Smoke on my power amp


I was listening the music with the right speaker wire detached to listen to the left speaker alone. The speaker wire was still attached at the amp side. My preamp does not have the balance knob.
After 20 secs or so, there was a smoke on my power amp.
I quickly turn off the amp.
Once smoke comes, would it be safe to turn it on again? I wonder whether it is permanently damaged.
Is it not safe to listen to the music with the speaker wire detached from one speaker but still attached on the amp side?
My amp is Plinius SA 102.
Any comment?
thx


128x128ihcho

Showing 8 responses by ihcho

I think what itsjustme said wasexactly what had happened. Feel so dumb.
 I am in Michigan, two hour north of Detroit. About a year ago I had it serviced in Chicago, drove five hours.
I may try there again, or I might it send to Galbo Design. 
It would be $300 both way of shipping and maybe at least $500 for service? I wonder whether it is worth while to fix it. Used price of this amp is around $1500.
Thanks for all your replies.
My bad.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/186572523@N06/49415455691/in/dateposted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/186572523@N06/49415663367/in/dateposted-public/

I have not turned it on again since the smoke.
I am trying to find which repair shop to send this amp to.
It looks like there is no place working on Plinius amp in Michigan.
Might try Chicago, or send it to Plinius Repairs in CA.

Again, thanks.
Well, I feel so stupid about what I had done.
Anyway, I was trying different preamps, different IC cables, different speaker cables, and different sources (CD/SACD players and phono cartridges). While I was playing around, I got a bit sloppy.
I would still like to have the amp with a built in protection mechanism to prevent such case. It is so harmful to the power amp, but having no built in protection mechanism for $5K amp a decade ago does not sound right.
I cannot find any clear damage from these two inside photos. Any of you see burnt components or circuits? Thanks much.
https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipPSt_CM_-03crVgXYW6NBwEgfAXc3eNWuPSAlBJ
https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipNIz2uuUz90t-qmUl15mIkIjsxDoqVbj8YsuPLa

Thanks for all your replies.
The fuses look OK.
I'm thinking of selling it as it is, or getting it fixed.
This amp is so heavy, and shipping is a nightmare.

In the meanwhile, I have a spare AR amp and a Nakamichi Stasis amp, and will listen to them, and just enjoy music, no more playing around with cables.


Two hours north of Detroit.
If the transistor can be easily replaced, I might try by myself.
Thanks for your comments.
Thanks masaja415,
I did not know about them.
I contacted them yesterday. They seem to work on high end audio gears. It is pretty close to where I live. I will give a try.
Huge saving for me if they can fix it.

I brought it to service, and the service tech found a few components got hot, but nothing else. He said those components are not really burnt, and can function OK even after got hot and smoked.
I brought it back home and tested, and indeed it works fine.
Hope that it only burn the paints and did not negatively affect the components.
Thanks all, Al, masaja415, ...

The tech told me that he saw some power resistors got hot, but they were not burnt. According to him, other parts looked OK.