Symphonic line pre - Steel patina

Seeking some advice here. I traded some of my stuff for Symphonic line RG2 Mk4 Preamp. It's in OK condition and sounds good, but shiny steel front plate and body are covered in patina. What can I use to clean it to restore to it's shinny condition.

It should look like this:



It's also missing two screws from the back plate that hold two RCA jacks to the back panel. Do you guys now a good store to order various crews. These amps are made in Germany so all the screws are hex.

 

I would call Klaus, the distributor for Symphonic Line. http://www.odysseyaudio.com/

 

I did call Klaus, he suggested I send it in for check-up and clean-up. I might do that, but does anyone know of what can be used to maintain the shine and remove the patina?

 

Klaus didn't know?

 

He said they have special solution that they use.

 

Well, ask him to shine up your pre-amp!

 

Klaus will ask a fee for that I guess and that's the point.
Better ask Sushimaster what he used - he did a helluva job on a Yamaha amp ..

 

You guess? How do you know?

 

Try a cleaner/wax for cars and if that doesn't work get a chrome cleaner. The equipment in the photo looks like it is chromed.

 

That sounds ok.

 

I wasn't born yesterday and a company won't shine your old gear (esp. if you bought it second hand) for free ...

 

I see. Some will, some won't. It varies.

 

Do you have a picture of your preamp as it looks now?

How comfortable are you with taking your preamplifier apart? Do you know if the case is polished aluminum or something else?

If you are comfortable with taking it apart, you might try a little bit of Flitz polish on the back corner or underside of the case. This stuff works wonders at cleaning up metal and might be exactly what you need.

However, depending on what the factory wants to clean it up, you may get more uniform results from sending it back to them.

Here's a link to Flitz, if you decide to go down that path....

http://www.flitz-polish.com

 

Hi Faust3D,

The finish on your preamp is chrome. Symphonic Line calls it Aranya Chrome.
It is very shiny, but also scratches very easily!

I was a dealer for Symphonic Line in the early '90's. I stocked the RG-1 stereo amp and RG-4 mono amps (shown in your picture) as well as the RG-11 stereo amp. I just recently bought back from an old customer of mine an RG-11. After 17 years of being installed in the customers ceiling of his dedicated custom audio/video room, it too, developed quite a bit of discoloration.

These amps used to be delivered with their own bottle of chrome cleaner. I got lucky with mine, the customer still had the original bottle! It did a great job of cleaning up the finish!

I have to warn you, if there are any finger prints on the chrome they will probably leave a permanent stain in the finish. The chrome plating they used was very reflective but also stained quite easily from oily fingerprints.

You can try a chrome polish, but use the most mild formula you can find. Test it on a very small piece first to make sure it doesn't scratch the finish. I would try it on a small edge where it won't show if it does leave scratches. Use only a micro fiber cloth to put the polish on and a seperate one to take it off. Make sure you continue to turn the cloth to a clean surface constantly so that you don't end up scratching the chrome with the dirt that is on the rag. You can usually find these for sale at Home Depot.

If you find that this is leaving scratches on your test area, then the only thing left to do is send it to Klaus. I haven't spoken to him in many years and I should give him a call. I can however, tell you that he is one of the most trustworthy and honest guys in this business! I never had any problems with Klaus as a dealer for Symphonic Line and even though I haven't spoken to him in years, I still consider him a friend! You can trust that he will take good care of your preamp if you send it to him!

 

That sounds like the best advice....

 

Which is what I recommended in the beginning!

 

Thanks a lot guys! I used some lemon juice and got some of the stuff off. Someone cleaned it before and it is a bit scratched under the dirt. I will by some chrome cleaner and try it next to see how it will work.

 

Good luck!

 

Thanks a lot. I might still send it for Klaus to check-up in few month

 

By the way this is how it looks now.



It was much darker and had these horrible smudges all over.

 

You're welcome. Sounds good.

 

Not too shabby.

 

How hard is it to remove the front plates? If it isn't too hard I suggest having them rechromed or have another type of metal coating applied other than chrome. There really is no way to keep the chrome fascia scratch free.

But if it were me I'd just polish it the best you can and live with it.

 

It's easy to remove. For now I will polish it a bit and let it be. When it goes to Klaus he might to a better job. All I wanted was being able to see the labels around the knobs

 

I have dealt with Klaus on numerous occasions (I have Odyssey gear, based upon Symphonic designs) and he is one of the true good guys in audio. The only problem is that there are not enough hours in the day for him to get things done. Odyssey is (in Klaus' own words) a "Two and a half man operation".

Well, that and its always best to call him (evenings are best) rather than e-mail him.

He'll do right by you.