Hi there, i was wondering if anyone can guide me in the right direction. I have a old Yamaha AX 400 amp that has a blown power supply. I need to know what sort of power supply is available out there or the right type that i can use to get this thing up and rocking again. Repairers don't want to touch it as they claim the genuine parts would be to costly.
If you like the amp, it's worth saving, if not then don't. Talk to a good tech like the one I recommended. You may be able to rescue the amp for a fraction of the cost of a comparable new amp. Relative to the quality of the piece, listen to your ears, they're the only ones that count.
Unless your wallet counts too. Face facts, this was never a great amplifier. At the time this amp was produced Yamaha was trying to find ways to build their amplifiers more cheaply than ever before and the power supplies were not well designed or well constructed. There are plenty of amplifiers today that sound much better than this Yamaha ever did and, if you put your money into one of those products, you'll have a new product with a warranty.
Much of the reason techs don't want to touch this unit is due to the lack of support from Yamaha for their older products. No tech wants to get saddled with a dog of an amplifier that has more problems occur once the power supply issues have been sorted out. This was a common occurence with this generation of Yamah amplifiers. This is like anything that has some age on it. If you fix this problem, there is a good chance another problem will occur related to parts simply wearing out over time.
The techs may have purged their files of the paperwork required to troubleshoot this amp which would require them to go piece by piece through the amplifier. That costs you money for a problem that might not get resolved or might lead to other problems once a new power supply is in place. If they need a Yamaha specific part, they will have done the troubleshooting only to find they cannot fix the amplifier without a part they cannot obtain. They can't charge for something they can't fix so they loose and you're still without an amplifier. If they do fix the amp, they might see it back on their shelf in a month's time with other problems.
Sometimes old is just old and not worth saving.
If you had a classic amplifier that was worth some money, I would say consider saving the amplifier. But you don't. Take the money you would spend servicing this amplifier and buy something else - preferrably either new or a classic that's worth owning. This amp is neither.
Art - I don't know why you are being so insistent here. From what GZ says he has asked around and been told the amp isn't worth the cost of repairs. From my experience I can agree with that for the reasons I've stated. Unless the amplifier is something rather special most techs don't want to get tied down to a possible dog. I worked in a shop that sold this amplifier and I have an idea what happens to them and how they sound. This amp is no big deal and that's being generous.
One of my best friends who I worked with in two shops sold and repaired Yamaha from its entry into the US market until a few years ago when he finally retired. He was the SouthWest US factory service department and saw all the dogs that no one else wanted to spend time with. Don was not a person who was easily given to brushing off difficult problems. I've heard him give the same advice to many Yamaha customers over the last decade or so. When Yamaha let go of one of their two remaining techs at Yamaha headquarters (and the other is ready to retire also), he saw the writing on the wall. Yamaha has not supported their older products for the past twenty years. Techs don't want to work on Yamaha because of the problems they run into with parts and information and poor design in many products. Yamaha has turned into Sony, they'll replace a unit under warranty but would rather you buy something new instead of repairing something old. Yamaha is not in the repair business. And this amp is not the unit to use an example that anything can be fixed for a price. This amp is full of IC's; and, for that matter, IC's that don't sound very good. Why sink money into this amp just to prove you can?
GZ can call your friend and I suspect your friend will have a difficult time diagnosing the problem over the phone other than power supply problems are common with these amplifiers and there are typically other problems that result from the PS issues. If that's the case, he'll have a hard time guesstimating repair costs. Or whether anything else might go wrong with this amp in the near future. And there is a better than average chance something else will go wrong with this amp if the power supply has failed.
So, since you don't know this amp, why are you being so obstinate that you have to keep repeating this amp might be salvaged? This is a case of cut your losses and move on. Why do you keep repeating otherwise?
And I have a number of friends who are experienced techs as well Jan...so.
I'm simply stating that if he, not you, likes the amp enough he can ask folks who are Yamaha experts questions relative to his Yamaha gear. That simple. If he doesn't care then he can take it and put it in the dumpster.
I simply was giving George another resource for information. Sorry if that bothers you Jan, but if I feel that another resource is worth pursuing I will post it.
You are right that the Yamaha expert that I recommended may not even reply or may not have an answer but at least George will have asked and he can put that to rest.
Merrylander may respond as you've suggested and again that resource will have been exhausted and George doesn't have to wonder what if. There is a lot very good gear out there without support that may be worth ressurecting to the folks who own it and indeed can be ressurected. There is also a time to cut ones losses, those vary per the person and situation.
I'd look into both repair and a new amp. Weight out the costs of repair it say if its under 200$ repair it. if its gonna be more go no ebay and find your self a older or newer amp