Message to self, go ahead and send it back to Yamamoto. |
Don't know what you have but it's possibly setup for 100 volt Japanese power which could cause it to blow up pretty fast if you're using 120 volts.
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Raindance, thanks for your response, it is a Yamamoto Soundcraft HA-03 headphone amp that was built for the american market special order by me. The amp that it is replacing is a Yamamoto Soundcraft HA-02 built for me 16 months ago, and it has functioned flawlessly since its arrival. My dilemma is I am almost sure that it has to be a simple fix and believe that it would be in my best interest to have it looked at by a local tech and diagnosed rather than to ship it back, was just looking for some likely possibilities and possibly a worst case sennario. The amp sells for $1,600.00, so it is a bit of an investment. |
Where are you located? I could look at it. I'm in NC. |
I am in Humble Texas a suburb of Houston. |
Humble Texas might well be greatest oxymoron in history ! |
Let me know if you are interested, tooblue and we can figure something out. Although I'm sure there are some repair guys nearer you. |
Schubert, it's hard to be humble when your perfect in every way. raindance, thank you for your very kind offer wish you were close but am trying to keep from shipping. Love Yamamoto products have the two headphone amps and his 45 tube stereo amp and never had an issue till now and the language barrier is playing out a little. By the way I am a big Guess Who fan and love the song raindance. |
Hey shubert,
C'mon down to Texas and learn some manners. Even you might be redeemable, but no guarantees.
Just don’t burn any American flags while you are here.
Dave |
tooblue - I am a Camel fan, so the moniker is related to their album Raindances... |
Raindances is one of their better albums.
@tooblue , what happens if you replace the power tubes? Does it still blow the fuse?
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Do not have extra tubes, it uses an obscure C3M Siemens. When the fuse blew initially I was listening and the music was replaced by an elevated hissing distortion for about a second before fuse blew and didn't see any tube glow anomalies.
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Never heard of the band Camel but just googled them, don't know how they got by me being a product of the mid 60s.
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The tube glowing oddly does not happen all the time.
Remove the power tube and run the unit. Does the fuse blow? If yes => it needs service, probably in the power supply. If no => install the tube and try it again. If you hear odd sounds, tap on the tubes and see if any respond. The socket might be loose (but that usually won't blow a fuse unless its the grid connection on the power tube that is loose) which can make crackling and popping sounds. So you have to sort out which is which. Sounds like it would be a good idea to obtain a spare power tube regardless since they are not all that common.
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atmosphere, thanks for your input, currently out of fuses but did just order some off ebay (damn I miss Radio Shack) and some back up tubes. when the fuses arrive I will remove the two c3m tubes and give it a try and see what happens. Going to try that before taking it to a tech for diagnoses. Unit is brand new and did work well with no issues for at least 20 hours, the first 16 being burn in hours and the last 4 actually listening. |
@raindance , just got my Yamamoto tube headphone amp back from the shop here in Houston and the diagnoses is that it has a bad transformer, that he could not get parts and that he would discard it for me and save me a trip. I have reached out to the factory with no response and was wondering, if it were you, what would your next move be? I am pretty certain at this time there is no quality audio repair in the Houston area |
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OK, so you have a couple of options:
1. Have the manufacturer send you the part and have someone install it (like me). This assumes the diagnosis is correct.
2. Send it back. I am sure shipping is not a significant percentage of the cost of the unit.
3. Send it to me. It may take a while, as I have a real job :)
You could try Google translate to communicate with the factory. These guys have a reputation to uphold and they should work with you.
I don't know which transformer is evidently bad but a weird hissing noise sure sounded like a bad tube to me. |
I sure wouldn't throw the thing away. What a waste. |
Yeah I know Raindance, dealing with Yamamoto over the last 3 years has always been favorable and straight forward but never had an issue. I am going to beat my drum with the factory till I have exhausted that channel, just feel that something is going on there, it isn't business as usual. Will use you and others as my sounding board if you don't mind. I still have to the 23rd to file a claim with PayPal and will do that today. |
, just got my Yamamoto tube headphone amp back from the shop here in
Houston and the diagnoses is that it has a bad transformer, that he
could not get parts and that he would discard it for me and save me a
trip. Red Flag! If the power transformer is bad, the manufacturer will want to see it! Any good technician would understand this, unless the unit is years old and out of warranty. |
Is there an update on the saga?
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@raindance , I am happy to say that the answer is yes, Yamamoto responded with their FedEx account info, unit was shipped back to them, transformer replaced and the HA-03 has been working great since and it is marvellous. Yamamoto was very apologetic the turn around time was less than a month and I incurred no cost.
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Great outcome, I'm happy for you. |
@raindance , I am so glad you reached out for a conclusion on my Yamamoto headphone amp, I was pondering reaching out to you on a pair of VTL MB125 mono amps that I have had for 20 years and are in need of repair. Amps had been in play all those years when I pulled them out of play 8 months ago to verify the working of another pair of Amps I had sold and was getting ready to ship to the buyer. When reinstalling the VTLs one of them blew a fuse and started showing signs of distress, exactlly what I do not remember. I purchased a new pair of Quicksilver M120s and boxed up the VTLs and they are now in storage. Would you be interested in going thru them and bringing them back to life? Time is not an issue. Bobby Williams
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Sure, I'd be happy to.
russelltownshend at yahoo dot com
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