Another one bites the dust

Rod_S · « **on:** 13 May 2009, 11:37 am »

The other day as I was watching tv I noticed something seemed off with the sound, there seemed to be a lot more sound coming out of the right speaker compared to the left on stereo. So I go up to the left speaker and hear next to nothing. Interesting. I go into my SSP menu and engage the test tones and sure enough the sound coming out of the left speaker is very garbled and weak in volume. To trouble shoot in order to find the source of the issue I first just swap the speaker cables from left to right on my 4B-SST amp and the issue moved to the right speaker. So this narrowed it down to either the amp, SSP or cable from the SSP to the amp. I then swap my connections so that another amp, a 4B-SST

is powering the left and right speakers. I engage the test tones and no issues. So that ruled out a problem with the SSP and cables so it must be an issue with the other amp. So I re-connect the other 4B-SST and rerun the test tones. The problem is back. For another test I switch to a single ended connection, make the necessary adjustment to the sensitivity etc. and re-run the test tones and everything is fine. So the issue is the cable???? even though it passed the other test

but fine, I have another balanced cable and hook that up and everything is back to normal, the problem is gone. Very weird. The next day I notice the sound is off again, I run the test tones and the sound is once again garbled out of the left speaker so it wasn't the cable but something with the balanced circuitry in the amp or at least that's my best guess.

I know Bryston will take care of the amp, no issues there but the interesting thing is I had a problem with the other 4B-SST a couple of months ago in which it started severely overheating and had to be sent in for service. That amp was purchased in 2004 and the amp with the issue this time was purchased in either 2006 or 2007, I can't remember right off but these are not "old" amps my any means. Could there possibly be something in my setup putting unwanted stress on the amps leading to failures like I'm seeing? My amps are always turned off when I'm not using my system and since I live in an apartment I don't have enough outlets to allow me to run the amps straight into the wall outlets so the amps are plugged into a Furman IT Reference power conditioner. I have had my SSP, DVD player, Xbox, Xbox 360, Satellite receiver, tv, CD player, VCR and tape deck all plugged into the Furman at one point or another, with the SSP, satellite receiver, tv, CD player and Xbox 360 always connected to it and have had no issues with any. The SSP and DVD player have been plugged into the Furman since 2003 as they are my oldest products along with the older Bryston amp.

Any ideas, do you think the issues with the amps might be system related or just bad luck?

Thanks,

Rod

James Tanner · « **Reply #1 on:** 13 May 2009, 11:51 am »

Hi Rod,

It sounds like as you say a Balanced input issue on the amp.

As for the other amp overheating that can be either a bias problem or there is a small amount of DC somewhere on the line causing the protection circuits to cut in. I assume that amp has worked OK since you got it repaired?

james

Rod_S · « **Reply #2 on:** 13 May 2009, 01:31 pm »

Yeah, the other amp is working like a charm since being repaired.

I'm hoping to get this sent off within the next 2 weeks. The store where I bought the amp from is no longer in business, will that be of any concern? I'm just hoping to take it to my local retailer, the one who sent my other amp to you. The difference here being I actually purchased the other amp from them but considering the amount of money I have spent with them over the years I don't think it will be a problem. I bought the amp new and I took delivery literally just before the policy changed that original receipts are needed for service, that was in late January or early February of that particular year I think. I remember checking my serial number at the time to make sure. The reason why I mention it is I have looked every where for my receipt and can't find it. I didn't have my receipt for the amp I returned earlier this year but the guys at the store were able to go through their records and find the sale, that will not be an option this time though.

James Tanner · « **Reply #3 on:** 13 May 2009, 02:38 pm »

Quote from: Rod_S on 13 May 2009, 01:31 pm

Yeah, the other amp is working like a charm since being repaired.

I'm hoping to get this sent off within the next 2 weeks. The store where I bought the amp from is no longer in business, will that be of any concern? I'm just hoping to take it to my local retailer, the one who sent my other amp to you. The difference here being I actually purchased the other amp from them but considering the amount of money I have spent with them over the years I don't think it will be a problem. I bought the amp new and I took delivery literally just before the policy changed that original receipts are needed for service, that was in late January or early February of that particular year I think. I remember checking my serial number at the time to make sure. The reason why I mention it is I have looked every where for my receipt and can't find it. I didn't have my receipt for the amp I returned earlier this year but the guys at the store were able to go through their records and find the sale, that will not be an option this time though.

Hi Rod,

Send me the serial number and dealer purchased from.

james

Rod_S · « **Reply #4 on:** 13 May 2009, 04:01 pm »

Sure, I'll do that this evening.

Thanks

Rod_S · « **Reply #5 on:** 8 Jun 2009, 01:05 pm »

Hi James, would you be able to check on the status of my 4B-SST that I had my dealer send in for repair a few weeks ago. I'm starting to miss running my system in 7.1

I can send you the serial number again via PM.

