Yeah, testing further, the Master out noise is not acceptable. No connections, all faders and monitors down. Master fader -5 to 0 has a lot of hiss. I will either have to return the unit, get it repaired, get the mod's, or chuck the whole idea of getting a fully working console these days.
Give Jim Williams a call at Audio Upgrades.
He's usually willing to talk on the phone and even toss out some suggestions to you.
Not to mention...he would be one of the guys to know how to fix issues or do mods.
Audio Upgrades - 818-780-1222
My Trident had a few modified channels plus the master section, all done by him when the previous owner had it.
So I called him to ask about those mods, and specifically to get a better understanding of the mods he did to the EQ section on those channels, as I wanted to repeat the same EQ mod on all the other channels.
His modified channels usually involve removing a lot of the electrolytic caps, and also changing out some of the opamps to specific chips that he likes. The channels have a much cleaner sound, and a bit more gain....but TBH, I didn't really find them substantially "better" than the stock channels, unless someone wanted the whole board to be much cleaner.
I don't mean "hiss/noise"...but the the sound was more transparent than the stock channels.
I instead just swapped the opamps for some Burr-Browns of a different type, and they give the console a fat, punchy sound.
AFA the master section, he cleaned up a lot of the caps, but also raised the headroom...so when summing all the channels, it doesn't fall apart at all.
I get it though - nothing is perfect, but I could spend 10k more and still end up with issues.
I don't know what you paid for the Toft...I'm guessing around $4k-$5k for the 24-channel, depending on age, and version and if it came with the meter bridge.
For $10k...you might end up with issues if you were buying a console that was maybe $50k new...but TBH, there a bunch of used stuff in good shape that $10k will buy....or you buy something for $4k-$5k, and then put another $2k-$3k into it to fix, mod and upgrade...and you have a really good console in the end.
I got my Trident 24 London for a really decent price...probably $2k less than what the previous owner could have gotten for it...but I contacted him as soon as he listed the board, and I told him I could have the cash in his hand that weekend and pick it up.
Turns out he needed to get it out it's locations soon, and didn't want to wait...IOW, my offer and quick turnaround got me the deal.
After that I put another $3k into it, easy...but, it was overhauled top-to-bottom, and I ended up with a like-new console.
I'm sure I could sell it for a profit pretty easy, not that I have any plans to sell....just saying that it's a bit of a PITA, but you can end up with a pretty decent console with some effort and $$$.
Of course...the resale value depends on what console you have and where the market it...considering that DAWs are domination...but there is a return to hardware lately, along with the DAWs. Something with a vintage vibe still gets the interest.