Citation I Refurb - Tools and Materials

No, please...  Get to the meat of the refurb project already! I'm getting there.  First, though, I thought I would write a bit on my tools and workspace.  Plus a bit about what I use for Citation documentation.

Workspace and tools:  Here's a photo of my workspace, a corner desk unit in a spare bedroom of ours.  It doesn't always look this neat, but I generally always start a new project by cleaning up the workspace.

I've laid out most of the common tools that I use.  You can make use of a lot more than what you see here, but this is most of what you need to refurbish the Citation I and II, including:

• Needle nose pliers
• Wire stripper
• Solder sucker pump
• Solder sucking wire braid
• Various shapes of picks/probes
• Weller variable temperature soldering iron
• Solder
• Soldering heat sink clips
• Screwdrivers of various types and sizes (there's some jewelers screwdrivers hiding in the background
• Wrenches of various sizes
• DeoxIT
• Multimeter (I use a digital Craftsman)

Did I leave anything important out?  Well, yes I did.  You will need a drill of some type to install the Jim McShane kits.  A few holes for capacitor clamps are required in the power supply kits.  Also, if you are replacing the RCA phono plugs you will need something like a Dremel tool to enlarge the holes in the stock RCA mounting boards (you could also use a small file).

And of course, you can't really get through an electronics project without some reference documentation.  I have been fortunate enough to receive all the original Citation I and II documentation through my purchase of  my various amps and preamps.  In addition, I received a complete second set of documentation when I inherited by Dad's equipment.  In this picture I have laid out the documentation that I will use on this project.

What's in this picture?  Well, the Citation II harness jig certainly doesn't belong here, but I thought I would include it here anyway.  Note that it is wired up with new Teflon coated wire and ready to be used in a Citation II project I have on hold right now.  The original Citation I diagrams were taken down to Kinko's and original size 17"x24" copies were made.  I have done the same thing with all of the Citation II diagrams.  The original "Assembly Manual" is here.  I did not include the "Operations Manual" in this photo.

One of my other Citation documentation projects was to recreate the manuals in electronic format.  Sure, others have scanned in the manual pages and have created graphical copies.  I wanted a "real" manual, one that is composed of the actual text.

So I have used a combination of Microsoft Word and a program called TextBridge Pro (no longer available) for this work.  A page is scanned in using TextBridge Pro.  TextBridge allows you to define regions on the scan such as text, graphics, and table regions.  TextBridge then uses OCR to convert the scan to text for things like paragraphs and tables, but leaves graphics as images.  The converted file is then output to Word.

I have used this process to recreate the Citation II manual.  You can get your own copy of this manual from the "Files" section of the Citation Sound Yahoo Group, where it has been uploaded as a PDF file.  You will need to join the group in order to access the files.  In recreating the manual it turns out that the "Garamond" font is almost a perfect match for the basic manual text.  For the section titles the font "Futura Hv" (heavy) looks pretty close as well.

As part of the Citation I project I am going through the same process to recreate the Citation I Assembly Manual.  A copy of this manual will be uploaded to Citation Sound as soon as it is completed.  I am through 16 out of 40 pages so far.  At some point I will probably get around to the Operations Manual as well.

OK, that's it for the background stuff.  I actually have begun the work of pulling off the old components.  In my next post I will relate some of that experience, as well as begin to describe some of the replacement parts that have arrived in the mail.

Citation I Refurb - Getting Started

So let's get into the Citation I refurb project.  First, you need a unit to refurb. I happen to have a choice of 5 units to start with. Four were bought off eBay and I inherited my father's original Citation (more on that in some future posting).  I am going to be replacing every electronic component in this system except the transformer and the choke.  I will also be installing all new wiring and new RCA jacks.  Therefore, I am mostly concerned with the cosmetic condition of the faceplate and knobs.

My father's unit has a near mint faceplate although the knobs show a bit of oxidation.  But since this is my first preamp refurb I'm not going to start with that unit.  So I picked one of the eBay units, which actually has a very nice faceplate and very nice knobs as well.  I may have to use these knobs on my dad's unit when I get to that project.  Below is a photo of the front of the preamp that I will be refurbishing.

So let's open it up and see how it looks on the inside.  Above is a top view photo of the unit with the cover removed.  Hmmm... someone's already been at this unit.  It looks like the unit has already undergone a line and phono section coupling cap replacement.  The large blue objects are WIMA 0.1 uF caps. The white caps are Sprague and the yellow caps are a mix of WonderCaps and something labeled CDE. A look at the underside of the unit shows that terminal board A has the exact same brands in the same locations.  So whoever did the work was using some amount of care.

None of the ceramic disc caps have been replaced.  The power supply section also looks untouched from original.

It looks like all the resistors are original but there is some new Mogami single conductor shielded wire being run to the RCA jacks.  In addition, it appears that the Stereo Reverse and Inverse Phase switches have been taken out of the circuit by simply cutting the shielded wires that lead to the switch.

The transformer exterior looks fine cosmetically.  Probably no need to repaint it, especially since it will sit inside the wood case when the project is completed.  Three out of the four convenience AC outlets are chipped, with two actually exposing just a slight bit of metal.  So for safety's sake we'll probably be replacing these although I have no plans to actually use them.

Welcome to the "Citation Tube Audio" blog

What is this site?  Well, I was finally getting around to taking the plunge and starting on a refurbish project for one of the H/K Citation I preamplifiers that I have.  I go a little further than many when it comes to these projects.  My idea of an old vintage amplifier restore is to completely take it apart and to replace all of the components except those for which replacement parts are not available.

Why?  Because I like to.  It's a hobby similar to building scale models or model railroading.  I certainly love the sound of the equipment in the end, but for me a significant portion of the enjoyment is the building.  So as I started on my Citation I preamp project I thought that I should really document my effort.  The question was "where?"  A simple Word document?  I decided in the end to do a blog.  So here we are.

What I plan to post here is anything that has to do with my Citation tube gear, directly or indirectly.  At the moment there will be a lot of material on my pre-amplifier refurbish effort.  I hope that what I put here can be used by others on their own projects.  But from time to time I'll post other items of interest, or so I hope they will be to some.

I hope that readers feel free to leave their comments.  Questions will be raised and I welcome answers.  And no doubt I'll post information from time to time that is just plain wrong.  So please correct me.