Nope, seems it wasn't that after all, i get the same reading with a new cap (and the polarity is good). Could it be something before the cap, even if the cap itself was good ? Ok, so there is, what, the rectifier also that was suspected, right ? So i rechecked it once more, and this time i took notes of it all (since i already did it before, but

Erm, uh... that would be volts i'd say. Never done AC measuring before (nobody slap me please). I measure it with the multimeter at the range of 200V~ that, let me see if i get this right, measures at millivolts precision (hence the .5). So a reading of 068.5. When measured at the range of 600V~ (volts precision), it's a round 069. So yeah,

Menahem, thank you for all the information. Nope, no scope for measuring, it's true that i'm not really well equipped for these kinds of projects. All i have is a low-cost digital multimeter. [quote user="Dillen"]Try putting your multimeter in AC-volts mode and measure across the large filter capacitor and let us know the result. Not

[quote user="yachadm"]It's well known that caps take time to break-in.[/quote] I was aware of the phenomenon with new caps, but i haven't changed any on this. Except for 4 transistors, a zener and a whole bunch of fuses come and gone, it's all old gold. Interestingly, your take on recapping differs somewhat from that of Martin's

Just to report something strange, and maybe you specialists could explain it to me ; it has now been 3+ days that i've listened to the unit daily for lengthy periods (it plays practically all day), and the sound has significantly changed. I'm positive that it's not (only) my imagination. It has gone from dull and dark to something much more

Thanks for the tip Menahem, this sure could have come handy (and surely still will) as i must've blown 10+ fuses while trying to find the fault. I'm sure to build one in the days to come. Sebastian

Yeah, i hear you, Mika. I was kind of submerged into getting it work, and while testing in short periods, the charming faults sort of jumped at my face. I've actually spent the day playing my iPod through it, and the hissing is nowhere to be heard on acceptable levels. So i've already written it off as part of my machine and have stopped worrying

[quote user="Dillen"]I suggest you replace the zener and both AC... transistors and check the regulator once more.[/quote] Done, done and done. Measuring against new components, it was evident that the zener and the transistors were busted (it's outright silly how i can't seem to get my head around the basic concepts on this). The

Oh wow, just when i thought i had understood something. I'll try and locate the parts, and will report for more. My my... Thanks Martin and Mika. Sebastian

[quote user="Dillen"] No matter how you measure a zener, it should never read zero ohms on a meter. The reading one way should be around 0.6-0.7V (measured with a diode tester). The other can vary a lot depending on the type of zener etc but should never be lower than 0.6V. Desolder and lift one end out of the board and measure it again (that