Help me....

satfrat · « **Reply #20 on:** 14 Aug 2010, 08:42 pm »

Thanks for naming the amp but I doubt static's the problem, this time of the year anyways as that's usually a winter issue. I lost an exterior hard drive from a static discharge,,, the 1" spark was a dead giveaway.

I hope you can track this issue down and will post the issue,, Sweet Georgia Brown good luck.

Cheers,
Robin

kingdeezie · « **Reply #21 on:** 14 Aug 2010, 08:47 pm »

Here is a thought...

My phono preamp is a Dodd battery phono preamp.

Could it be a battery issue here?

The batteries are over a year old. Could they be leaking or something causing too much voltage or something?

eclein · « **Reply #22 on:** 14 Aug 2010, 08:54 pm »

I don't think that would make a popping sound, wouldn't it just have trouble holding a charge and go dead if it was leaking??

kingdeezie · « **Reply #23 on:** 14 Aug 2010, 08:56 pm »

No clue, its why I asked.

Could it be a bad tube in the phono preamplifier?

WGH · « **Reply #24 on:** 14 Aug 2010, 09:19 pm »

A tube pin could have developed an intermittent connection or there is a solder joint that opens when the tube pre-amp heats up, both situations would cause a pop and dead channel. When the pre-amp cools off then it will work again. Did you hear a rushing, static sound through the speakers before the pop?

Time to start wiggling and tapping amps, tubes, and connections to find the culprit.

Wayne

CSI · « **Reply #25 on:** 14 Aug 2010, 10:30 pm »

Although you already swapped mono blocks back and forth I would do it again, leaving the amp that "died" on you when it was in the right position permanently on the other side. If the problem recurs and the right hand amp goes again this will at least tell you that you have not one but two touchy amps or, more likely, that there is something seriously amiss in the right channel of your phono preamp.

eclein · « **Reply #26 on:** 14 Aug 2010, 10:46 pm »

CSI- Thats a great idea!!!

Bill Baker · « **Reply #27 on:** 14 Aug 2010, 10:58 pm »

Is there a particular volume level, "type' of music or somethng else that would be a common denominator when the amps shut down?

kingdeezie · « **Reply #28 on:** 14 Aug 2010, 11:50 pm »

Quote from: Response Audio on 14 Aug 2010, 10:58 pm

Is there a particular volume level, "type' of music or somethng else that would be a common denominator when the amps shut down?

No.

Actually, I was listening to digital again now that they both work properly, and I had the volume up louder then I would ever listen to normally for about an hour without a problem.

It doesn't seem to be the amplifiers that are the problem in and of themselves.

What about the interconnects?

The ones I use are unshielded. They are close proximity to power cables, so they do buzz and hum.

Is there a chance that the static created by vinyl playback builds up on the cables, and overload the input of the amplifier?

The only other thing I can think of is going back to the speaker cables, maybe they are damaged on the inside somehow and its positional.

When I moved the amplifier from the right to left the first time it worked, when I moved the amplifier back to the right it didn't work until I put the speaker cables from the left side there.

I then put the cables from the right that weren't working on the left channel and it worked. Perhaps, there is a kink or something that got straightened out.

Maybe it was happening when listening to vinyl because I was getting up and down and moving the cable.

jimbop · « **Reply #29 on:** 16 Aug 2010, 02:18 pm »

My guess is that you have a bad component or solder connection that causes the problem. Shutting the unit down and moving it resets it. It may be somewhere in the output circuit, since it goes away when you connect the speaker cables.

bprice2 · « **Reply #30 on:** 16 Aug 2010, 03:02 pm »

It sounds like the amp you use for the right channel overheated and shut off, then was good again after it had a chance to cool down.

Just my unqualified diagnosis.

Quote from: CSI on 14 Aug 2010, 10:30 pm

Although you already swapped mono blocks back and forth I would do it again, leaving the amp that "died" on you when it was in the right position permanently on the other side. If the problem recurs and the right hand amp goes again this will at least tell you that you have not one but two touchy amps or, more likely, that there is something seriously amiss in the right channel of your phono preamp.

This sounds like a very good idea.

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #31 on:** 16 Aug 2010, 03:11 pm »

Haven't read the thread and don't know if it's been mentioned here, but AC has a definite policy about politics and religion. This would include prayers and petitions to preferred deities and dead prophets etc. I'd link the rule but I can't seem to find it on the fly.

sts9fan · « **Reply #32 on:** 16 Aug 2010, 04:16 pm »

Really? Come on let it go. My next door neighbor is named Jesus. There is ZERO religous content here.

