More stuff on the bay

Listens2tubes · « **Reply #40 on:** 4 Sep 2012, 01:47 am »

I like the way both are priced higher in the text than the Buy-it-now.

rlee8394 · « **Reply #41 on:** 4 Sep 2012, 02:44 am »

Whoops. My bad. I just used ebay's "re-list" feature. I'll see if I can fix it. Rest assured, the correct prices are what is listed, not in the text.

Ron

Chromisdesigns · « **Reply #42 on:** 4 Sep 2012, 02:50 am »

Quote from: rlee8394 on 4 Sep 2012, 02:44 am

Whoops. My bad. I just used ebay's "re-list" feature. I'll see if I can fix it. Rest assured, the correct prices are what is listed, not in the text.

Ron

You should know that you can't add 3% for Paypal on eBay auctions -- if somebody buys one of these and calls you on it, eBay and/or Paypal can and will give you trouble. You could lose your eBay account, and get a chargeback to your Paypal account, plus a funds hold.

You should fix those auctions now, before anyone bids on them. The way they are, they violate the eBay seller terms of service.

From the eBay seller policy site:

"Policy overview

Sellers are not allowed to charge eBay buyers an additional fee for using ordinary forms of payment, including credit cards, electronic transfers, PayPal, ProPay, and Paymate. These costs should be included in the price of the item and should not be charged separately.

See our accepted payment policy. Wire transfers, checks, and money orders can only be used as payment methods for specific listing categories.

Make sure your listing follows these guidelines. If it doesn't, it may be removed, and you may be subject to a range of other actions, including limits of your buying and selling privileges and suspension of your account."

mark funk · « **Reply #43 on:** 4 Sep 2012, 11:29 am »

I though I know that name from some where

rlee8394 · « **Reply #44 on:** 5 Sep 2012, 03:24 am »

Auctions fixed. Thanks for the heads-up.

Ron

mark funk · « **Reply #45 on:** 16 Jan 2013, 10:55 am »

Look at this,

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Audio-by-Van-Alstine-Fet-Valve-Phono-Card-/111000992590?ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

avahifi · « **Reply #46 on:** 16 Jan 2013, 11:52 am »

This is really one strange item to try and sell separately.

The board is useless without the appropriate power supplies and a chassis.

The board did absolutely no harm in the unit it was removed from.

No rational reason for removing it or buying it.

Strange!

Frank Van Alstine

rlee8394 · « **Reply #47 on:** 16 Jan 2013, 04:28 pm »

Well, I guess if no one buys it, I can install it in an empty AVA chassis that I have with a new PS and trannie and sell as a standalone Phono Preamp. Just thought that there may be someone who bought an AVA tube type preamp (FV, T7, T8, etc.) without phono and wanted to add one. Not entirely a useless proposition IMHO.

Ron

mark funk · « **Reply #48 on:** 4 Feb 2013, 10:25 pm »

Check it out above the serial number never saw one like this before, the sticker not the amp

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Audio-by-Van-Alstine-Omega-III-260-Amplifier-/271150343614?ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

jmc207 · « **Reply #49 on:** 4 Feb 2013, 10:53 pm »

I believe Aado was Frank's electrical engineer/designer a number of years back. I remember talking to him on the phone a time or two.

avahifi · « **Reply #50 on:** 4 Feb 2013, 11:27 pm »

This is a year 2000 production AVA solid state amplifier. It can be upgraded to a Synergy 300 for $995.

The upgrade includes new Exicon output mos-fets, new ground plain output boards, new audio circuit boards with built in multiple active regulator circuits, and nearly complete rewiring. The heat sink assemblies go to bare metal to start the upgrade progress.

The stock old amp had one problem issue. In some units with many long hours of use, they tended to cook the solder connections to the top pair of 2N3440 and 2N5416 transistors on the audio boards. These transistors were used for regulators for the plus and minus 15V devices on the boards and ran quite hot. After many years of service they tend to develop a crackling noise, especially at cold start up. The noise vanishes and the amp runs just fine after a bit of warm up as the very small diameter transistor leads warm up and make good connections to the circuit board again. A useful fix is to simply resolder the connections to these transistors. A long term connection is to replace the transistors with new ones, folding the new long leads over onto the foil traces for as long as practical, and resolder, providing a much larger thermal path for the transistor leads to dump heat into the board connections.

The transistors in our new circuits run much cooler, eliminating any future potential for this issue to occur.

Frank Van Alstine

mark funk · « **Reply #51 on:** 7 Mar 2013, 10:27 pm »

Sweet, this is what I use in my HiFi,

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Van-Alstine-Tube-Preamp-/111026218224?ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

ArthurDent · « **Reply #52 on:** 8 Mar 2013, 12:57 am »

I'd say this is a steal. While it's probably bad form, if there was a way to contact the seller I'd shorcircuit the 'bay', drive the 40 minutes down the road & pick it up. Appears he also has a nice Hafler DH-220 for sale, which Frank could upgrade most reasonably.

