Can you provide me with a service manual?

No, for several reasons, including that I can’t share most service data due to confidentiality agreements with manufacturers and distributors.

Many older service manuals are available online, and you don’t need my help to obtain them. Some service data, however, comes directly from manufacturers, distributors and other specialist sources, and is not publicly available. This service data is intended specifically for technician/s and is provided to us in confidence, with an understanding and often a signed agreement, that it will not be shared.

As technicians, we need to demonstrate our integrity on matters such as confidentiality. Even if manufacturers, like Krell, for example, are no longer in business, I would never risk harming the relationships that allow me to access this data through their distributors, who are most likely still in business.

Most people understand and respect this, but some folks unfortunately seem to believe they are ‘entitled’ to this information, like Stephan from Germany. You’ll appreciate the irony of Stephan’s response when I told him I couldn’t help with service data, because he’d obviously already found my contributions very helpful:

Thanks for nothing.

Stephan, from Germany

Stephan was having a bad day, but on a better day, might have said: “Thanks, Mike, for your contributions to the hi-fi community for the last 15+ years. Your article greatly helped me repair my Krell amplifier; I’ll donate to support your work, as more should do. I understand that you don’t ‘owe’ me anything!”