Thumbnail for Audio by Van Alstine - "Ultimate Stereo 70" - Assembly Manual - Cover Shot - Here is a picture of the Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" rebuild kit. If you are assembling one, it is ESSENTIAL that you read it COMPLETELY before you begin construction. The quality of the parts and circuit boards is simply OUTSTANDING!
Thumbnail for Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Rebuild Kit - Here is a look at all the parts included in the Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" rebuild kit. Everything you need is included; even the solder!
Thumbnail for Resistors - In Order - On edge of box - Here is an old trick from the Heathkit and Dynaco kit building days. Line up your parts in order and slip the leads into the edge of a cardboard box like this. You won't be chasing them around on the table and you'll minimize errors when "stuffing" your Printed Circuit board. But be VERY careful with the tiny little metal film resistors. They can EASILY slide down into the side of the box. Just be careful, and you *should* be fine.
Thumbnail for Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Rebuild Kit - Resistors - Laid out in order - Start by laying out ALL the resistors in order. Be especially careful that you choose the correct 270K and 1K resistors. The kit comes with both 1/2 and 2 Watt versions of these resistors. Don't get them confused!
Thumbnail for Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Rebuild Kit - Resistors - First four - Installed - Here is a picture of the first four resistors installed in the "Ultimate Stereo 70" Printed Circuit board. Note that you can easily read the values of the resistors and that they are oriented in the same direction so you don't have to turn the board around and around to read them. Believe me, it helps!
Thumbnail for Typical solder joint - Here is a typical "good" solder joint. It is clean and shiny. (Actually, the photo isn't the best. It really looks MUCH shinier!) It doesn't take a huge blob of solder. Just enough to flow around the lead completely.
Thumbnail for Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Rebuild Kit - Resistors - Installed - The first phase of assembly is complete. All resistors have been installed and soldered. (Four others, not shown). Notice that every resistor value can be read from the top of the board.
Thumbnail for Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Rebuild Kit - Diodes - In order - Here are the diodes for the Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" build kit. We're using the familiar "box method" to keep them in order for easier installation.
Thumbnail for Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Rebuild Kit - Diodes - Installed - Here is a picture of our Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Driver Board that shows all ten diodes installed in the proper orientation.
Thumbnail for Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Tube Socket - Installed - Bottom View - Installed tube socket. Bottom View. Notice there are no "voids" around each socket pin. Solder COMPLETELY joins each pin to the Printed Circuit board Pads.
Thumbnail for Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Tube Socket - Installed - Front View - Here is a picture of one of the installed tube sockets on our "Ultimate Stereo 70" Printed Circuit board. Although the picture is a *little* out of focus, you can see that it is parallel to the board's surface.
Thumbnail for Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Rebuild Kit - Resistors - On box - Here are the small capacitors for our "Ultimate Stereo 70" kit. The larger coupling capacitors and the large Power Supply electrolytic capacitors are not on the box. The .01 uF disc capacitor is not needed until we rewire the original Stereo 70 chassis, so I left it off the edge of the box.
Thumbnail for Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Rebuild Kit - Capacitors - Laid out in order - Here are all the new capacitors supplied with the Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" rebuild kit, laid out in "Parts List Order." The top row of capacitors are film and mica capacitors. The blue "box-style" capacitors are the new coupling capacitors, the black cylinders are the electrolytic capacitors and the yellow disc capacitor will be used when we rebuild the Stereo 70 chassis.
Thumbnail for Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Rebuild - Completed Driver Board - Here is the Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Driver Boad with all components installed. Just a few details remain before we can call *this* part of the rebuild done!
Thumbnail for Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Rebuild - Unclipped component leads. - All the parts are mounted and soldered. Now, all we have to do is clip the component leads and then check for solder bridges. Then, we'll clean the remaining "flux" off the Printed Circuit board.
Thumbnail for Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Upgraded Output Connectors - Top View - Here is a picture of the assembled Upgraded Output Connectors for the "Ultimate Stereo 70" rebuild. Note that the holes in the posts are aligned vertically to minimize the chance of a short between wires and to allow the use of "pin plugs."
