This article dates back many years, to the time when my workshop was little more than a makeshift room equipped with salvaged furniture and improvised tools. The photos don’t do justice to the work done, but they capture that period when, through countless adjustments, everything was built with passion and ingenuity. The protagonist is a small GRAAF Graffiti 25, one of the brand’s entry-level models, which deserved a full overhaul to play as it should.

The Graaf “Venticinque”, often referred to simply as Graaf 25, was the entry-level integrated amplifier from the Modena-based company founded by Giovanni Mariani. The brand was celebrated for its Italian aesthetics and artisanal build quality, rooted in the Modena area and with a strong identity forged during the 1990s and early 2000s. To rediscover its character, I sourced a non-working unit from an online ad—a small integrated amp that, beyond its modest specs, holds a special place in the brand’s history and deserved to sing again.

The unit had never been serviced and, after many years of operation, simply stopped working. Poor thing—it really needed a full overhaul.

One of the electrolytic capacitors was visibly bulged (I peeled the plastic myself to confirm it had vented). The hardest part was dismantling almost everything to remove the main board and replace the four main filter capacitors.

Once reassembled, the amplifier still showed no signs of life. After some checking, I discovered that the toroidal power transformer had an open primary winding. Most likely, the faulty capacitor hadn’t caused a dead short, so the fuse didn’t blow immediately—it only failed when the transformer finally gave up. Terrible bad luck!

Here’s the original replacement transformer supplied directly by Giovanni Mariani, bearing the GRAAF logo.

After replacing the transformer and overhauling the capacitors, the Graffiti 25 came back to life. A small but satisfying example of how even an entry-level amplifier can deliver great performance when properly maintained.

Following the repair and transformer replacement, the Graffiti 25 played beautifully again—quiet, clean, and musical, just as a GRAAF should be. It’s always rewarding to see an amplifier reborn, even when it isn’t one of the brand’s flagship models. If you own a GRAAF amplifier or any other hi-fi component that needs restoration or servicing, get in touch through the “Services” section of the website: I’ll be glad to assess the best way to bring it back to peak condition and sound quality.