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Is My System Toast?

The electricity in my town went out the other day for a short time. My wife was in the living room where my stereo system is. The amp is a Bel Canto eVO2i and a pair of Quad 12L2 speakers. She told me that when the power came back on that the left speaker crackled and smoked a little. When I looked, it had a constant low but discernible hum. I tried the speakers and they were dead. I switched the amp input to my CD player (which had been completely powered down) and there was no sound. Are the speakers and amp pretty much gone? Is it worth having the amp looked at for possible repair?

masswineguy
masswineguy OP
15 posts
 

Wow! Thank you so much, everyone!

masswineguy OP
15 posts
 

So the fuse was in a small round holder that was slightly screwed into the amp. I got it out, fuse looks solid. Now the fuse in holder is stuck between in and out. The journey continues. 

elliottbnewcombjr
7,869 posts
 

Usually those fuse holders involve a spring, you need to push in while you rotate it. Have a good look in the fuse socket, with a flashlight, see how it needs to be aligned to push it in, then a rotation, perhaps only a quarter turn, usually clockwise..

tcutter's avatar
tcutter
437 posts
 

I suggest a whole house surge protector to not only guard your audio equipment, but also your microwave, television, refrigerator, etc.

I use an Environmental Potentials EP-2050-EE whole house surge protector for a 200 amp panel. It is supposedly "audiophile-grade". 

https://ep2000.com/products/home-protection-products/premium-surge-protection-filter/?v=e75edac1b83f

I use additional surge protectors for my stereo.

 

mrmb's avatar
mrmb
317 posts
 

When you plug things directly into the wall in hot pursuit of...."dynamics" n all... you may end up with no gear left, no music...

Try to plug things into a good power conditioner w/protection features enabled.

I do like my furman 20 I. In the west we have many power issues and so far it has been good to me. It has an extra 60 amps in storage capicitors  for transients in big monoblocks.

Sorry to hear about the power issue.  Good advice re checking the responsibility of the power co. and also on insurance.

But for those with surge device recommendations that's good and we have whole house protectors on our 2-Mains panels and downstream rack mounted protectors; nevertheless, I'm presently working my way through a nearby lightning strike damage. 

Low voltage, integrated circuits were mainly effected (a digital streamer and HDMI circuits on two preamp/processors, along with the modem (it was still working but having periodic latency issues), a 24-port switch & router etc. 

The assumption is that the surge mainly came in on the Ethernet coax line.  But our WIFI irrigation controller was affected and it wasn't connected to the Ethernet and a ceiling fan (with a DC motor) on a covered deck was also impacted, but only when run on high speed.  When on high, a thump would be heard, the fan would slow, but then run back up to speed (wash>rinse>repeat).  It seemed like some sort of overload protection circuit was kicking-in -- weird stuff.  Everything else A/C wise is fine!  

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