Do you mind mentioning where this shop is and what is called? Sounds like a place in Costa Mesa I went to many years ago. Hope he takes good care of you.
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Maybe you should have asked the tech what he will charge you just to diagnose the problem? Now you have additional costs beyond the original $800. Are you not digging a financial hole? Bench fee gonna set you back at least $100. You could have bought a can of compressed air and a multimeter for about $40. A speaker thump when turning on an amplifier is usually a DC transient, where the amp sends a surge of direct current to the speaker before stabilizing. A multimeter detects this voltage spike and ensures the amp’s protection circuit is not failing, and can also be used to confirm your speakers are safe. Yeah, I know, coulda woulda shoulda, not really wanting to make light of it, but if your plan was to buy used gear on craigslist, one should have some idea of how to handle adversity, or as carpathian has stated, be adept (not inept) at basic troubleshooting. At least entertain the fact that bad things may happen. Nobody should buy high end gear without a listening session to ensure functionality, but judging the character of the seller is paramount. Not sure any of that was accomplished. The odds of it being a faulty on/off switch vs an internal fault is rather remote. The fact that it actually works without speakers connected only furthers this suspicion. A protection mode gone bad? That would be rare. The best bet for you is that it is a "false positive" exception. But, again, like the switch, the protection mode relents and allows the amp to work - to what degree is still up in the air - as you have gotten it operational. So what you are left with is a problem (DC offset; internal fault) that plagues all old amplifiers and is fairly common in the Musical Fidelity A308: bad transistors or caps. If it is either one of those, it will need re-capped. That is generally a $500+ cost, but since the A308 is dual mono, the amp has twice the amount of caps, so figure about a grand. Mind you, the A308 is known to run hot, and because of that, the caps will not last as long. Another reason why Class D amps (more efficient) are a better selection and saves money in the long run. Heat is the enemy in amps and the A308 runs first 5 watts in Class A, so it goes beyond A/B in respects to it's maintenance requirements. Overall, I find it odd that anyone on this site does not first make an effort to buy used here, or TMR, or from a known trusted source. The oddness goes into overdrive when an OP asks all others here what to buy (in your previous thread) and then does not heed any of the advice provided. What was your point of that? And here is a question that maybe you could answer before the tech provides you with the big, beautiful, bill: What is it gonna take for you to give up on this amp? |
@philliprcook I would not "zoom in" for now, but it's in Riverside county.
If it costs more than the $200 I am done. I will use it as is, never turn it off. |
Suspect that the A308 is not performing (when you get it to work) at it's best. Amps can go bad explosively. Using it as is, would be risky to the rest of your equipment, IMHO. Doubt the tech will suggest that it is viable for action without his recommendations. For your information, the A308 could be used as a preamp only. Not sure of it's internal design, but if the preamp is separated at the board level, then there would be far less to go wrong if the amplifier section was left idle. |
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