Classe CA100 - Static, Cut Outs when cold. Ideas?

stereo

I had the same exact problem with my Classe CAP 150, sent it back to Quebec twice, both times cold solder joints.  It happened a third time and brought it to a local tech who found at least 6 more bad solder joints.  Hence, have a local tech re-solder  everything.

Ouch! And all shipping is a nuisance - it's really one of the Dirty Little Secrets about hi-fi.

@cleeds .............

I had the same exact problem with my Classe CAP 150, sent it back to Quebec twice, both times cold solder joints.  It happened a third time and brought it to a local tech who found at least 6 more bad solder joints.  Hence, have a local tech re-solder  everything. 

stereo5

It’s a cold solder joint.  Classe quality went downhill ...

It's impossible to remotely troubleshoot audio problems, even by experts.  Speculation is  the best anyone can offer.

This problem is commonly caused by noisy differential input transistors. I've seen this on many solid state amps. As they warm up the noise often goes away. I really doubt a bad solder joint as the warmup issue would not exist.

It’s a cold solder joint.  Classe quality went downhill after Glen Grue took over from David Reich at Classe.  Your best bet is to have a tech go over every soldered connection. 

I know this thread is many years old, but maybe people can still use this information.  I have a CA-150 with a similar issue, but it isn't just when cold and I don't hear static, just silence.  I could have a channel drop out at any time, but only at low volumes.  Crank it up, and the channel is back.  It's been going on for many years, and I had always assumed it meant the tubes in my preamp were near end of life.  But now I've replaced the tube preamp with a solid state, and the problem was still there.  So I've been using the CA-150 recently with the top off, and when it occurred today, I poked at a few components (with plastic of course) looking for a loose solder joint or whatever, and when I poked the right channel relay, it clicked back on!  So, I'm trying to locate new relays, although it may just be a solder/socket issue.  

Had the same problem with a Classe' CAP 150. Amp would cut off and on when cold, left it on all the time and had no problems. It went back to Classe twice for this problem and both times they said they repaired cold solder connections.

FWIW, I have a classe ca-150 and have never had a single problem with it and love the sound of it.
I say just try leaving it on 24 / 7. It's kinda like when you go to the Dr. And tell him it hurts when you do "this", so he says "well don't do that!"

I experienced a similar problem with a CA 100.

These amps are getting old so it could be a bad cap or even a bad solder joint somewhere. (The cost of repair could approach the price of a replacement amp, but then you don't know if the replacement might be close to developing a similar problem.)

Or, could you just leave it "On" and avoid the cold start problem?

I have had poor success with Classe repair for products manufactured prior to the acquisition. Factory support for these older lines seems quite inconsistent.

Hi Miatame - i have the same problem with my CA-101. It has been doing this for about 4 years now. I sent it back to Classe under warranty at the end of the 5 year warranty when it started and they could not duplicate it (neither could my dealer - though it is so intermittent, they may have missed it). I listened at the dealer for hours and it did not exibit the problem at all. It was at the dealer for a week.
In any event my dealer mentioned that he had a couple of these amps come back to him and he could not duplicate it either. They believe it may be a power issue....at least that is their thoughts.
Before you lay out some $$ on a bench check you can try this:
1)Try plugging your amp (with an extension chord) into different outlets throughout the house on different circuits to see if the problem persists. If so, then that rules out your current circuit.
2) Try your amp in a friends system or a friends house.
3)This may be a bit harder but if you and a neighbor are friends - see if you can get a long extension chord and use an outdoor outlet and snake it through a window if possible, plug it into your amp and see if the problem is still there. (BTW I was never able to do this). Or bring your system to a friend or family members house to see if it can be duplicated.

Sounds kind of weird, but if it is intermittent like mine, it will be hard to duplicate, unless you have an actual repeatable problem that a dealer can duplicate....you amp is older so it could be some old caps.

Just a thought and my experience. My Amp does it more frequently now, but I gave up trying to pin it down and spending money on shipping costs, as well as repair fees to bench check it.