akai aa-1050

[mark902]

i've been using my dad's akai aa-1040 for a bit now cus that pioneer thing i got was a nightmare. 70 hz!? to 20 khz. oh my god. what are you talking about? so i adopted his neglected 1040. which had troubles of it's own. so. with all of that frustration i was considering a new new receiver i had narrowed it down to the marantz sr-4023 or the yamaha rx-497 or 797. i couldn't decide. it was an exciting thought. but all that money. i could get like, 20 new to me treasures with that money.

so today i went out searching. i went to this pawn shop and was disgusted to find that all they had were washing machines and beds? good grief. fridges and stoves? come on. i'll forever refer to it as the most boring place in the world. then i went to the juiciest thrift store i know. pretty juicy. i still want that 27 inch trinitron. it was still there. i may have played with destiny by not getting it. but i left. empty handed.

then i went to this other pawn shop. just for kicks. it's the never changing pawn shop. it's always the same stuff. but today i walked through the electronics department and there was a bunch of new stuff. some new tape decks. new speakers and then i saw a familiar sight. but it was different. it was gold. oh my god. gold. except it wasn't gold. it was just dirty. but it was an akai aa-1050.

i don't know if this is a good receiver or not. but it was only 14.99 and a lot of my memories are based around my dad's 1040 so it was a risk i was gonna take. i like the 1040 but it was troubled. so this seemed perfect.

http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz46/mark902/IMGP0869.jpg

http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz46/mark902/IMGP0871.jpg

http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/zz46/mark902/IMGP0870.jpg

these are after cleaning pics. this has some troubles too. but they are less serious. i think. they don't effect the sound quality. the knobs are a bit sticky. there are seperate bass and treble controls for left and right but i can't get the seperated dials to turn independantly. but they are at least set to the same values for left and right. one of the cabinet screws is missing. the lights are burnt out. or something. and when you turn the tuner dial to the very end or beginning of the um, scale? and then keep turning, it doesn't make that creepy noise that dad's makes.

but it sounds good enough for me. for now. is it deoxit? is that what i use to fix sticky dials? do i just spray it in? that sounds so... something.

[Scorpion8]

but it sounds good enough for me. for now. is it deoxit? is that what i use to fix sticky dials? do i just spray it in? that sounds so... something.

Deoxit will clean corrosion out of variable pots/controls that make a crackling sound when turned, or cut in/out. For any piece of vintage gear, a good cleaning means pulling the cover and/or bottom plate and flushing all the controls while rotating them, and then spray with Faderlube or DeOxit Gold to lube them internally. It's a lot less daunting than it sounds.

[mark902]

so flushing the controls. what is that exactly? i had it apart a bit. just to blow out dust. i wanted to take the faceplate off. it' seems simple enough to do. but the bottom half of the treble control know won't come off and i don't wanna bust anything. and i also don't know how to get the square jobbies off, or the tuning wheel. how much pull is too much pull?

and where do i spray that stuff. just on the posts? or like, in the meat and potatos of the mechanism. i imagine that the problem would lay in the meat and potatos part. but i'm gonna spray stuff in there? i'm gonna look up a guide or two.

[stuwee]

Congrats there on the Akai! It must have come from a heavy smokers house from your description. There's one for sale for 750 Euros!! You got a deal dude. http://hifigoteborg.se/store/description.php?id=789. Looks nicely built.

I'd love to see a youtube vid of you on your thrift shop jaunts, with your mumbling commentary in the background *lmao*

[mark902]

750 euros? nuts.

it looks like i'm gonna spend more for the cleanup of it than i'll spend on the unit itself. i looked up some guides and i guess once i track down some of that deoxit stuff. the dn5s-6n stuff, i guess. it flushes and lubes and protects, i guess. anyway, once i find that stuff i'll be set.

and i figured out how to get the square jobs off. that lil funny screw. now it's just the tuner knob and that treble bit.

[Socal Sam]

Good score! How much do you have in your system now?

