Need expert advice re: loud pops.


Intuitively -and admittedly not knowing a ton about the inner workings of my gear - I have been operating under the assumption that any weird unwanted sounds coming out of my speakers (hiss, noise, hum, whatever else..) would always be caused somewhere else in the chain, but never the speakers itself (turntable, amp, DAC, some weird interaction among them, power issues, interference, and so forth).I very recently bought a used pair of Rega RX3 speakers, replacing Totem Arros. I use a PS Sprout 100 as my amp, have a Bluesound Node 2 connected to a SMSL 500 Dac going into the Sprout's analog input, and a Project Classic turntable into the phono input of the Sprout.

I am pretty sure that had never happened before with the Arros, but I have started to hear very audible loud-ish pops. First I thought it was from the turntable but then it happened also using the node/smsl analog input streaming from Tidal. Not always. I have had a few listening sessions without any pops over the course of a few hours ; but then on a few other occasions, it can start pretty much right away, and there me many 10-20 pops within one hour. Not subtle either, incredibly annoying and disruptive.

Is it possible there is something wrong with the speakers I bought? Does this phenomen sound familiar to anyone, or could someone recommend a way to trouble shoot this? Any help is much appreciated.
nkphoto

Showing 1 response by akg_ca

I had a similar event suddenly starting in my “C” system. 
In brief: I took the integrated amp in to a professional tech to look it over.

Good  thing I did ..... it was a failing solder joint on the main board that now started intermittent arcing = a potential fire hazard 
A cheap $120 fix and cost of insurance.