I found this item listed in a eBag auction, listed as not-working missing parts etc.
Chancing that the unit was repairable (how hard could it be? as they say on Top Gear) I bought said non-working unit.
So I naturally took it completely apart for a looky-see.. man, that's a lot of electrolytic caps, but no components burned or missing from the boards, at least.
The auction mentioned that the 12AX7A tube was missing, although I wasn't too worried since I had a new 12AU7 (Japan) that I've been keeping in a parts drawer for decades (acquired the tube in 1973). Good enuff for checking out the operation, and possibly a better choice for cleaner sound.
The steel case of these products is very impressive, although a bit "school of design" more stylish than practical, IMO.
Applied 9VAC to the power connector and saw some LED and panel meter activity, but the tube filaments weren't lit and I noticed that the multistrand ribbons connecting the front controls board to the main board were abnormally flexible.. not even stiff enough to support the weight of the small controls board without bending.
Apparently some previous user had opened the case for some reason, and may have flexed the ribbons enough to break some of the wires. It turned out that the stranded conductors are tinned (soldered) along their entire length before embedding them in the plastic jacket material, so they're especially susceptable to breakage from flexing/movement at the exposed ends.
I applied a small bead of hot glue along the ends of the ribbons where they're soldered to the main board to reinforce the ribbon jacket, securing them to the board.
I trimmed and stripped the opposite ends, desoldered all the broken original ends from the board, and resoldered the ribbons to the small front control board.. followed by a small bead of hot glue to reinforce the connection.
I wasn't familiar with this product, but was happy to see that there weren't any microprocessor or custom ICs used in it's design. A couple of opamps and a shitload of caps makes up much of the circuitry.
One of the main upgrade/modification reccomendations found in online forums, is to replace the original China tube with something more deserving of a perceived level of reliability (or much better sound, according to some opinions). I'm no recording specialist, so I don't know.
Just opening/separating the case halves causes flexing of the ribbons for the front control board, unless the knobs and nuts are removed from the Input and Output pots, so breakage of the ribbons is likely to happen if the case is opened and handled carelessly, or opened repeatedly over time.
Wowwy-zowwy.. to think I almost bought a new base model with less features, for more money (only slightly).
-- Cheers, WB .............