DTT3500 - Liquid Damage - Help Fixing

[motaro]

Hello, I have a Cambridge Soundworks DTT3500 system from about 20 yrs ago. Love it, has always worked great, until:
A) about 2 yrs ago it began to crackle a bit, and I'd often have to restart it - which is a common problem that I learned much about solving in this thread here: https://www.overclockers.com/forums/threads/dtt3500-needs-to-warm-up.508585/

B) I kept using it, just dealing w/the crackling, then my idiot *** put a plastic cup of clam and linguini on the receiver to warm it up (lol) and the plastic cup evidently was low quality and the warm(not hot) receiver melted it easily and a small hole formed in the container, then the clam sauce dripped into the receiver - just a few drops - before I could see it and before I could pull the power plug. It suddenly turned off and wouldn't turn back on. I was distraught. It still won't even power on now. I would send it to someone to get it repaired, I love it so much it's perfect for a pc. I can't even fit a 2nd monitor or my laptop on my desk anymore since I'm using the 2 giant Aiwa home stereo speakers on desk now.

I'm not a electronics expert by any means - I've worked in different types of IT throughout the years, have soldered with large and small tip soldering irons this and that, from PC's to R/C Car equipment. I think the most difficult thing I fixed was repairing a broken old iPod off eBay by removing screen, soldering off a bad headphone jack and charging jack, then carefully reassembling, and it worked. Great feeling. I don't know if this is possible for me to fix though, or where to begin. Fixing the crackling with replacement of the 3 capacitors in link/thread above is one thing, but fixing whatever is wrong now and preventing it from turning on? That scares me to even think about. Is it just water damage, well, I don't think so, since it probably shorted out some item(transistor/capacitor etc), if not worse, and I don't have the tools or experience that many of you electric gurus have to check voltage here/there/everywhere to find out what it is, but I want this fixed so bad! I miss my speaker set! I also read in above thread that the Cambridge Soundworks speakers that go w/my DTT3500 receiver are "digital" - whatever that means - so I can't use them with a regular home receiver? Don't know what this means or if it's true, otherwise I might just buy a used home receiver and use that to replace the DTT3500 to connect computer to speakers.

In my IT work, when a motherboard is severely damaged, I send it out to a small business partner in NYC who cleans motherboards with high tech equipment in a lab and repairs them completely, however, he stated that he does not do anything other than PC/Laptop motherboards. So, I have no idea what to do here.. I used to send broken motherboards out to be repaired.
So, in short, I'm in a bind here. Don't know where to begin. Can anyone throw in some input, give me an idea of what might be wrong w/board, what must be done, if anyone has ever encountered this issue before, and if anyone could fix it I would seriously mail it out to you and pay you a fair price to fix it. This was the perfect PC speaker system, and I miss it dearly.

Thank you for reading,
Steve

 

[ShrimpBrime]

I'm an honest person. So my thoughts will be forth coming, please forgive me.

This 23 year old receiver isn't worth putting time and money into while for cheaper, perhaps free can get any other receiver to do the job.

Look at face book market place for amps. I'm using an old Sony receiver. Audio in with RCA with a headphone jack adapter to the back of the mainboard. It's 100w x4 channels 1 sub out too. I have some vintage speakers plugged in. It's loud as hell.

Recently threw out all my old Aiwa stuff. Dual tape deck and 5 disk changer built in sub amp all that. Still worked, just collecting dust. If it was a couple months ago, I'd just send you the unit for cost of shipping honestly.

TLDR - don't fix it, just replace it. Look at FB market place locally. Bet you'll find some cheap or free gear.

 

[don256us]

I did a quick google search and found several parts for this system for cheap. Used but cheap. Most results were on eBay. I would look there to see if it makes more sense to replace than repair.

I also like the idea that maybe a complete upgrade is in order. I would advise you to keep that idea open.

The third idea would be to look for someone who specializes in "stereo" repair and negotiate the cost of round trip shipping and the repair.

It's the cost of shipping that would point me to buying a replacement part rather than spending on repairing. Upgrading may be better but it depends on your reasoning for keeping what you want. That's for you to decide.

Edit: The speakers aren't digital. The system is. This was new(ish) when these systems were sold and makes sense since the computer is taking digital signal and converting to analog.

Note: This system is old enough that review pictures show CRT monitors on test rigs. A (sound)Blast(er) from the past. See what I did there? lol.

Edit2: http://ixbtlabs.com/articles/inspire5700vsdtt3500/index.html
This review shows the back of your unit and it uses standard digital optical interface along with a proprietary and a coax connection. Three connections types (use only one).


Edit3: I can't believe I didn't check the date on this. Not sure how I got to this thread but I'm certain it has been resolved long before now. For the next person to google this as a question, my post remains.