[mark902]

well, the system that i use. now consists of, from the bottom to the top:

receiver - akai aa-1050
tape deck - sony tc-k700es
tape deck - technics rs-b85
cd player - teac um... something something- 405? it's not the greatest. but it was free. and it has the remote. pd-495. it is. it's light as a feather. but it's made in japan. it sounds good enough for me till i find a cdp-555esd. see how i want a complete es system? i do. it's an irrational desire but it still burns inside of me. it always has but i always thought it was out of reach. but now i don't think that things are out of reach. especially things as frivolous as radio bits and peices. um, i feel dirty for saying that. but you know.

and the speakers. my new acoustic profile psl-88.6s. all for less than a hundred bucks. well, i can't decide how much i paid for the sony. it came with that pioneer thing and 4 other speakers for 200 bucks. but i don't plan to use any of that stuff. so i guess i paid 200 bucks for the sony. that beautiful beautiful sony. the first piece of my es stereo that i will have.

[imasoundhound]

nice receiver! check to make sure there is no set screw holding the tuning knob on. use two spoons to pry it off. same for the treble knob...

[mark902]

thanks soundhound. i'll try the spoon thing. i don't thing that there is a set screw for the tuning knob. a set screw is the little screw that is also at the bottom of the square switches, right? there doesn't appear to be anything like that on the tuning knob. i just worry about how much pressure it wil take to get these bits back on.

[imasoundhound]

if there is a set screw, it will be on the side of the knob. they are usually allen head screws, sunk in a hole in the knob.

the two spoons will allow you to apply pressure evenly to both sides of the knob. don't get crazy with the force, but they should pry off.

[Socal Sam]

thanks soundhound. i'll try the spoon thing. i don't thing that there is a set screw for the tuning knob. a set screw is the little screw that is also at the bottom of the square switches, right? there doesn't appear to be anything like that on the tuning knob. i just worry about how much pressure it wil take to get these bits back on.

DO NOT USE SPOONS TO REMOVE ANY KNOB! This will damage your faceplate. The force you apply can also damage the shaft assembly.

First, check for set screw. If no set screw, use a hair dryer to gently heat the knob. This will cause the knob to expand slightly and that will break the mechanical grip it has on the shaft.

[mark902]

thank you both for your helpful hints and handy tips. i don't see a set screw for the tuning knob. i think it's just a bitch... um. how is the language um, barrior around here anyways? i'm just being honest. if the knob weren't acting that way i wouldn't have to refer to it that way. i'll try the hairdryer thing.

but. i did find some deoxit. d5. i used it on the source selector mechanism cus whenever i'd put it on aux i'd have to frigg with the placement of the switch to get both channels. it worked, i tell ya. just like that. i was so afraid. spraying stuff in an electronic device... but i just used a lil but and flipped the switch through it's range a few times and then gave it a lil more and then waited 5 hours and then went to work and then 5 hours after i completed that 8 hour shift i plugged it in and held my breath and closed my eyes and turned it on and it didn't explode. and both channels came through loud and clear through the aux. no friggin.

i bass dial is soooo junked up though. so junked up. as far as the independant left and rightness of it goes. it's smooth and the clicks are perfect as one. but they are so hard to turn as individuals. the treble is a bit better.

i'm just happy the aux is fixed.

[Socal Sam]

thank you both for your helpful hints and handy tips. i don't see a set screw for the tuning knob. i think it's just a bitch... um. how is the language um, barrior around here anyways? i'm just being honest. if the knob weren't acting that way i wouldn't have to refer to it that way. i'll try the hairdryer thing.

but. i did find some deoxit. d5. i used it on the source selector mechanism cus whenever i'd put it on aux i'd have to frigg with the placement of the switch to get both channels. it worked, i tell ya. just like that. i was so afraid. spraying stuff in an electronic device... but i just used a lil but and flipped the switch through it's range a few times and then gave it a lil more and then waited 5 hours and then went to work and then 5 hours after i completed that 8 hour shift i plugged it in and held my breath and closed my eyes and turned it on and it didn't explode. and both channels came through loud and clear through the aux. no friggin.

i bass dial is soooo junked up though. so junked up. as far as the independant left and rightness of it goes. it's smooth and the clicks are perfect as one. but they are so hard to turn as individuals. the treble is a bit better.

i'm just happy the aux is fixed.

Contact cleaner dries very fast and your gear can be turned on within minutes of application. Get some contact cleaner with lubricating oil for the stiff controls.