Well...before I get into the Telefunken, lets just say that I seemed at one time to have this affinity to getting things from Ira with some sort of defect. I think it got so bad at one point he just flat gave me one (a Sanyo clone Korean "Taihan" with no handle and a myriad of issues. 
) either feeling guilty or feeling sorry for me. I believe it was the latter...
Here is a snippet of a thread from when we were on s2g back in 2008...
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Lemme Tell A Lil' Yarn Bout' ol' Redbenjoe...
August 6, 2008 1:04 PM
First off, when I realized we had a meet in Florida that was live and real I knew I could not comment on what a super guy he was until after the meet.
Now most of you will think I'm lying about him being a good guy, especially ED. But listen....
I made my first purchase from ol' Redbenjoe a few months ago. A great sounding Philips D-8634 MkII. Complete with broken foot and squeaky handle. (I have witnesses as it returned to Florida to make an appearance at the meet.) Cassette makes grindy noises upon start and then goes about it's business quietly. I have no complaints as it is a great unit and after meeting Ira, realized that every time I use it, it'll remind me of him. Old, broken, squeaky, and grindy.
I must give him credit for this as well. For at the meet, he showed me that as long as you didn't lift it you could turn that handle with no noise. And that as long as you didn't press play, no grind. An if you didn't pick it up, no one would see the broken foot. And as long as you didn't wake ol' Redbenjoe while napping during the meet he didn't creak, groan, grind or show the holes in his shoes.
Now at the meet he kept shilling this Telefunken CC9000. Well, knowing I'm somewhat of a three piece addict, he moved in on me like a Porsche salesman to Paris Hilton. Difference is, I'm not dumb and dang sure ain't rich. But he kept telling me about the Briny Old Men Retirement Fund and whined about his doublewide needing new soda straws to repair the plumbing. Being the soft hearted guy I am (No wait a minute, that old creep knew I was still exhausted from the drive! I kindly told him that I would pay him twenty Tuesdays from now for a hamburger (i.e. Telefunken) today. So, sometime in 2009, he'll see the money, and I'll have the defective right channel (which he convinced me was just the "Stereo Wide Effect") repaired.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Fast forward damn near six...yes six years from the inaugural Sunshine Mix in 2008!!!! This boomer was taken apart...and upon getting into it, I discovered a few more issues. No do not, absolutely do not get me wrong. Ira said it had a problem, and I went in full knowing it. The reason I wanted it was:
(1) They aren't easy to come by. Look'em up on the web. Not much but a few crumbs and no manuals at all.
(2) They look good.
(3) It was a Telefunken and I wanted in to the club.
Nonetheless, I started seeking proper parts. And I got them. A couple of pots for balance and volume from donor clones via eBay, caps, etc. But what I never did get was the amp chips. You see, I had all these parts...but it sat so long I continually put them into a basket...and forgot about them. Well now we are here. I decided to go ahead and take it on awhile back as I had really just kept letting it slide as I have no service manuals or other info to trouble shoot by. And I never should have let that make me lazy. Especially since I had to reconstruct the very HiFi Studio 1 that sits on the shelf now after a rough ride from Germany. And I got it, and many others AFTER the CC9000. Heck...I got my Telefunken HP800 two years AFTER I got the CC9000. The CC9000 was well protected as the body and cabinets were in great shape with only a minor ding here and there.
And in I went...check the PCB's for cold joints, run the FM Stereo generator, run the voltage across the circuits...run the Heathkit audio load on the good and bad channels...take notes...run the oscilloscope over both channels, take notes. Cassette deck in great shape with no belt issues. Wonder if it was rarely used? There are no adjustable pots and the amp board, it's gonna be right or it ain't. No cheating. And like typical Telefunken, built like a brick sh*thouse. Thank goodness this one used molex connectors for the face plate connections. Everything else is soldered in and has to be de-soldered to remove.
And little by little she starts to come together. Days, months, years. Install pots, caps, deoxit and clean...lose notes cleaning work area...thank goodness the small parts are in. Finally, install two new Sanyo STK-4060 chips rated at 23w/4ohms each. If you ever have a channel amp go bad and it has independent IC's for each...ALWAYS CHANGE BOTH. The other one may be on it's way out. I also discovered why the right channel failed. If you look at the photos below you will see how the amp chips are mounted with the clamp over the front. Problem was...the clamps are slightly too big for the IC's to remain firm against the heat sink. This allowed the thermal compound to heat up and run. You could clearly see the gap before the fix. The fix was to bend them ever so slightly to increase the force of the IC backplane against the heat sink. And you'll see the Ceramique 2 thermal compound outline evenly around the amp chips indicating solid contact. And we have liftoff.
The photos are from the finish line. I am not one who really likes to take pictures when dealing with a discovery process. Especially when flying blind. Here she is nude to complete! This ones for you Ira!!!
(NO NOT THE BOX!!! )
There are clones of this unit labeled Universum Senator, Uher Mini-Port, etc. with different speakers and other minor changes. None of these units in any variation except the Loews takes batteries (it's less powerful, and needs less than the others), and it's pretty pointless anyway as much juice as they need. Around 100w...check out that transformer!
Presenting the Telefunken CC9000!
