Vectrex Score! But No Sound.

[psquare75]

I landed a vectrex with five games for $25 at a car parts swap meet. Unit has great screen, but no sound. (I know the volume knob is the turn on knob as well). Brightness is fine, controller works great, all games work. But.. No sound.

 

I've never had a Vectrex open before. What are some common failure points for these?

[tz101]

Be careful in opening Vectrex. CRT holds high voltage and you can die.

[Videogamecollector123]

Well first thing to check will be the capacitors, if they've gone bad they'll need to be replaced. Also obviously check if the speaker's connections are still good. The vectrex is not the easiest system to work on, most of it is that CRT which you should discharge before you do these repairs, just in case you touch the connections(go to playvectrex.com for instructions on this procedure) Other then that it'll be nessecary to take out the bottom board in order to get to the speaker circuit. Good luck, hope you find out what the problem is.

Edited May 15, 2011 by Videogamecollector123

[ATARI7800fan]

What is it like, I have always found the vectrex intriguing.

[Seob]

The vectrex is a stunning machine. I really like the system, and because it is so compact and ready to play. I play it more often then my other classic consoles. The built in minestorm alone is entertaining enough for a few weeks.

[SRGilbert]

I landed a vectrex with five games for $25 at a car parts swap meet. Unit has great screen, but no sound. (I know the volume knob is the turn on knob as well). Brightness is fine, controller works great, all games work. But.. No sound.

 

I've never had a Vectrex open before. What are some common failure points for these?

 

Nice deal, heck the CONTROLLER alone is worth twice what you paid!

[FABombjoy]

If there is absolutely no sound, no buzz or anything, then you probably have a dead/disconnected speaker or the problem is in the speaker amplifier, which is located on the power board. Normally that little opamp picks up all kinds of hum from the other circuits, even with the volume knob completely turned down.

 

You can probe out the audio signals on the backside of the board without discharging the crt, but if you have to replace anything on the power board then it will probably have to be discharged and disassembled. That is, unless you have a good desoldering tool and a lot of experience playing Operation.

[Ataritard]

Be Careful... I got mine with no sound or video or controller (cheap). I opened it, touched everything, removed chips and put them back in. When I put it back together, plugged it in and turned it on and it worked! I got lucky. I have since modified a NES controller to work and adjusted the 3 or 4 pots inside so the lines line up. I couldn't be happier with it. Good luck.

[psquare75]

If there is absolutely no sound, no buzz or anything, then you probably have a dead/disconnected speaker or the problem is in the speaker amplifier, which is located on the power board. Normally that little opamp picks up all kinds of hum from the other circuits, even with the volume knob completely turned down.

 

You can probe out the audio signals on the backside of the board without discharging the crt, but if you have to replace anything on the power board then it will probably have to be discharged and disassembled. That is, unless you have a good desoldering tool and a lot of experience playing Operation.

 

I haven't opened it up yet. The unit does "buzz" or "hum" when turned on, and the buzzing does not vary with volume.

 

I had a Vec about 10-12 years ago that I bought on eBay. Not sure why I sold it. This one should stick around, I hope.

[SEgamer]

Here's a thread with pics of the inside of the system: http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?t=3230

 

Someone there suggested what Ataritard said which is to re-seat the audio chip. It'll be interesting trying to get it back together. Good luck with it!

[FABombjoy]

The pins on the cables that connect the boards together can get funky, too. I would try reseating the thin brown audio cable from the CPU to the Power board.