Should I repair my Creek 4330 or replace it?


The thing is, I have loved it since I first bought it 25 years ago. But its left channel went silent a month ago and the local repair shop (HiFi Heaven in Falls Church, Virginia) fixed it twice. Each time, it sounded great for a few days and then the left channel died again. Now my choices are (1) send it off or (2) replace it.

Any thoughts on either option? Where/what/etc?

Thanks, all!
scerwin
Why couldn't HiFi Heavan  find and correct the problem? Twice? I hope they didn't charge you much for their work. I once owned Creek seperates and a 4330 SE. So many pieces have come and gone...I'd say find a shop that could fix for a reasonable amount of money. What repair shops does Creek recommend? 25 yrs old is nothing. Just breaking in! Can't think of too many new pieces of gear I'd buy to replace what you have. I will say the Musical Fidelity M2 si for $569 (Upscale Audio) would merit consideration more so than the Music Hall 15.3 in my mind. Now buying used...5350 SE or an older Arcam Alpha series int. amp. I absolutely love the the musicality/sound my recapped Alpha 10 int. amp makes. Runs hot and has 100w per channel. The extra power sure has a way of improving how your speakers sound. Good Luck!
Thanks to everyone for responding. A very helpful discussion! In the end I couldn't bear the thought of tossing my 4330 on the scrap heap just because its volume control is on the fritz. So I sent it out for repair.

That said, let's take another step and focus this thread. I now ask everyone to vote for one (or more) of the following replacement amps, all in my price range. Btw, these will be paired with Epos ES11 speakers; I listen to classical.

1. Creek 5350SE (not the Evolution bearing the same model number)
2. Arcam A28
3. Music Hall A15
4. Musical Fidelity M2si
We are considering two used vs. new int. amps. The Arcam and Creek had list prices at least twice what you can buy for used. The MF lists for $999 and can be bought for $600 new. IMO, the Musical Hall is not in the same class as the rest. BUT, I have no experience w/any of these models. Let me throw one more int. amp out there for you to consider. The Teac AI-1000. New $499/$999 retail. (HIFI Heaven) I remember these @ a local dealer and everyone was impressed w/this model. (I remember on Amazon they had this model for $380 new and I didn't pull the trigger! ) Now the real question is how are they going to sound w/your Epos'? You have a mellow amp w/mellow speakers listening to classical. A more forward amp w/more top end treble may push you from a musical listening experience to an analytical listening. Short term wow but not a long session pleasure/involvement. (I'm sure you understand this.) Now the question. If you bought whichever amp and have to resell what will be the  easiest to resell and lose as little as possible? Tough call! I know recapping a Creek would involve many capacitors! I just though of one other used int. amps to consider...Rega Brio3. Follow your gut on this one. (I think you're leaning towards the Creek 5350.) Best....Bill.
Thanks, Bill. Both the Teac and Rega look very interesting.

Here's my revised list:

1. Creek 5350SE (not the Evolution bearing the same model number)
2. Arcam A28
3. Musical Fidelity M2si
4. Teac AI-1000
5. Rega Brio 3

Any other opinions out there about this selection?
4330 is a great amp if your speakers support it. Glad you ate having it fixed. Also at least with the older music hall integrated amps they had socketed op amps and you could replace the opams with opa627 and the improvement in sound was nothing short of amazing! Good luck!