Topic: Home Stereo problems...

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

UGH!

I thought my Music Hall a15.2 amp died, so I picked up a new amp (which I was planning on doing anyway, so I didn't waste any money).

The original trouble with the Music Hall was that I was getting distorted audio on all inputs in both channels. This lead me to believe the amp shit the bed since it was on all inputs and both channels.

So the new amp arrived today. Hooked it up...same exact problem. I guess that is good news that I don't need to fix the old one.

One would assume that blowing both speakers at the same time isn't likely (but possible). I don't have any other speakers to swap out so that is hard to test. Same deal with the speaker wires. Not much of a chance of BOTH wires being damaged at the same time.

Only other thing I can think of is a power issue in my house. Going to test that out now. I'll grab an extension cord and run everything to another outlet.

My house isn't super old (1985), so I'm not worried about some sort of ancient wiring.

Any other things I should check if the power isn't the issue?

UPDATE: Unplugged the amp from the previous outlet and plugged it directly into to another one. Trouble gone.

Both the amp and my turntable were plugged into a 2 port surge protector on the original outlet. Thought that the surge protector might be dead. Plugged the amp into that (in the new outlet). Still worked fine.

Next I checked the original outlet itself by plugging the amp into it with no surge protector. Works fine.

Put everything back together with the same surge protector in the original outlet. Everything works fine.

Must have been gremlins.

Looks like I'll have a 50W amp to put in the Yard Sale soon. Going to get it a full test before I get rid of it though.

[ScoobieKW]

And you've tested with multiple source devices?

[2manyrocks]

I've got a plug in surge protector that must be the evil twin gremlin of yours. 

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

And you've tested with multiple source devices?

I did. Originally thought it was the turntable. I only have 2 sources. Turntable and a Bluetooth Reciever for playback of Google Music.

All is well and I can report the Outlaw RR2150 is a fine amp. Especially for $600.

Wondering if it still could be the surge protector. If the trouble returns I'll replace that.

[ScoobieKW]

Sounds like a loose ground on the outlet.  More likely than a bad outlet.

Turn off breaker
Test that the outlet has no power (Safety first)
Check again
Remove outlet cover
Check that hot neutral and ground are all correctly wired and the lugs are tight.

Yes this is probably overly detailed, but we are talking power.

[phil_er_up]

There is a yellow wall AC tester you can buy at any hardware store. You plug it into the wall and it tell you if your wires are hooked up and if there is a ground connected. Many houses have AC wires switched. Device cost under 20 if I remember correctly.

[DigiGal]

There is a yellow wall AC tester you can buy at any hardware store. You plug it into the wall and it tell you if your wires are hooked up and if there is a ground connected. Many houses have AC wires switched. Device cost under 20 if I remember correctly.

These cheap tester devices will not tell you if N-G are swapped. Simple outlet testers can only verify that there's 120v between the hot blade and the other two. If N-G are swapped load current will flow in the safety ground. A clamp on ammeter can easily find current flowing in the safety ground. Generally current over 100 mA in a safety ground indicates a condition that will create noise problems.

A tester like the Ideal SureTest Circuit Analyzer Model 164 could serve you well in tracking down problems though.