond of saying, “there are likely multiple problems”. We see it all the time. If your receiver was in a box in the basement for 45 years, your tape deck and your turntable probably were too.
The biggest environmental issue we see is bad cable, either loose fitting or broken RCA cable or oxidized and frayed speaker wire. Make sure you have all new cable or your cables are in good order and securely fastened. The next one is the turntable, when using the phonograph as an input source, remember it has cables too. The cartridge may have failed or is failing, or there may be breaks in the cable from the turntable to the receiver or even in the tonearm.
Then there are the speakers, they are essentially electric motors that rely on electrical current to move sound out to your listening environment. As moving parts they wear out too, voice coils can short, wires can cross, and crossovers can fail.
Whatever the issue you are experiencing, the professional staff at the Stereo Lab are here to help you though it. We routinely help guide customers to a happy resolution and the ability to enjoy this vintage gear again.