2. amps-preamps
  3. 1347227999

Please help with Spectron Musician Issue.

I haven't been on Audiogon in a while, but I now find myself at wit's end. I'd like to know if anyone can guess the problem, and where I might get it fixed... other than Spectron! (Read on.) I'm not very technical w/stereo equipment.

System: Spectron Musician II Class D amplifier, upgraded to the "Hybrid" version. Audio Horizons tube pre-amp. Resolution Opus 21 CD source. PS500 power conditioner. Magnapan 2.2R speakers. Good quality cables all 'round.

The short story:

The Left channel on my Spectron Musician II Hybrid amplifier drops out frequently. When it does, volume through the speaker goes way down, with an astounding amount of distortion. Just low-volume crackles and a disgusting trickle of music coming through. Sounds like a kazoo. In this condition, it's not likely to 'fix' itself. Other times, from startup, things sound great, but lately, it's been all bad.

I can often 'fix' the problem by disconnecting the right speaker cable (amp off, of course) so that I can hear the Left channel, starting the amp back up, and pushing the volume up quite high... almost to dangerous levels for the speaker. Most times, the channel will suddenly and sharply clear up -- I have to be ready on that volume knob! It's almost like pushing a clog through a drain. From there, the system might play fine for hours... or not. The left channel can drop out at any time, and lately, we haven't been able to get through a session without a problem.

I have eliminated ALL possible other components. Swapped speaker cables; went direct source to amp bypassing the pre-amp; tried different sources; tried RCA instead of XLR inputs. When the problem happens, it happens in the left channel of the amp despite any changes outside the amp.

Any ideas what the cause might be?

Now, here's where it gets really rich:

This amp has a history, and I know that by posting this note, I'll never be able to resell it. It has been back and forth to Spectron several times, perhaps four. One time, when John from Spectron was trying to debug an issue over the phone, he had me plug it in and fire it up, fire being the operative term. Something shorted out, smoke came up, little bit of flame. Quite spectacular.

It went out to California, and they pushed me to get an upgrade to the Hybrid version, well over $1,000 layout. I was pretty happy with the upgrade until just a few days after the warranty ran out, when the left channel issue came up.

Out to California again.Spectron said they'd honor the warranty. Spectron kept it for several weeks, and said they couldn't find any problems. Sounded normal to them, and they said they burned it for quite a while. (As I said earlier, it might play well for a while, and the problem is unpredictable.) They claim to have diddled one small, insignificant thing and sent it back.

Now they want to see the amp again (another couple of hundred in shipping costs), and yet their engineer can't even speculate what the issue might be. Clearly, I have little confidence that they'll fix the problem, and if I know Spectron, they'll try to cheap me out of more dollars. And yet, if I don't lay out more money, I have a boat anchor. Replacing the amp is not an option, financially speaking. Heck, Spectron makes the things, they should be able to repair them!

My questions:

Would you send the amp back to Spectron, given the circumstances?

If you did, would you have them honor the warranty on the upgrade, even though it has expired. I let them know about the issue BEFORE warranty expiration, but it cleared and I couldn't test it completely until AFTER warranty.

Do you have any idea what the problem might be?

Do you know of any wiz-kid repair person who does Class D work who would be a good alternative to a Spectron repair?

I've loved my amp... when it works. But this... this... is intolerable.

Thank you for your time and advice.

Rob Hanson
rhanson739
rhanson739 OP
269 posts
 
Samhar and Elizabeth --

Thank you for your responses. They are very comforting.

I guess I have another question, then: Given the situation, how do I go about convincing them to replace the channel or the entire unit? What leverage do I have?

I should add that I bought this amp second-hand from what I thought was a reputable source. Yet, Spectron sold me on the upgrade, which was pretty much a complete replacement of most internal parts. They even bragged something like, "It's like getting 2/3rds of the amp replaced."

Thanks again for your responses. It was just what I was hoping for.

Rob
rhanson739 OP
269 posts
 
A bit of a bump on this, as I'm calling Spectron today.

Can anyone recommend a good, independent tech who might want a go at this problem? Thanks.
chayro
2,926 posts
 
If Spectron can't fix it, I would doubt anyone else can. Sad to say, this may be one of the times to just cut your losses and move on. This has happened to me twice in my life - first was with a guy who does modifications. Sunk about $1K + expensive shipping into a 1K amp and the thing just sucked. Plus, it went back at least twice - once for a ground hum and once to do a few more things that he told me would work. Finally, I just sold it to the guy who did the mods for $500, as I didn't think he wanted this unit floating around with his name on it. The second time, I brought my new Mercedes to a guy who claimed to fix bumper dings without replacing the entire bumper. The owner let some dumb kid with no experience work on the car and, not only did he do a crappy job on the bumper, he got horrible overspray all over the car. The owner said his "detailer" could remove the overspray, but I decided it was better to spend the money with a more reputable person. I understand that you have much more invested than I did in either and I would ask Spectron to replace the entire channel - But if they don't and the thing still doesn't work, sometimes you just have to walk away. No, it's not right, but throwing more money into this thing is also not right. You could take legal action, but that could cost more than the whole thing is worth. Too bad you don't live near Spectron as you could take them to Small Claims Court yourself. In NY, you can recover up to 5K, which is not bad, considering you don't need a lawyer. Best of luck and I hope this works out for you.
unsound
7,311 posts
 
I'm a bit surprised that you've had problems with Spectron, as far as I know they've had a pretty good reputation for customer service. At this point in time, if Spectron wants to maintain that reputation, I suggest they fix this thing free of charge and that includes free shipping both ways
rhanson739 OP
269 posts
 
I like the way you think, Unsound! Last time, it was $100 to ship one-way, and it wasn't fixed.

Thanks for your reply, Chayro. Unfortunately, I can't just walk away. There is simply no room in my budget to replace this, so if I can't get a fix, I'll either go without music, or have to sell the rest of my system.
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