Hello All.
I bought a used valve integrated last August. It's driving me to drink !
Although I auditioned it and it seemed fine, since bringing it home it's been nothing but trouble since.
The left channel keeps dropping in volume and I hear a sizzle in the left speaker.
The balance control doesn't work and the remote is useless.
The Aux 1 input is crackly sounding.
It's been back for repair 3 times now. Still there "on test".
The attitude from the retailer has been great and the service, as always, seems excellent .
Is this a "Monday morning" job ? Should I expect a replacement or refund if it's not right this time.
I bought this thing to relieve stress, a good listen after a hard days work ......
.....Any similar experiences out there ?
[img/Users/draw/Desktop/big_beer.jpg][/img]
Valve amp woes ....
Valve amp woes ....
- Attachments
-
- big_beer.jpg (56.14 KiB) Viewed 889 times
"Quality means doing it right when no one is looking" - Henry Ford
Re: Valve amp woes ....
Hello Gerry
You've not been using it as a beer mat bave you:)
Seriously though, whats the brand and model? Is it a US import by any chance?
Mike
You've not been using it as a beer mat bave you:)
Seriously though, whats the brand and model? Is it a US import by any chance?
Mike
Re: Valve amp woes ....
From your description it sounds like your amp has been modded. Possibly the balance control bypassed (prob a good thing) and maybe other things too. The sudden loss of gain could be anything from a bad solder joint to a poor selector switch.
Hard to tell without seeing the amp. What is the make/model etc?
Fran
Hard to tell without seeing the amp. What is the make/model etc?
Fran
Do or do not, there is no try
Re: Valve amp woes ....
Hey Mike and Fran.
Its a Synthesis "Shine" integrated amp.
Bought it from Noel.
I collected it today and all seems AOK. It actually sounds better than before - maybe that's down to the Rotel that I borrowed.
Bernard explained that finally he had found a bad crimped connection in an 8 wire ribbon cable. He remade the joint. Fixed a loose battery box in the remote.
I hope that's it.
I must say that, as always, the attitude from Ivan and Noel was excellent. And a chat with Bernard gave me back some confidence in the kit.
Oh yeah ! Seems that the ineffective balance control is a "feature" and the showroom model is the same.
I use this to drive a pair of SA 1530 speakers. Nice but .....
Saving up for something better.
Any suggestions ? Want some euphony, warm and easy, but with good resolution at moderate levels and room friendly looks.
Average size '40's built house. So not too much free space to play with.
Any suggestions ?
BTW - I hope to resume work on my turntable soon and aim to complete by end of April.
Any ideas where I can source a rasonable price/quality tonearm lead ? to go from cartridge tags to phono conn's as continuous lengths.
Fran, I'm working up a basic uni pivot arm for now. But I would still love to see your set up.
I will get to you about the platter soon if it's still on the cards ?
Thanks Guys.
Gerry
Its a Synthesis "Shine" integrated amp.
Bought it from Noel.
I collected it today and all seems AOK. It actually sounds better than before - maybe that's down to the Rotel that I borrowed.
Bernard explained that finally he had found a bad crimped connection in an 8 wire ribbon cable. He remade the joint. Fixed a loose battery box in the remote.
I hope that's it.
I must say that, as always, the attitude from Ivan and Noel was excellent. And a chat with Bernard gave me back some confidence in the kit.
Oh yeah ! Seems that the ineffective balance control is a "feature" and the showroom model is the same.
I use this to drive a pair of SA 1530 speakers. Nice but .....
Saving up for something better.
Any suggestions ? Want some euphony, warm and easy, but with good resolution at moderate levels and room friendly looks.
Average size '40's built house. So not too much free space to play with.
Any suggestions ?
BTW - I hope to resume work on my turntable soon and aim to complete by end of April.
Any ideas where I can source a rasonable price/quality tonearm lead ? to go from cartridge tags to phono conn's as continuous lengths.
Fran, I'm working up a basic uni pivot arm for now. But I would still love to see your set up.
I will get to you about the platter soon if it's still on the cards ?
Thanks Guys.
Gerry
"Quality means doing it right when no one is looking" - Henry Ford
Re: Valve amp woes ....
I have some very decent ARM cable you can have no prob. Connections from a computer d-sub connector will do very nicely for the cartridge tags (might have some of them too).
Platter still on if possible....
Fran
Platter still on if possible....
Fran
Do or do not, there is no try
Re: Valve amp woes ....
Hello Gerry
Pleased your amp is feeling better.
I was very impressed with the System Audios when auditioning at Cloneys, but decided to stretch my budget a bit and go for the Spendor A5.
I'd suggest you have a listen to these as I'd say they have the qualities your looking for, together with an all round 'togetherness' if you know what I mean. Might not have the same sensitivity as the 1530s though.
Mike
Pleased your amp is feeling better.
I was very impressed with the System Audios when auditioning at Cloneys, but decided to stretch my budget a bit and go for the Spendor A5.
I'd suggest you have a listen to these as I'd say they have the qualities your looking for, together with an all round 'togetherness' if you know what I mean. Might not have the same sensitivity as the 1530s though.
Mike