Thumbnail for Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Upgraded Output Connectors - Front View - Here is a picture of the completed Upgrade Connector for one channel of the "Ultimate Stereo 70." The other one is identical.
Thumbnail for Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Upgraded Output Connectors - Rear View - Here is a picture of the Upgraded Connectors for the "Ultimate Stereo 70." This is a picture of the back of the installed 5-way binding posts.
Thumbnail for Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Upgraded Output Connector Substrate - Cleaned - Here is a picture after cleaning the substrate. Now things are nice and shiny!
Thumbnail for Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Upgraded Output Connector Substrate - As furnished - Here is a picture of the substrate for the Upgrade Output Connectors for the "Ultimate Stereo 70." Since the material is made from copper-clad Printed Circuit board material, the copper has oxidized. This is normal, but we're going to clean it until it shines!
Thumbnail for Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Upgraded Input Connectors - Rear View - Here is a picture of the Upgraded Input connectors for the "Ultimate Stereo 70." Black is for the Left channel, Red is for the Right Channel.
Thumbnail for Audio by Van Alstine "Ultimate Stereo 70" Upgraded Input Connectors - Front View - Here is a picture of the completed Upgrade Input Connectors for the "Ultimate Stereo 70." Note that this board will cover the hole where we will eliminate the obsolete Stereo/Mono Switch.
Thumbnail for AVA "Ultimate Stereo 70" Donor Chassis Filter Capacitor - Notice the Voltage rating? This is simply asking for an EXPLOSIVE failure. We need more VOLTS!
Thumbnail for AVA "Ultimate Stereo 70" Donor Chassis Driver Board - Top View - Here is the Driver Board from the Donor Chassis we are going to use for our "Ultimate Stereo 70" build. As you can see, this one has already been treated to an "upgrade" of dubious quality. It's HIGHLY doubtful that it could survive a second upgrade attempt.
Thumbnail for AVA "Ultimate Stereo 70" Donor Chassis Driver Board - Main View - Here is a look at the "unusual" construction technique a previous "upgrader" used to rebuild the Donor Chassis original Stereo 70 Driver Board. High-quality parts (in most cases). Low quality construction technique! Sorry, despite what you may have read somewhere, this style of component mounting is simply asking for trouble!
Thumbnail for AVA "Ultimate Stereo 70" Donor Chassis Driver Board - Bottom View - Here is a look at the previously "upgraded" Driver Board installation on our donor chassis. Notice the shielded wires? It would have been nice if the shields were connected at ONE of the ends. Unfortunately, these shields are simply floating.
Thumbnail for AVA "Ultimate Stereo 70" Donor Chassis Bias Supply - Neatness counts! So, don't count on THIS arrangement. This is a bias supply that BEGS for better construction. Good thing we won't need it with our AVA "Ultimate Stereo 70" build!
Thumbnail for AVA "Ultimate Stereo 70" Donor Chassis - Top View - Here is the "view from the top" of the donor chassis for our "Ultimate Stereo 70" build. As the car guys say: "Needs Work!" (You ain't kidding!)
Thumbnail for AVA "Ultimate Stereo 70" Donor Chassis - Main View - Here is our donor chassis for the "Ultimate Stereo 70" build. This unit had been treated to a previous "upgrade" by a well-intentioned owner. Sadly, while the parts quality is generally high, the construction quality is generally abysmal! Good thing we're replacing all the "questionable" work!
Thumbnail for AVA "Ultimate Stereo 70" Donor Chassis Input Connections - Cardas shielded wiring. Nice thought, but to be shielded, the shields need to connect to SOMETHING, SOMEWHERE. These don't! And what's with the chain of UN-shielded resistors? Nice try, but a complete miss!
Thumbnail for AVA "Ultimate Stereo 70" Donor Chassis - Front View - Here is the front of our donor chassis. Clearly, there are some decisions to make regarding how we'll deal with the poor condition of the plating and the lettering.