Hi there,

I recently made a Craigslist acquisition of a Zenith Z906 console (10ZT30 chassis), and I've made it my project to get it in working order again. It's also intended to be my first introduction to working with old radio equipment (my mother-in-law's Victrola floor radio might come next one day, but I've got a lot to learn before I touch that one).

I've already connected with the good people at V-M Audio Enthusiasts on restoring the turntable, but I've got an issue with the amp that I was hoping I could get some advice on here. The problem is this: the right channel has a continuous buzz in it. The buzz is present for all modes (phono/AM/FM/tape), and I did notice that the music comes in over the speaker faintly if I turn it up high enough, but it can barely be heard over the buzz.

Any thoughts on where I might start in diagnosing/fixing this problem would be appreciated! I'm very new to this, but eager to start learning.

Welcome to the forum! Don't know exactly what year your unit is, but most of the guys on this forum would agree: don't plug in your old equipment until you've replaced all the paper and wax capacitors... bottom line. The buzz could originate from any number of issues, but old capacitors can pop without warning and cause some costly damage to your new find (as well as burn down your house). There's loads of resources on this site for getting familiar with electrical restoration, or you can start here

http://antiqueradio.org/recap.htm

for the lowdown on where to start. Finding a schematic for your console (follow the link above) will give you and other forum members a better idea of what's going on inside your unit and how to fix it.

This is a great hobby (one that I'm just getting into myself) with room to learn by doing, but there are definitely certain fundamentals that you should familiarize yourself with first. Replacing the caps will reduce the chance that your console will go kablooey before you can find out what (if any) other factor is causing the buzz. Have fun!