2. amps-preamps
  3. 189307-149900

Loud pop/screech when powering on amp

Hello All,

 

I have an Audio Refinement Multi 5. I just bought her used in pristine condition a couple months ago. I get a loud pop when I turn it on. But the last couple of days there's almost like a weird screeching sound right after the pop . Everything sounds. fine when I play music/movies, but I'm a little concerned if this is a bad sign. I'm also a little concerned if this is harming my speaks. I have had other amps that pop and I know this is normal. I always turn her on last and turn her off first and volume is always low when powering on and off. I only use the power button in the front when done for the night. I have not turned the main power button off since connecting her. I have a Shunyata power cable plugged directly into the wall on the amp. I have an Audioquest Powerquest 303, should I maybe try plugging the amp into that, would that help? I also did turn off the main power switch on the back this morning and will try when I get home to see if this helps when I power her up...

 

Thanks in advance for any advice...

 

Best Regards...

kingbr

Showing 6 responses by immatthewj

immatthewj
1,229 posts
 

thanks for the replies! @noromance i don’t recall seeing anything about red dot hot side? Do you think using the original power cable will help?

@kingbr , I am not sure if this is what noromance was referring to, but if the outlet is wired correctly, the narrow slot (to plug into) is the HOT one and the wide slot is NEUTRAL.

 

immatthewj
1,229 posts
 

I think bigkidz is based in New Jersey, isn't he?  That would almost be in road trip range from New Hampshire.

immatthewj
1,229 posts
 

@kingbr  , is the "pop" you are getting  being heard through both speakers, or only on one side?

immatthewj
1,229 posts
 

. . . well, if it is a cap, you could probably replace it yourself, and it probably wouldn't be a real hard DIY.  You could get an affordable cap checker on Amazon and then you could take the bottom (or top) off of your unit and check all the caps against each other (assuming that there are at least two of each).  Then if you find one measuring wildly different than the other one, you could get a replacement from PCX (Parts Connection).  I only suggest this because if I was able to do it, probably almost anyone could.

immatthewj
1,229 posts
 

Let caps drain for a few minutes after you unplug the amp but before you open it.

Actually, what the tech from Cary Audio told me many moons ago was that the caps would discharge faster if you left it plugged in (for a while) after you turned it off. But if one was really going to work on it, a shunt to manually discharge caps would be a good idea.

immatthewj
1,229 posts
 

if it is a blown cap, why would the amp still play and sound fine?

Sorry, OP; I don't know enough about electrical theory and function to answer that--I only know how to change parts assuming I can identify the correct ones.

I will say that I had an old preamp that was spitting and popping (but it did play) and I was talking to the tech at Cary about it (this was back when they would talk to you on the phone) and he actually did mention the possibility of a cap being bad.  So I guess it is possible that a cap could be on the way out but not completely gone?  I don't know for sure on that, and in the case of that preamp I just alluded to, it was actually some ancient worn out tubes.

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