Nice Mark, you & martyo be careful in all that snow heading to Chi-town for the show.

tipatina · « **Reply #53 on:** 13 Mar 2013, 02:21 am »

This is interesting. Anyone with any experience with this?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dynaco-AF-6-AM-FM-Stereo-Tuner-Modified-by-Van-Alstine-/271161465152?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f227b9940

Tone Depth · « **Reply #54 on:** 13 Mar 2013, 02:39 am »

I have had one of these as my tuner since purchasing it new from Dynaco in 1973, and then Frank modifying it into a Jensen's Super Tuner Two in 1983 (edit: date corrected based on receipt, memory apparently has an intermittent fault). The modification disconnected the AM tuning (FM only since), and I think included new audio boards. It has been trouble-free since the modification, looks like some 30 years.

Quote from: tipatina on 13 Mar 2013, 02:21 am

This is interesting. Anyone with any experience with this?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dynaco-AF-6-AM-FM-Stereo-Tuner-Modified-by-Van-Alstine-/271161465152?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f227b9940

plaf26 · « **Reply #55 on:** 13 Mar 2013, 03:59 am »

Hmm

. Near as I can tell from old catalogues, the Super Tuner Two didn't come out until '81, or for sure '82.

My old FM-5 was the first piece I had Frank modify in about '80 and it had the same sticker on the front as the AF-6 shown above.

Dynaco had planned a Dolby card for their tuners when some stations went to that method of transmitting with much fanfare, calibration tones, etc. When a local shop said the card was unavailable, they directed me to Frank who said he could make my FM-5 sound better than any old Dolby mod could anyway.

I've been going back to Frank for other stuff ever since. But I never upgraded the tuner to the later versions. I always had trouble getting a clean signal on the classical station in our area on it or any other tuner I've tried

, until I found a used FM-3 (all tube) which I modified myself with parts I found on line. Nearly electrocuted myself during the alignment process

, but it had great sound.

But I let both of them go out on consignment when I got a Sony XDR-F1HD. No more noisy classical station and as a bonus, HD channels.

Frank says the main problem now with the FM-5's and AF-6's is that the FM front end is vulnerable. It's nearing the end of it's serviceable life and there are no parts to fix it, unless you've cannibalized a working spare from another unit, but how long can that last?

dB Cooper · « **Reply #56 on:** 14 Mar 2013, 12:49 am »

I had two versions of Frank's FM5 based tuners, both done in the same chassis a few years apart. The first was a "mod" which retained all the original Dyna boards (and had that same sticker on it), the second was the Super Tuner Two which had AVA-designed boards. plaf26's estimate of the ST2 sounds about right or maybe a few years early.

The "mod" did improve the sound but the ST2 circuits took it to another level. Friends who heard it- not all of them audiophiles- often commented that my tuner sounded better than their primary sources. (I heard their systems and their assessment was correct; you didn't need a "golden ear" to hear it.)

AFAIK the Dolby card either never was released or was incredibly rare. I never heard of anyone who claimed to have (or even to have seen) one. Nor do I remember seeing any ad or review. Dolby FM seems to have been more or less DOA and maybe this is why. In my FM5 manual (which I still have) it says that the FM5 front end was designed to be adaptable to a possible four-channel multiplex system as well.

I foolishly sold my ST2 in favor of one of those Magnum Dynalab jobs with three big meters on it hoping for better reception with the help of the multipath meter (which didn't happen). The ST2 mopped the floor with it SQ-wise.

Despite being in what looks like nice condition cosmetically, $200 sounds high for a unit with the original Dyna boards. The FM5 supposedly had a higher quality front end than the AM/FM tuner.

WGH · « **Reply #57 on:** 5 May 2013, 08:26 pm »

Shameless self promotion:

Insight+ EC Pre-Amp

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130902819966

Wayne

avahifi · « **Reply #58 on:** 5 May 2013, 09:46 pm »

This appears to be a very nice sample of our full function solid state preamplifier built in October, 2008. If it was user upgraded to an Insight+ then all the integrated circuits will be Burr Brown OPA627 type. Ask the seller to confirm this.

This a really foolproof and very durable design with gold contact switches and jacks.

Note that this unit does not have our optional RIAA phono circuits or remote control.

Frank

WGH · « **Reply #59 on:** 5 May 2013, 10:22 pm »

Yes, the Insight+ pre-amp above has the Burr Brown OPA627 linear IC. I bought the pre-tested op-amps from AVA on 3-2-09, invoice #14897. This unit is really pristine and used in a smoke free, pet free, kid free house.

I am only selling because I took advantage of AVA's summer sale and picked up a FET Valve pre-amp.

Wayne