my guess would be a DC coupling capacitor has gone bad in the AR pre |
You means dc leaking? Would it will damage all my other new components. It is a brand new pre-amp and I thought AR is a good products. Any SP16 owner outhere? Called AR two hours ago, left a message but no response yet. |
It does sound as if you have a capacitor leaking dc. Leonard at ARC would be the person to contact. I don't see anyway to fix it w/o sending back to ARC.
It shouldn't damage your other equipment, if the pop is at a low level as you say. If it is a leaking cap, the pop can get louder though, at which point it is possible that it could harm your speakers or amplifier. Get it fixed now.
If it's brand new, just have your dealer replace it, or send it to ARC, it should be covered under warranty.
The Bryston and Rotel are solid state, correct? From my experiences, tube equipment sounds much better, but is more prone to issues like this than solid state equipment.
This is not normal ARC operation though. |
Thanks, jmcgrogan. I went to my dealer and tried on both of his SP16. They both are quite, no pops no boops from speakers. You are right that this is not normal. Bought the ARC about a month ago but did not received my Bryston amp untill last week. Just hooked them up couple days ago, very small pop at first and I did not sweat it. Today, the BOOPS sound is louder right beteen the speakers. Will put ARC service at test if the can exchange for another unit. My dealer will let me know and I will post follow-up about ARC customer service. Regards. |
I would say that when you switch modes on the 16 always mute it or you will get a pop that is normal, I installed a new 16 in my dads system a couple weeks ago and it needs to be muted prior to mode switch and power off, I believe mute is auto on power on. |
It's the dealer you should ask for exchange, not the ARC.
Does the pop sound quieter when the preamp is warmed up? |
Well ARC's customer service is normally very good, that should not be an issue. Has your dealer let you try any of his SP16's with your Bryston? Just to make sure that the problem is not with the Bryston? I doubt that it is, I'm just curious. Have you tried your SP-16 with another amp instead of the Bryston? Did you take your SP-16 into your dealer's shop to try with other amps? The problem is probably the SP-16, but you want to make sure that it is not the Bryston.
I think your dealer should just replace it with another SP-16. It's not like you've been running the SP-16 for 6 months and this just started happening. The problem started as soon as you started using it. I would push your dealer for replacement, not factory service. If he refuses, then I would support another dealer in the future.
Of course that's assuming that the problem does indeed lie within your SP-16.
John |
Yeah, I would take the SP16 to my dealer to check it out. Good idea. I hope the amp is not the problem since the dealer did told me it was very heavy and he did drop the box when carying it out (I bought both units at the same dealer) but when power up and power down the down, the Bryston itself is dead quiet,no pops, no poops. I have the baby Krell 400xi in my bedroom. I guess I can use its pre-amp out to the Bryston amp input to check but I am afraid I may messed up both unit. At my old age, I am not fast and sharp as I used to be so I am always scare to mess thing up more. I will ask for new replacement either with the pre or the amp once I find out which one is the culprit. Again, thanks, Jmcgrogan. Ps: I hate issues with electronic gears.I buy them new as an insurance policy. But it is not a very good insurance policy I guess |
Heck, if you bought both the amp and the preamp new from a local dealer, he should come to your house and figure out what the problem is for you. Especially if the dealer dropped the amp box while carrying it out. These dealers are supposed to provide some service for the premium prices you pay. Feel it safe to assume that your dealer made at least $1K on the sale of both units, he should make sure they work correctly in your home upon setup.
Don't be intimidated by the dealer. You did pay a premium, you should have new equipment that functions perfectly out of the box, or the dealer should be jumping through hoops to figure out why not. Too many bricks and mortar stores are going out of business. I fully recommend supporting them if they support you. It has to be a two way street though.
