Lexicon MC-1; DC-1 Power supplies


Has anyone else had a power supply die in their Lexicon MC-1, or DC-1 or 2?

It's happened to me twice now. They use what appears to me to be a pretty cheap switching power supply. Lexicon won't service these units for less than $600 (though for that they do a complete refurb). I had my DC-1 repaired a couple of years ago by local reputable shop and it cost $200.

I love the units for home theater. They sound great and are very user friendly for setup and control, but wonder about the reliability.

Am I just unlucky?
bdgregory

Showing 1 response by tadawson

It’s a known problem, and a case of basically rape by Lexicon.  This is a $45 supply - not hudreds of $$$.  It's basically Lexicon telling their user base that they feel that you need to spend more money, and want to coerce you to buy a new unit instead of a trivial repair . . . .

I have refitted power supplies in three DC-2’s, and every one ran as well as the day it was built, with no further issues. It’s not like Lexicon used a custom supply - the supply in the DC-1, DC-2, and others is just an off the shelf part (and not a particularly good one at that) and as long as the voltages, amperages, and pinouts match, the number of candidates out there available are multiple. Myself, I have not used the NFS40-7 listed above, but rather the Artsyn LPT-45 https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/826-LPT45 As noted, I have done several, the oldest being probably close to 8 years, and never a burp. If it takes you more than 10 minutes to do a supply replacement in one of these, you are doing it wrong! 5 screws for the cover, 4 screws and one nut for the supply, and two connectors, and done!

Oh, and bought two of my DC-2’s cheap (last for $29, looks like new) since this is such a common problem, the risk of buying these dead is not very high . . . and, as noted, they still sound great!
Finding one with a working remote, however, isn’t as easy . . .