Deja Vu Audio 300B Mono Amps


Greetings.

I wanted to start this off by saying that compared to most of the people reading this, I'm sure that most of my gear is definitely at the low end. Most of my audio gear is dedicated to my home theater setup, with gaming and movies in mind, in a 5.1.2 setup. Onkyo TX-RZ610 receiver, Polk Monitor 70 fronts, Polk Monitor 40 surrounds, Polk CS10 center, SVS Prime Elevation height\Atmos speakers, Klipsch Sub-12. So, nothing at the high end, just consumer stuff that sounds good for what I need it to do. I do also play music through it, with my only analog source being my B&O RX2 turntable (to which I'm about to add a MOSCODE super it phono stage).

I just wanted to put that out there to show where I'm coming from. I'd love to go down the road into a better system for music, but I've certainly never had the budget for it. But, and it's a pretty big "but", something fell into my lap yesterday that I could absolutely not refuse. I picked up a pair of Deja Vu Audio 300B Push/Pull Mono Amplifiers. For $115. Yes, that is what I paid. I picked them up, said "Thank You" and was on my way. The MOSCODE phono stage was had for an additional $40. I know the prices are enough to make someone suspicious of their origins, but they are from a widow who is selling her late husband's gear. I'm 100% confident that they are not stolen. So, I figured this was a chance to begin building something to listen to my records through. I figure that I'd bring my B&O turntable over to these, with my JVC AL-F3 moving back to its old place on the Onkyo receiver, and find a decent set of speakers that won't break the bank (but that's a completely different discussion).

It took all that to get to the point: One of them looks great if just a bit dusty. The other one has an obviously bad resistor. It is visibly burnt out (I am including a link at the bottom of this post to a folder on my Google Drive that contains images of the amp in question for anyone who wishes to take a look). All other components are visibly OK, but I haven't taken a meter to check anything else out yet. The resistor is a 25W 270ohm 5% resistor. I see nothing about it that makes me think it's anything other than a standard 25W cement resistor, but I'm absolutely 100% open to being corrected about this.

So, my question is: would the best place to start bringing this back to life be removing this resistor and replacing it with a like resistor, or is there any benefit to replacing it with something with an improved tolerance? My soldering skills are adequate for something like this. I've done enough SMD training/exercise kits that a large through-hole resistor inline w/ a couple of leads shouldn't present an issue.

I look forward to getting this up and running and hopefully I don't make any rash and/or costly mistakes along the way.

Link to a folder containing images: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1bEqqi_-50ki9y8H8i81bwie7vVTbU99A

andymckay
I agree with Larryi. You should call Vu at DejaVu if for no other reason than to make his acquaintance. He will tell you what else, if anything, needs to be updated and how to avoid any mistakes. I have always found him very approachable. 
Thanks. Having the tubes checked is certainly sound advice. I'm currently trying to figure out if I know anyone locally that has a tube tester. The closest shop that I know of that would certainly be able to test them is a 100-mile round trip...

In the meantime, I'll replace the resistor, like with like.

Thanks,
Andy
Be sure to have a load (speaker) connected to each amp before doing any testing (otherwise output trannies can be damaged!). An arcing tube can damage an amp! Testing all the tubes for shorts is sound advice!

Just replace the dead resistor with the same value (25w/270ohm/5%). No need for something a lot more expensive! 
I think you should first e-mail Deja Vu Audio and include the photos.  They might be able to offer some help on this.  They have had a number of builders over the years, but, one of their current people might be able to help.

I would also have the tubes tested, if that is possible, because blown resistors can mean either a tube going bad blew the resistor, or a problem in the amp, like the resistor, could cause damage to the tube.  Either way, those tubes should be tested before attempting a rescue of the amp.