Harman/Kardon Citation 16 Repaired or Ripped Off?

[zombiemusic]

Ok, I need some imput. My fathers Harman/Kardon Citation 16 was no longer working. I called Harman/Kardon and they sent me to this repair shop in Chicago. They said that one of the transformers was shot and he basically riged the amp to run off of one transformer. Now we found out that the Phase Linear 4000 preamp has some major problems, and I am going to send it to Circle Stereo in texas to get it refurbished. I found that place online.

My question is did I get ripped off with the amp? He did not refurbish it, and I don't like the idea of running off of one transformer. But at the time I thought that was the only option, because that is who Harmon/Kardon sent me too. And if I did, does any one know where I should send the amp to get completly refurbished?

Thanks

[megasat16]

Well, It's hard to say that you got ripped off from the 1st place. If the transfer is blown, it needs to be replaced. Usually, transformer doesn't blown unless something was short circuited. That includes many other electronics parts all the way to the output stages (transistors, ICs, etc.)

Now, you need to look at the bill for what you've been charged for. Repair is not the same as refurbished. But Repair should be done according to the factory specification and it shouldn't be any problem whatsoever for your Phase Linear 4000 preamp after a full and proper repair.

Unless, the technician screw up the job, everything should remain the same.

Now, here is a little confusing part - the problem with the preamp may have happened at the same time as your Citation malfunction; and the chances are you didn't know that because you haven't used the preamp during the citation failure and still thinking it's still OK. So, it might not be the repair technician fault if it's the case.

If you've tested the preamp with some other amps and known it's condition is good and the problem only happened after you used with the repaired citation amp, it may probably be a problem with the repair.

I would call the shop who repaired your amp and tell the situation about it. They'll usually check the problem or repair for you if it's under their 30days warranty policy. Most shops have some kind of warranty for the work they done so check with them.

Full Factory Refurbishment is a different thing from shop repair. They usually cost more than the standard shop repair and it's also a better way to get things fixed since they'll very likely replace all the worn out parts and electrolytic capacitors and old resistors in the process. So, refurbishing will probably prolong the life of your amp too if it's done properly.

[heiney9]

I would almost bet the reason he rewired (sounds better than "rigged") is because there are no exact replacement transformers for an amp that old. Probably not the optimal solution but it will certainly work considering the alternative...........junking it.

H9

P.s. Just a guess based on the limited info you gave in your post.

[zombiemusic]

I do agree that rewired does sound better, and for the minute or two the amp and preamp were working the speakers sounded like nothing before. I only have simple monitor 50 right now. I want then to go to home theatre and get rti A9's for my two channel listening pleasure. Becuase well i really only listen to music, i dont really watch that many movies.
The problem with the preamp is that it only sent sound out to one speaker, blew a fuse in the amp, and the tweeter in my right speaker. whenever i adjusted the volume or move the unlimiter funtion on it. You could hear a grinding noise from through the speakers. It then completely shut down, and would not work. So there must be something wrong in the preamp that could have caused the amp to go in the first place. since we have seen the amp work fine at the repair shop.

I am going to send out the pre amp to get refurbished by Circle stereo...any opinions of them?

[zombiemusic]

do any of you have any insite on where i can go to get a replacement transformer?

[megasat16]

It'd hard to get a replacement transformer for the older HK models. Even if you can find one, can you replace the amplifier yourself? Ebay is your best friend to search for non-working units and you need to take your chances and sometimes, you may get lucky.

I've seen the Citation 16 pops up on eBay once in a while so keep looking.

[zombiemusic]

there is definatly no way i am going to replace it myself. but at least if i do find one i can give it to someone who can do. I will just do the leg work. And yeah i am searching everywhere. I would rather pay to fix the old one than to get a new one.