[lovelexicon]

Need help to diagnose an audio problem:  My Odyssey Mono Extremes are connected to a Parasound preamp.  The source component is the Oppo 205.  The speakers are the Magnepan 1.7i.

Recently as I was listening to the 2 channel playback, suddenly the sound from the left speaker would drop out completely.  I suspected that the problem might come from the left channel Odyssey Mono Extreme, so I turned off the power to that amp using the back panel on/off button.  I waited for a few moments and turned the power back on, and the sound would come back to the left speaker.

Am I correct in judging that the problem was caused by the left channel mono amp? My Odyssey amps are 18 years old.  They were kept on all the time.  And nothing have been done to them all these years to upkeep or upgrade them.

[GentleBender]

You could also swap the amp cables so that the left amp feeds the right channel and the right amp feeds the left channel to diagnose the issue. If the problem moves to the right side, it is probably the amp.

[sunnydaze]

You could also swap the amp cables so that the left amp feeds the right channel and the right amp feeds the left channel to diagnose the issue. If the problem moves to the right side, it is probably the amp.

Not true. This does not isolate the faulty gear -- problem could be anywhere up the chain all the way back to the source.  I would first reverse the RCA inputs into the amp:

(1) If the problem moves to other speaker, then the issue is upstream of the amp.  Keep reversing IC cables working back to the source until the bad gear is isolated.

(2) If the problem stays in the same speaker, amp or speaker is at fault.  Reverse speaker cables.  If the problem moves, amp is faulty.  If the problem stays in same speaker, the speaker is faulty.

[FullRangeMan]

Use another power amp for some time and see what happen.

[klaus@odyssey]

Good advice.......

If it's the amp,  then most likely the protection circuitry kicks in at some point.......18 years.....caps definitely could use some love here....

[PhotonDon]

Very interesting.  It sounds very familiar to an issue I had and could never isolate. I had a Magnepan 1.6, Odyssey Stratos Stereo Plus, and a couple different preamps.  When I would start a listening session, often one speaker would cutout for short amounts of time, which drove me crazy. After a while things would settle in and the problem would go away.  No amount of troubleshooting  revealed the cause.   It never happened to the new owner of the Magnepans, and it never happened with the Odysseys again.  I just wrote it down to synergy weirdness.  Other than that, the Maggies and the Stratos loved each other. Strange that it happened to another Odyssey/Magnepan combo.

[Zolanji]

Sounds like a problem I had with my Odyssey Mono Extremes.  They were about 12 or 15 years old and I usually left them on all the time.  While playing music, one amp would just go silent.  I had to turn it off and then back on and it would work fine for a while, then do the same thing.  I figured it was the protection relay, but could not determine why it would drop out.  Sent them back to Klaus for an upgrade.  They now work fine, and sound even better!

[GeneS]

I will add my very similar experience:
I had nearly the identical set up gear wise (Stratos monos, Oppo, Parasound pre, Maggies). One channel cut out (I don’t remember which one did it initially).
It turned out to be a failure of the balance knob on the Parasound! Further research revealed that this was not uncommon among Parasound. When I “jiggled” the balance knob, I could restore the dropped channel. I had to put a piece of wood under the knob to put upward pressure on it to keep the channels balanced.
This was all a while ago. Obviously I replaced the Parasound.
I’m not saying this is your problem, but it may be worth investigating and eliminating it as a potential issue.

[jetrocket]

I am struggling with a similar problem - my set up is an Odyssey Stratos, Odyssey Tempest Pre-amp and Lorilies speakers. My set up is more than 20 years old and was kept on constantly. The left channel on the amp seems to have burned out - no output whatsoever. I have been trying to connect with Klaus for months but no luck. I guess he is always on the go. I was wondering of anyone knows of a fix-it in NYC?

[Loki57]

You need to contact Klaus late in the evening. Call him.

[jetrocket]

Ok..I'll try tonight - maybe Midnight EST

[klaus@odyssey]

?????

I do respond to email and definitely call back....always !!!  Don't understand,  but yes,  call me.  317 299 5578

Might just be an internal fuse