And now the front is nice as well! There's a spot to the right of the tuning indicator where the gray paint has flaked off. I'll fix that once I find some suitable coloured paint.

The metal case was basically scratchless and straight. There were remains of some tape, felt pen markings, and some skid marks on the top. I managed to remove them all with some isopropanol and elbow grease.

The chipboard bottom plate has a thermal protection(?) foil on it. The bottom had some damage due to a hit from below, and the foil was sticking up. We don't want any short circuits, and some heat resistant Kapton tape should take care of that.

While it was apart, I of course cleaned the front plate as well. There is a thick plexiglass(?) window in front of the tuning indicator valve, and it had dropped down. Hot glue to the rescue again.

Meanwhile, it's time for some cosmetic work. The woodwork on the Dirigent is so beautifully made. Good condition too, so all it will need is a makeover with some teak oil.

Oh, I guess I used the wrong term then - it was just very sensitive to tapping anywhere. I simply removed and reseated all the valves, and that problem disappeared so it was apparently just bad contacts at the sockets. I connected my CD50 to it (how's that for a combo?) and played it for about two hours straight without any problems, and the sound

...and also, the optical sensor that gives the actual rotational signal. If the MCP lights up when you turn the wheel, the switch is OK, but the optosensor is gone... if it doesn't wake up on the wheel alone, the switch is the probable culprit.

I wussed out, and instead of soldering the fusible resistor together, I replaced the missing connection with a fused ammeter. Then I powered up - first nothing, but as the tubes started to warm up, the current slowly rose to ~40 mA and stopped there. I already had a makeshift antenna connected, so I plugged in the S80.2s that happened to sit nearby

Just remembered this thread, which would've been more suited for this: As Dillen said in the other thread, I apparently have incorrect knobs (is that a Beolit 41 on top of the cabin in one your pics as well, Dave?), and they should be white. However, they seem very old and match the set well!

No decoder installed then... but at least the valve sockets are in much better shape than the ones in your pic! Everything seems original, but I'll check those caps as well before powering up. I'll delve deeper into the unit tomorrow - I was so happy with my other new arrival (see the "Flash your B&O" thread) that I'm now well