Thanks,

Rod

James Tanner · « **Reply #6 on:** 8 Jun 2009, 01:07 pm »

Quote from: Rod_S on 8 Jun 2009, 01:05 pm

Hi James, would you be able to check on the status of my 4B-SST that I had my dealer send in for repair a few weeks ago. I'm starting to miss running my system in 7.1
I can send you the serial number again via PM.

Thanks,

Rod

Sure, send it to jamestanner@bryston.com

james

Rod_S · « **Reply #7 on:** 8 Jun 2009, 02:14 pm »

Thanks James I appreciate it. I just sent the e-mail. It will be from a hotmail account.

Rod

James Tanner · « **Reply #8 on:** 8 Jun 2009, 04:40 pm »

Quote from: Rod_S on 8 Jun 2009, 02:14 pm

Thanks James I appreciate it. I just sent the e-mail. It will be from a hotmail account.

Rod

Hi Rod,

No fault found. Mike is calling you for more info.

james

Rod_S · « **Reply #9 on:** 8 Jun 2009, 05:38 pm »

Thanks James. I got the call from Mike. I described to him what I was experiencing and all of what I did to isolate the issue to the amp. He said they would take another look. We found it odd that the problem didn't show up at the factory. Perhaps it corrected itself and if I hadn't have sent the amp back the issue would have just went away during the time it has been at the factory anyways.

Oh well, we'll see if anything else happens.

Thanks

James Tanner · « **Reply #10 on:** 8 Jun 2009, 05:52 pm »

Quote from: Rod_S on 8 Jun 2009, 05:38 pm

Thanks James. I got the call from Mike. I described to him what I was experiencing and all of what I did to isolate the issue to the amp. He said they would take another look. We found it odd that the problem didn't show up at the factory. Perhaps it corrected itself and if I hadn't have sent the amp back the issue would have just went away during the time it has been at the factory anyways.

Oh well, we'll see if anything else happens.

Thanks

Hi Rod,

Mikes very meticulous so rest assured if there is an issue he will find it.

james

Rod_S · « **Reply #11 on:** 9 Jun 2009, 12:56 am »

Yeah I'm sure the problem will pop up for him especially where it seemed to be so consistent for me. Perhaps the ride back to the factory giggled something back into place that may have been loose or something to that affect

The issue has not happened since the amp was taken out of my system. That amp powered my mains so it would be quite noticeable if the issue cropped up again.

Rod_S · « **Reply #12 on:** 15 Jun 2009, 01:41 pm »

I'm curious if Mike was able to get channel 1 to reproduce the audible distortion that I was getting when he did some more testing after speaking to me on Monday?

I think my Denon DVD-A1UDCI may come out at the end of next week or the week after so I'm hoping to have the amp back by then (fingers crossed) to listen to the glorious BluRay sound tracks for the first time through all of my speakers

I'm soo excited to finally be getting a BluRay player.

James Tanner · « **Reply #13 on:** 15 Jun 2009, 01:53 pm »

Quote from: Rod_S on 15 Jun 2009, 01:41 pm

I'm curious if Mike was able to get channel 1 to reproduce the audible distortion that I was getting when he did some more testing after speaking to me on Monday?

I think my Denon DVD-A1UDCI may come out at the end of next week or the week after so I'm hoping to have the amp back by then (fingers crossed) to listen to the glorious BluRay sound tracks for the first time through all of my speakers I'm soo excited to finally be getting a BluRay player.

I Rod,

I'll check with Mike for you.

james

Rod_S · « **Reply #14 on:** 15 Jun 2009, 02:27 pm »

Thank you

Rod_S · « **Reply #15 on:** 18 Jun 2009, 05:07 pm »

Did you have an opportunity to speak with Mike yet James?

James Tanner · « **Reply #16 on:** 18 Jun 2009, 05:14 pm »

Quote from: Rod_S on 18 Jun 2009, 05:07 pm

Did you have an opportunity to speak with Mike yet James?

Hi Rod,

Yes your 4B is on the way back to you - Mike tells me we could not get it to act up here but we replaced all the switches on the back panel as that appears to be the only logical conclusion.

james

Rod_S · « **Reply #17 on:** 18 Jun 2009, 05:33 pm »

Thanks very much James. I'll let you know how it goes when I get it back and up and running. I really appreciate you guys replacing the components even though you found no issues. That's why I love Bryston

Rod_S · « **Reply #18 on:** 27 Jun 2009, 04:58 pm »

Hi James,

I received the amp early this week and it has been running flawlessly since adding it back into my system. The issue must have been in the balanced input that was replaced as a precaution.

Good job, thanks

James Tanner · « **Reply #19 on:** 27 Jun 2009, 06:37 pm »

Quote from: Rod_S on 27 Jun 2009, 04:58 pm

Hi James,

I received the amp early this week and it has been running flawlessly since adding it back into my system. The issue must have been in the balanced input that was replaced as a precaution.

Good job, thanks

Hi Rod,

Good to hear thanks for the feedback.

james