John |
yeah, I used to be a very sucessful account executive for a phone company. Went thru a divorce then lost my high paid job. Moved out a small apt then sold all my beloved hi-end gears since I did not have any desire to listen to music for a while. Last year, I managed to save some dough and bought two 400Xi and now the Sp16l& 4 Bsst from the same dealer. He has been alright to me by giving my some good discount. Will see how he far he will and would take care of me. You are right about life is the two way street. Will be in touch John. Sorry. Don't mean to be too personal. |
This is the deal. source on first, then SP16 on second ( it takes a minute or two and goes to mute by itself), then I power on the amp ( little buzz at amp then red relay lights then blue lights ). I then use the mute off ( boop noise) , volume up( pop noise ). Put back to mute ( some times "boop", sometimes quiet ). Unmute ( Boop). Not the regular "pop" or "tack" of switching device as in Krell 400xi. It not loud but not a regular pop either. Audphile1, I don't know if this hobby worth anything at all. I am stressed out and burned a pack of cigarette last night 'till 3:am . Chadnliz, Hello again ! I understand that too but I hate to unmute the SP16 since it Boops louder than out functions. At the dealer, his SP16 was dead quite from the speakers. NOw I am much more worry since I don't know if the SP16 or the amp. Thanks again. |
No, Audiophile , It is the same loudness. |
I would recommend bringing your preamp to the dealer and check it there in their system. |
Received an e-mail from Bryston advised me to have the SP16
checked. I e-mailed Bryston the symtomp of my system last night. Will have to call ARC and to come down to the dealer tomorrow. He is a very nice guy but too busy to call ARC for my exchange after I file the complaints twice ! |
Have the Sp16 hook up to the 4 Bsst and a smaller Paradigm reference ( don't know what the model is ) at dealer, there is a very small pop from the speakers , not a loud "Boop" when switching mute on/off, others functions is normally quite. Leonard at ARC advised it could be the Bryston input got some dc leaking. Well, it is time to carry this 50 some pounds back to the dealer for checking. Any thoughts anyone ? I wonder if the speakers'sensitivity have somto do with the "Boops". |
I took the amp and the pre-amp with my ICs to the dealer and to my surprise, there was no POP no BOOP noise . I felt kind of stupid for stressing out with owner.Back to my house, again there is a POP/BOOP. Blame it to my electric company or my builder as folks at Bryston said. |
Boy I want to say it sounds like you run really efficient speakers but Paradigms are not overly efficient, I had 98db efficient Innersound Electrostats and I could hear everything and it always bothered me. My current VMPS speakers are I think 92db and I have no issues. Can you try another outlet just to see, lift the ground maybe,,,just throwning darts at the wall now but I hope you figure it out.........that sucks my friend. |
Yeah, It not only sucks. It almost damages my long term relationship with the dealer since I take my frustration out on him. Thanks God, the dealer is a super understanding guy. I am trying out new ICs and Speaker Cables just for the hell of it. It may or may not fix issue. |
I am fixing to send this POS, namely SP16L to ARC for service. Just in vain, Does anybody knows why the pre-amp only POP in volume up and down after about 1/2 hour warm up and only POP from zero to 4 at the read-out level. Passing 4 level at the read-out on front panel, there is no POP. When I took them to the dealer, it did not POP since it wasn't barely warmed up. |
Have you called ARC and spoken with Leonard already. I answered the question regarding the the LS3 owners pop in the other thread.That one may be due to DC offset in his amplifier,per ARC. Sounds like you may have a seperate issue. You can always contact Steve Huntley at his shop (Great american northern sound?) and ask him, He worked at ARC for years before going out on his own. |
I went to the local dealer today, their unit also POP but not as loud as at my house. I asked the owner turn down all the music and now he can hear what I 've heard but at a smaller scale since their enviroment is noisy with all the gears running. I took their SP16 home and et voila the same BS pop when mute and noisy volume up and down at lower level. Their and mine both acts the same way, what can I say, either the SP16 is designed to be Pop and noisy on volume control or the public owns poorly designed gears except for those who owns all ARC gears. My 799.00 Onkyo receiver is operating dead quiet after all these years, no POP no scratchy volume up and down and it faithfully does its job in my garage. Is it the reality of hi-end industry. Your unit is noisy but it is normal as our spec. called for and there is nothing to be fixed. We have performed bench test your unit twice and it is as good as new. Thank you, guys. Such a good working ethics, such a good customer service and I vannot wait to unload this baby on used market. |
