Latest upgrade to the Van Alstine 550 amp

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rickweed

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 31
Latest upgrade to the Van Alstine 550 amp
« on: 20 Jul 2004, 12:46 pm »
Hello all,

     Yesterday I picked up my beloved AVA 550 amp with the R-5 upgrade.  Now although I have no idea of what this upgrade entailed, I do know that having it done has cleared one more dirty pane of glass in the audio window.  Does this make a difference?  Absolutely.  When I dropped the amp off, my semi trained ear could hear something different, but I couldn't explain it.  Then Frank did a back and forth comparison with my amp and one with the new upgrade, and when he pointed out, sort of directed my ear, it became apparent that something very worthwhile was taking place.  The soundstage widened, the individual instruments became very individual sounding, and there was a smoothness, a total lack of grain.  My wife who is an avid casual listener didn't hear it at first, but then Frank put on, I think it was the Paul Simon Graceland disc, and her eyes widened, knowing then for sure that something good was going on.  She told me that even a fairly loud volumes, it didn't irritate her and sounded very pleasant.  

     This latest upgrade comes in all new 550 amps, and if you already have a 550 and are interested in this upgrad, do contact Frank for details.  To me it was well worth tying up my amp for a couple weeks.  

     Lastly, I always put in my plug for Frank and will say without reservation that this is the most consciencious and yes, friendly man I have ever done business with.  He is not only fair, but over the top willing to help you with any problems you might have.  (bye the way, I have no invested interest in his business and say these things because I believe them)  THANKS AGAIN FRANK!

Rick

WEEZ

  • Full Member
  • Posts: 1341
Latest upgrade to the Van Alstine 550 amp
« Reply #1 on: 23 Jul 2004, 03:34 am »
Hey Rickweed...

Have you got your vinyl set-up yet? Last we talked you were thinking VPI Scout/JMW 9/?.

Would be interested to hear your impressions of the AVA gear w/ vinyl-as I'm sure it will be mighty impressive.

Keep us posted..

WEEZ

rickweed

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 31
550 upgrade
« Reply #2 on: 23 Jul 2004, 03:46 pm »
Hi Weez,

     I have yet to get into vinyl, but hopefully in the near future.  I have to first work out a problem of center image.  I am hearing a shift to the left and will methodically go through what Frank suggested to try and isolate it.  It could simply be room acoustics or a slight hearing loss in my right ear that would decrease the volume on the right side when in the sweet spot.  I know the amp has balanced output since Frank just tested it with the upgrade.  I will switch speakers, mabye try so inexpensive 14 wire as he suggests, and do a switch of wires on the pre amp.  One way or another, I have to solve that to my satisfaction before moving forward.  Any suggestions would be welcome, of course.  It might even be a case of the speakers not being tonally matched.  the left one does seem slighly clearer when I move back and forth, but that could too be room setup or who knows what.  I am as new as you can get to all of this and don't totally understand electronics and such, so please excuse my ignorance if I don't explain myself well.  Take care Weez and good listening to ya.

Rick

avahifi

Troubleshooting sound imbalance
« Reply #3 on: 24 Jul 2004, 11:47 pm »
1.  Make sure the imbalance occurs with the preamp set to MONO and that the balance control on the preamp is centered (10 click stops from either end of rotation) to assure that both preamp line channels and both amp channnels are getting the identical signal. If this "cures" the problem then the imbalance is being caused by a switch dropout in the preamp or with the source used.  If not, then proceed as follows.
2.  Physically swap the speakers in the room left to right.  Physically disconnect each speaker from the speaker wires, move each to the opposite locations, and connect them again.  Don't move the speaker wires.  Does the imbalance follow the speaker?  If so it is the speaker.
3.If the imbalance does not follow the speaker then return the speakers to their original locations.  Now reverse the speaker wire connections, left channel to right channel, at the back of the amplifier. If the imbalance follows the speaker wire, then the problem is with the speaker wire, or ahead of the speaker wire.  If the imbalance does not change, then the problem is room acoustics.
4.  Now swap the other ends of the speaker wire from speaker to speaker.  If the imbalance does not change, then the speaker wire is eliminated from being the cause (the imbalance did not change no matter which channel the speaker wire was connected to).  If the imbalance changes channels, the problem is a defective speaker wire or ahead of the speaker wire.
5.  Now put everthing back to normal.  Now reverse the connections from the preamp to the amplifier just at the amplifier end.  If the imbalance does not change, then the preamp and everything ahead of the preamp is eliminated as a possible suspect.  If the imbalance does change, then reverse the connectins at the preamp end too.  If the imbalance changes, then the most likely suspect is the line section of the preamp, or a possible defective interconnect cable.  Replace the interconnect cable set.  If the problem does not change after replacing the interconnect cable set, then the preamp line stage is defective.
6.  If the imbalance did not change in step 4 then the speaker wire is eliminted and also did not change in step 5, the problem must be a defective power amp channel.
7.  The easiest way to follow all this is to draw a block diagram of each step on sheets of paper and eliminate suspects as you go.

Simple, no?    :D

Yah, I know its a lot more fun to just install a $500 AC power cord and another thousand worth of Black Gate capacitors, but unfortunately that won't get to the bottom of the problem


Frank Van Alstine