Very balanced sounding, not overpowering in any one area, strikes the best balance between the HiFi Studio 1 and the HP-800. Punches when it's supposed to and clear when it should be. Fantastic sound stage. I denied myself this for six years...I'm such a goober.
) either feeling guilty or feeling sorry for me. I believe it was the latter... Here is a snippet of a thread from when we were on s2g back in 2008...
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Lemme Tell A Lil' Yarn Bout' ol' Redbenjoe...
August 6, 2008 1:04 PM
First off, when I realized we had a meet in Florida that was live and real I knew I could not comment on what a super guy he was until after the meet.
Now most of you will think I'm lying about him being a good guy, especially ED. But listen....
I made my first purchase from ol' Redbenjoe a few months ago. A great sounding Philips D-8634 MkII. Complete with broken foot and squeaky handle. (I have witnesses as it returned to Florida to make an appearance at the meet.) Cassette makes grindy noises upon start and then goes about it's business quietly. I have no complaints as it is a great unit and after meeting Ira, realized that every time I use it, it'll remind me of him. Old, broken, squeaky, and grindy.
I must give him credit for this as well. For at the meet, he showed me that as long as you didn't lift it you could turn that handle with no noise. And that as long as you didn't press play, no grind. An if you didn't pick it up, no one would see the broken foot. And as long as you didn't wake ol' Redbenjoe while napping during the meet he didn't creak, groan, grind or show the holes in his shoes.
Now at the meet he kept shilling this Telefunken CC9000. Well, knowing I'm somewhat of a three piece addict, he moved in on me like a Porsche salesman to Paris Hilton. Difference is, I'm not dumb and dang sure ain't rich. But he kept telling me about the Briny Old Men Retirement Fund and whined about his doublewide needing new soda straws to repair the plumbing. Being the soft hearted guy I am (No wait a minute, that old creep knew I was still exhausted from the drive! I kindly told him that I would pay him twenty Tuesdays from now for a hamburger (i.e. Telefunken) today. So, sometime in 2009, he'll see the money, and I'll have the defective right channel (which he convinced me was just the "Stereo Wide Effect") repaired.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Fast forward damn near six...yes six years from the inaugural Sunshine Mix in 2008!!!! This boomer was taken apart...and upon getting into it, I discovered a few more issues. No do not, absolutely do not get me wrong. Ira said it had a problem, and I went in full knowing it. The reason I wanted it was:
(1) They aren't easy to come by. Look'em up on the web. Not much but a few crumbs and no manuals at all.
(2) They look good.
(3) It was a Telefunken and I wanted in to the club.
Nonetheless, I started seeking proper parts. And I got them. A couple of pots for balance and volume from donor clones via eBay, caps, etc. But what I never did get was the amp chips. You see, I had all these parts...but it sat so long I continually put them into a basket...and forgot about them. Well now we are here. I decided to go ahead and take it on awhile back as I had really just kept letting it slide as I have no service manuals or other info to trouble shoot by. And I never should have let that make me lazy. Especially since I had to reconstruct the very HiFi Studio 1 that sits on the shelf now after a rough ride from Germany. And I got it, and many others AFTER the CC9000. Heck...I got my Telefunken HP800 two years AFTER I got the CC9000. The CC9000 was well protected as the body and cabinets were in great shape with only a minor ding here and there.
And in I went...check the PCB's for cold joints, run the FM Stereo generator, run the voltage across the circuits...run the Heathkit audio load on the good and bad channels...take notes...run the oscilloscope over both channels, take notes. Cassette deck in great shape with no belt issues. Wonder if it was rarely used? There are no adjustable pots and the amp board, it's gonna be right or it ain't. No cheating. And like typical Telefunken, built like a brick sh*thouse. Thank goodness this one used molex connectors for the face plate connections. Everything else is soldered in and has to be de-soldered to remove.
And little by little she starts to come together. Days, months, years. Install pots, caps, deoxit and clean...lose notes cleaning work area...thank goodness the small parts are in. Finally, install two new Sanyo STK-4060 chips rated at 23w/4ohms each. If you ever have a channel amp go bad and it has independent IC's for each...ALWAYS CHANGE BOTH. The other one may be on it's way out. I also discovered why the right channel failed. If you look at the photos below you will see how the amp chips are mounted with the clamp over the front. Problem was...the clamps are slightly too big for the IC's to remain firm against the heat sink. This allowed the thermal compound to heat up and run. You could clearly see the gap before the fix. The fix was to bend them ever so slightly to increase the force of the IC backplane against the heat sink. And you'll see the Ceramique 2 thermal compound outline evenly around the amp chips indicating solid contact. And we have liftoff.
The photos are from the finish line. I am not one who really likes to take pictures when dealing with a discovery process. Especially when flying blind. Here she is nude to complete! This ones for you Ira!!!
(NO NOT THE BOX!!!
) There are clones of this unit labeled Universum Senator, Uher Mini-Port, etc. with different speakers and other minor changes. None of these units in any variation except the Loews takes batteries (it's less powerful, and needs less than the others), and it's pretty pointless anyway as much juice as they need. Around 100w...check out that transformer!
Presenting the Telefunken CC9000!
Very balanced sounding, not overpowering in any one area, strikes the best balance between the HiFi Studio 1 and the HP-800. Punches when it's supposed to and clear when it should be. Fantastic sound stage. I denied myself this for six years...I'm such a goober.
