Thanks @ Geoff_T , I'll keep you posted!

Old thread.

Which 8068 circuit parts are essentially considered unobtanium nowadays? .....enough so that whatever substitution parts guys routinely use in a restore.... risk changing the console's cumulative sonic effect in perceivable (perhaps negative) ways by opinion.

What are some of the actual substitute elements techs are forced to turn to nowadays....that themselves may be becoming hard to find?

I have at least a small stock a decent number of vintage parts. They either still make most of the stuff, or I can get it custom ordered. Even in a lot of cases the manufacturers still make the original parts. There are a few components that come to mind though.

1 would be the Philips/Mullard BDY62 transistors. They still make the original 2N3055s used in vintage Neves, although now in a different housing (steel not aluminum). Many original modules use BDY62 transistors though, which has a different frequency response to the 2N3055. It would definitely change the sound of a module switching this out. I only have like 7 of them left right now, which kind of makes me sweat cause they are kind of rare. There is only one manufacturer I know of, in China, that still makes them. I haven't tried out these new ones yet though, so I don't know how they compare to the old Mullard ones.

2 is probably BC184Cs. The originals were mostly Texas instruments or National Semiconductor. CDIL is the only company that still makes them (if you don't count the fake Fairchild ones), but because the hFE isn't as high as SOME of the originals, some people don't really use them. Most people use some other replacement part these days.