Nothing says it better than the photo! It’s alive and beautiful! Totally rebuilt from the chassis up. The signal path has been upgraded with Made-in-USA Vishay-Dale low-noise pro resistors and quality metal-foil capacitors. We were able to rescue two of the original wax-paper caps for the RCA input decoupling, which is a nice touch. The original amplifier was VERY UGLY and was kept hidden in the console. We added really nice cherry side bars, powder-coated aluminum front and rear panels, Amphenol twist-connects for the power and audio outs, and a REALLY AWESOME green tuning-eye tube that dances to the music! We went with non-communist parts throughout: German power supply caps, Slovakian precision-matched tubes (EL84 & 12AX7), original German chassis, inductors, and transformers, USA-made signal path resistors and caps — Even the little rubber feet on the bottom of the amp are Made-in-USA. It sounds just wonderful. The dancing green-phosphor screen is icing on this delectable treat. This amp will power rebuilt USA-made AR5’s in its home, the clean-lined Telefunken Bayreuth 5552MX console.
We also DRAMATICALLY upgraded the crossover board used in the original AR-5 speaker system. We junked all the old, dead electrolytic caps (I’ll never use electrolytics in a crossover!!), junked the variable rheostats on the midrange and tweeter (they corrode easily and never seem to work right!), and rebuilt it from the ground up using hefty metal-foil caps that ought to last a century. A photo of the finished bi-amp-capable crossover is shown below, and a new sealed box with AR-5 drivers built right into the old console.