FYI I agree with the shutting down into a "safe mode" theory. I would send them to Klaus.

kingdeezie · « **Reply #33 on:** 16 Aug 2010, 05:03 pm »

100 percent positive its not the amplifiers.

I play them all the time with never a hiccup.

I think a big thing that people are missing is that when the right channel stopped working, I moved the right amplifier to the left and it worked....

When I moved it back to the right immediately after it has just been working on the left, it DIDN'T work again.

If the amp was faulty or in safety mode it wouldn't matter what side it was on.

I played vinyl last night for 4 hours without a problem.

I think the speaker cable got crimped by the speaker and caused the problem.

turkey · « **Reply #34 on:** 17 Aug 2010, 04:35 pm »

Quote from: Elizabeth on 14 Aug 2010, 08:11 pm

OK, my first impression is that NOTHING you did changed anything. It is the TIME involved, then the amp probably had gone into overload and shut down to protect itself. time goes by.. works. period. This is my theory.
As for the near explosive loud POP. Somewhere in the phono circuit is a problem. it is getting a full voltage hit for a moment, amplifying it and BOOM your amp is shutting down to keep the speaker from exploding.
So the problem is in the phono section, or in the cart wiring, or static electricity is building up and discharging into the channel that is going boom.
I do NOT think it is static. I think a wire, or some serious fault is in your phono section.
This is my diagnosis

Assuming that the amps have a protection circuit of some kind and not just fuses, I agree with this.

I think I would look at the mechanical side of things first, so the phono cartridge and wiring would be where I'd start.

turkey · « **Reply #35 on:** 17 Aug 2010, 04:38 pm »

Quote from: kingdeezie on 16 Aug 2010, 05:03 pm

100 percent positive its not the amplifiers.

I play them all the time with never a hiccup.

I think a big thing that people are missing is that when the right channel stopped working, I moved the right amplifier to the left and it worked....

When I moved it back to the right immediately after it has just been working on the left, it DIDN'T work again.

Ok, I missed that.

Quote

I think the speaker cable got crimped by the speaker and caused the problem.

I don't think I see any evidence of this being the case.

turkey · « **Reply #36 on:** 17 Aug 2010, 04:44 pm »

What I'm thinking right now is that you have some sort of sporadic instability in your system before the power amps. Maybe the phono preamp or preamp.

When it shows up, the amp will shut down, either because of a huge transient (the pop), or because of a lot of DC on the output (or both). Whichever amp you then connect to that channel will go into protection and not produce any output. Then the problem goes away for a while and everything seems to work fine - until next time.

CSI · « **Reply #37 on:** 17 Aug 2010, 05:24 pm »

Quote from: turkey on 17 Aug 2010, 04:38 pm

Ok, I missed that.

I don't think I see any evidence of this being the case.

If the cable did get crimped (shorted) and that caused the problem you really need to replace the cable. Even if it doesn't do it again the cable is going to cause you problems down the road (sonically if not electrically). Why not move the cable as well as the amp to the left side (as I suggested before)? That would put both suspect components out of the right channel and, if the problem comes back on the right side, you should be even more certain that the problem is further upstream.

kingdeezie · « **Reply #38 on:** 17 Aug 2010, 06:51 pm »

Quote from: turkey on 17 Aug 2010, 04:44 pm

What I'm thinking right now is that you have some sort of sporadic instability in your system before the power amps. Maybe the phono preamp or preamp.

When it shows up, the amp will shut down, either because of a huge transient (the pop), or because of a lot of DC on the output (or both). Whichever amp you then connect to that channel will go into protection and not produce any output. Then the problem goes away for a while and everything seems to work fine - until next time.

This is interesting.

I can rule out the preamplifier. I played it the whole day on Saturday in combination with my digital rig and my HT setup and it never had any problems.

It has happened twice now while listening to analog, which leads me to believe it something to do with the phono preamplifier if anything is wrong.

The phono preamp is battery operated which is why I was suggesting maybe something is wrong with the batteries. They are 15 months old.

kingdeezie · « **Reply #39 on:** 17 Aug 2010, 06:54 pm »

Quote from: CSI on 17 Aug 2010, 05:24 pm

If the cable did get crimped (shorted) and that caused the problem you really need to replace the cable. Even if it doesn't do it again the cable is going to cause you problems down the road (sonically if not electrically). Why not move the cable as well as the amp to the left side (as I suggested before)? That would put both suspect components out of the right channel and, if the problem comes back on the right side, you should be even more certain that the problem is further upstream.

Perhaps they didn't get shorted, perhaps there is something lose in the connection to the banana plug.

I did state in an earlier post that the flex wrapping near banana plug is mangled on the right cable.