Re-capping a Sonographe SA400

[Montever]

Hello, all,

I just joined the forum; great to be here! I'm looking to put my old (and great!) SA400 back into service. Given its age, I'd like to get the caps, etc. replaced/upgraded. CJ replaced the caps in my PV-5 with Teflon ones, with great results, but I don't think they'll do that with the Sonographe.

Any suggestions about who could do that? (I'm not a DIY'er--would likely electrocute myself/burn down the house.) I live near Philadelphia, PA.

Many thanks!!

[admin]

Welcome to CJO, great to have you with us!

You can of course have CJ recap the unit, but that is going to cost you an arm and a leg. Considering the used market price of an SA400, I really wouldn't pursue that method. If you want to do the cap replacement yourself, I think that is probably the most economic way to go about bringing back the life in the unit.

As for cap recommendations, there are tons, and if you look through the posts here on CJO, people have made different recommendations. One cap recommendation that I have used in my upgrades are Solen. They have a wide variety of caps at different price points.

Again, welcome to the site and let us know the outcome.

[Montever]

Many thanks for the quick reply. I was considering putting the Sonographe and PV5 back into the system as part of a downsizing effort, so that was my reason for bringing it back up to specs. But I'm not surprised that re-capping might cost a fortune.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

[admin]

CJ doesn't sell components directly, so you would have to send the unit in, they would recap it and of course bench time costs a bit of money as well as the top tier components that they use. If you have a sentimental attachment to the unit, then it may be worth it, but the sonographe line was their budget line so they were always priced lower. That doesn't mean they weren't great units,... they were, just that the monetary cost equation is skewed less toward expensive repairs.

A well working SA400 paired with a P5 would make a mighty fine system and if you can get them to sounding at their prime, something that modern equipment would have a hard time competing with (in that price range).

[Montever]

We'll see how this goes. Thanks again!

[AnotherJohnson]

Any recapping of an SA400 is a labor of love. From a resale point of view, not even a diy job makes economic sense.

Could be fun. Could be educational. Would be nostalgia inducing. Won’t be anywhere close to SOTA.

[mstrshikadance]

I just picked up a slightly beat up SA400. I plan on re-capping it myself (first time project), powder coating the case, and hopefully figuring out what to do with the faceplate.

I got it for a steal and it supposedly sounds perfect despite the body damage. He says it was never dropped, just other components dragged over it.

Figure it might be a good start project.

I'll let you know how it goes!

[admin]

I just picked up a slightly beat up SA400. I plan on re-capping it myself (first time project), powder coating the case, and hopefully figuring out what to do with the faceplate.

I got it for a steal and it supposedly sounds perfect despite the body damage. He says it was never dropped, just other components dragged over it.

Figure it might be a good start project.

I'll let you know how it goes!

First, welcome to CJO. Great to have you with us.

I am always a little cautious with units that are significantly damaged. I wonder what happened, and how much the owner cared about the equipment if they let it get that damaged. But sounds like you got it at a good price and it will be a fun project. Keep us informed and maybe show us some pictures.

Again, welcome to CJO.