I took a look at the schematics. Looks like a darn good amp. Consider that
most of the value of a tube amp is in the iron (transformers). Capacitors
are not so expensive, nor are the tubes if You think a good one (*) can last
10,000 hours. I think it's really worth the pain to try and make it 100%
functional again.
Pay attention before powering on, maybe a shorted cap is waiting for You to
blow. Check with a voltmeter to find "gross" shorts, then power up GENTLY.
It was in the garbage, after all. A cheap trick is to put a lamp in series
along the line cord to drop the voltage. Start with a high resistance one
(say 25W or less) and then go up to 100W or more (this is applicable only if
You do not have a Variac). A thread on this took place some times ago on
this NG.
Pay attention, these are TUBES, it means 400+ Volts are in there. I tasted
some 430VDC once, not my cup of tea for sure!
As per the Thorens, it will be more difficult to decide if it's worth a
workover. I own a 126MkIII and I'd sell my soul before it, but if the table
support bearing is worn, well, I suppose no Swiss watchmaker will ever be
able enough to fix such a piece of old-time art.

I'll plan a trip to some German landfill one of these days... maybe I'll get
the Telefunken tubed tuner I'm looking for!

Ciao

Fabio

(*) "good" does not mean necessarily "Tiffany's". Plain, current production
Sovteks, JJ or Svetlanas are good enough for any purpose, unless You want to
keep the amp a "collector's item".


"Walther" ha scritto nel messaggio
...
Hello,

I´m entirely new to this NG and have a single question:
does anybody have a picture of Radford SC-2/STA15 or STA25?

I happen to have found some and I´m not sure what it is,
esp. the power amp has no label on it (but a serial number).

Yes, believe it or not: somebody trashed it, along with a
Thorens TD124MkII equipped with a SME 3009 - fortunately I
spotted it in the dumpster before that was emptied.

But half the tubes are smashed or missing...

Since I very much like the sound of my 1961 braun csv-13 :-)
I´d like to get the radford back to life, and there´s a site
with schematics on the net...

Now I have to identify the power amp first...

...any help greatly appreciated!

TIA

Walther

Please feel free to respond personally at in4tec dot de.