Harman Kardon Citation V 5 Tube Stereo Amplifier Rebuilt by Don Sachs Mcshane

Harmon Kardon Citation Five stereo tube amplifier. With Tube Cage.

It
is in fair to good condition physically and has been fully rebuilt (all
options shown below) by Don Sachs using Jim McShane kits.

The amp works and sounds excellent but should get new power tubes.

The tubes included are: 4 - Phillips (US) 7581A power tubes
2 - Brimar (English) gold pin 12BY7A voltage amp tubes
2 - Sylvania (US) 6CG7 driver tubes

The rebuild was done about 3 years ago and consists of the following. Copied from Don Sachs site.


The Citation V is an amazingly good amplifier that has imaging that will almost wrap around you
in a good system.  When properly rebuilt they will produce about 54 watts/channel, which is
more than enough for most people. 
You can see from the photos that the output transformers
are huge, and they are very good ones. 

Restoring this amp takes about 12 - 15 hours. 
The
labor cost is generally $500 - $600 depending on the options you choose. 
Parts cost is $200 -
$300 depending on options chosen including modern speaker terminals, regulated DC filament
on input tubes, whether any sockets are replaced, and whether the optional CCS kit is installed. 
This improves the amp about 15% or so to my ear and I have it in my Citation II and Citation V
amps. 

Basic restoration includes:

1.  Completely rebuilt power supply with McShane kits.  This includes addition of a choke as in
the Citation II.


2.  Addition of a high quality pot in the rebuilt bias supply that allows the overall bias to be
adjustable over a reasonable range.  This allows you to adjust for different tubes and wall
voltages.  This is a no-brainer mod in my opinion because it costs all of about $20 parts and
labor.

3.  All signal caps are replaced and many key resistors.


4.  Any suspect wiring is replaced.


5. New RCA jacks and shielded cable to the boards.

Options:

1.  CCS kit.  This can only be installed by Jim or I or a highly skilled tech.  You really need a
dual channel oscilloscope to get it right.


2.  Convert the two input tubes to a regulated 5 volt DC filament supply.  This makes quite a
difference in the sound of the amp.


3.  Replace tube sockets.  This is never a bad idea if they are at all "iffy".


4.  If I replace all tube sockets and completely rewire the amp as in the Citation II restoration I
would charge about $700 labor, and parts total would be $300 - $350.  A complete rewire of a
Citation V is usually not necessary