2. amps-preamps
  3. 187748-186532

Did I damage my new amp

So, as posted elsewhere, I bought new Monitor Audio Gold 300 speakers which I am still waiting to receive. I was impressed by the Arcam SA30 during the audition so I brought one home to pair with the speakers whenever I get them. In the meantime I am using my 20 year old MA Silver S8’s

Being new to streaming it took some playing around before I figured everything out. But one big mistake was not understanding that the volume on my iPhone also effects the amp volume.

Long story short, I managed to crank the volume on the amp to 100% for a few seconds before I understood what was happening, and got it turned down. ( I found the max. volume setting after the fact)

Since then I find my speakers a bit distorted. Now, I don’t know if they sounded like that with the old amp. Am I just over analysing things, paying TOO much attention to details as it’s a new amp and I’m listening too hard for an improvement, or I damaged the speakers or the amp. It sounds fine with jazz but something more in the progressive rock style and it sounds distorted.

I would like to think that if the amp was in danger it would shut itself down before anything would get damaged. And it was really only a few seconds. I probably will not see my new speakers until next week so I can’t compare with anything and this is got me totally depressed thinking it’s the amp.

What do you all think?

 

neversatisfied
neversatisfied OP
69 posts
 

 I have disabled my remote smartphone volume adjustment function 
 

Something I don’t have as that would be the solution 

ozzy62's avatar
ozzy62
2,841 posts
 

 Buy a dedicated streamer and only use your phone or iPad to control the app. Volume control would only come from the preamp.

falconquest's avatar
falconquest
1,108 posts
 

I learned this the hard way also. My tv remote triggers my preamp so I put on some music and the volume control was at about 3:00. Normal loud volume is at 10:00 so I was instantly blown out of my chair. That’s just one more thing to be aware of. No damage to anything thankfully!

tcotruvo's avatar
tcotruvo
179 posts
 

Same thing happened to me.  I bought a used RME ADI-2 DAC fs.  I installed it and turned it on.  It was set at very high volume and I immediately turned it down.  Then when I played music I heard some low frequency distortion/fuzzyness/offtone.  So I wondered if it was the new DAC or damaged speakers.  I have Beolab 8000 powered speakers. 

So for a while I turned down the bass. Some songs were great, maybe 1 in 8 were a bit fuzzy . I moved 1 speaker further from a wall.  I put my ear next to the drivers to listen to songs that had fuzzy low notes. It's not definitely bad distortion, just some low bass notes are not clear.

I decided to test the tweeters.  I could hear 1000 Hz, but nothing above that. My wife could hear 2000, 4000 and 8000.  Is there any way to definitely test powered speakers.  It's not the DAC, as using earphones sounds clear.  Maybe it's bad recordings, or dId I become heightened in my listening due to the volume mishap.  Or, is the new DAC clearer, so the fuzzy notes on bad recordings are noticable?

neversatisfied OP
69 posts
 

That's how I feel now. I keep thinking I'm hearing things which perhaps are not there. But not the speakers because that happened to me with my new amp and the old speakers I have since replaced. [Yes, my new MA Gold 300's are here!!] So I worry its the amp.

I tend to get paranoid and over think things once a bad thing has happened and now I am thinking I am hearing distortion from my new amp. I am even thinking to try my NAD amp and pre again. If I hear something then I know it's all in my head and that I am over thinking things. I hate to do that because I just got everything all nicely wired and neat tidy, I hate to rip stuff apart again. But if I don't I will always wonder. And if I did pooch the new amp in some way I might as well get the repair over and done with.

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