2. amps-preamps
  3. 1257263724

Sudenly silence

Listening to my system this morning (Rawson Aleph 5, Manley Shrimp, Cary 308T) when suddenly there was silence. I was only a few feet from the cdp and could see that it was working, or at least reading the disc because the time function kept timing. I replaced the tubes on both the cdp and pre about two months ago but have played the system since the retubing many times without issue. Maybe a fuse? Or...? I thought I might have smelled a brief hint of "burn" but no smoke present. Please help. Thanks.
jimlisa98

Showing 2 responses by atmasphere

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,086 posts
 
I'm not buying any of Newbee's comment. Such a scenario is quite unusual.

Have you checked any of the fuses? That would be the first place to look.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,086 posts
 
Newbee, no worries on this end. Most tube preamps have a coupling cap at the output that prevents DC. Failure in such parts even after 30-40 years is really rare. So DC at the output of the preamp is not likely to be the issue.

I agree that DC at the input of a SS amp could bring serious issues, although most SS amps have protection for that. Given that things just 'died' though, my recommendation is just check the fuses- all of them, including those in the preamp.

Another thing to try would be to disconnect the interconnect from the rear of the preamp and see if the amp will make a buzz in the speaker. The fact that both channels died is significant- whatever causing this is common to both channels. That is one reason why I reject the preamp DC argument- if a preamp *were* to pass DC, its far more likely to be from one channel than both.
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