Seeking some advice here. I traded some of my stuff for Symphonic line RG2 Preamp. It's in OK condition and sounds good, but shiny steel front plate and body are covered in patina. What can I use to clean it to restore to it's shinny condition.

It should look like this:

It's also missing two screws from the back plate that hold two RCA jacks to the back panel. Do you guys now a good store to order various crews. These amps are made in Germany so all the screws are hex.

I did, does not seem to work. I also tried some stuff that should clean stainless steel appliances, zero effect.

Do I have to keep the vinegar on it overnight or for several hours? I dipped some cloth in it and rubbed, nothing happened.

Brasso/Silvo?

Try lemon juice, even though they are both acids, I sometimes have had better results with pure lemon juice.

I tried lemon juice and some other stuff and it seem that this patina is very stubborn. I might have to send the pre to Klaus at Odyssey Audio (he is the US distributor he he) to give it a check-up and tune-up as well as some shining treatment.

I really like how it sounds so far.

I would post this in the Steve Hoffman forums. There are a few people there that restore hifi equipment that might have some more tips.

Or just explain the situation to Klaus and ask him for suggestions.

Or just live with the character the pre has gained over the years

Or get someone with woodworking skills to make a new case for it.

Heh, the case is nice and the front panel is very nice 10mm steel. I don't mind it looking like this, but I am still thinking about getting it checked out by Klaus. This is the unit that Tempest is based on by the way.

Post a picture. Some patina might not look too bad. If you do want to polish, you might seek out some car collectors as they might have a better suggestion; 3M chrome polish, etc.

On a side note when I saw the word patina in the subject it took me back... I didn't polish this patina out though.

Well I polished it some more with some concentrated lemon juice and it worked a bit:

So I looked around and found that Maas metal polish works great on this kind of stuff.

I went to Home Depot and picked up some Maas and microfiber cloth and now my pre looks like this:

Knobs are still a bit dirty, I need to remove them and clean them up, but I am too lazy for this kind of major work.

Sweet. Thanks for the info, I'm-a gonna have to do the same thing with my Manley Stingray, looks like.

did the polish remove the lettering? the lettering looks engraved, but it's hard to tell for sure...

The lettering is engraved and it's there, the engraving it deep but because the pre is so shinny it's hard to see from some angles. I can take another picture straight on so that you can see how it looks.

Maas polish is very gentle and non abrasive so it did not remove anything but patina, it did not even remove a few fine scratches that were there. I know there is different product that can be used to buff the fine scratches, but I don't mind them so I don't think I will be using it.

I seem to recall using the Maas before, but my favorite is Simichrome. I've used that for years on my Campy bike parts, etc. Kind of hard to find in the US these days though (German product, Happich IIRC is the company that makes it).

There's lettering?

Yeah, engraved, just like them fancy Grado metal cups. Take a look at the original patina covered pic. Just for the heck of it I will try to take a pic today with all lettering visible, not going to be easy.

Yeah, it appears to be completely gone in the new pic.

After some careful camera angling I was able to get the labels to show up very nicely:

You can also see one of the bigger scratches next to monitor knob.

Dang, that's shiny. A pre that makes it necessary to have good furniture.

Yeah, and makes it difficult to take pictures so the owner is not reflected in his underwear

Hey, wow, now you're completely gone. That's some pretty fancy camerawork.

I seem to recall using the Maas before, but my favorite is Simichrome. I've used that for years on my Campy bike parts, etc. Kind of hard to find in the US these days though (German product, Happich IIRC is the company that makes it).

Simichrome is a staple for pen restoration. Great polish. If you don't have a local place that carries it, you can get it at Pendemonium - Fountain Pens, Pencils, Inkwells, Stationery, and other Writing Equipment for Fountain Pen Enthusiasts (look under "repair supplies") and other places that might carry pen or jewelry repair supplies.