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Avatar problems - buzzing and burning

A

arispect

Jun 23, 2007
75
0
Brooklyn, NY
www.arisadowitz.com
Disclosures
Endorsing artist: Lakland Basses
#1
I just got an Avatar 410 Neo off ebay. Looks great, plays great at low volume - tons more punch than my Ampeg 410HLF, which is exactly what I was looking for. Running it with an Ashdown 500 EVOII.

The problem is at high volumes - there's a serious buzz coming from the tweeter area, but we ran through a few songs at normal loud stage volume just to see how noticeable the buzz is. It was then that there was a burning scent coming from the cab area. I quickly plugged back into the Ampeg and finished practice.

Any thoughts on this? Similar problems? Am I overloading the cab? I've got the Ashdown set at about 12 o'clock on the input side and 2 o'clock on the output side. It's the 4 ohm version of the Avatar.

(In an original post about switching to the Ashdown, I was looking for a 610 rig but opted for the 410 when I found it with a great road case on ebay. Now I'm thinking the 610 would've been a better idea.)
 
#3
I've the same cab in 8 Ohm. I've never smelled anything like a burning smell. That'd be bad. Could be a lot of things though. Some possibilities are: shipping damage, bad horn, something shorted on the crossover, faulting solder somewhere on the crossover.

You're going to have to isolate the problem. Start by turning the "tweeter" control all the way down (but don't keep it like this when you normally play - just for testing). That'll tell you if it's coming from the horn or not. That's as good a place as any to start.

I'd also say to contact Dave at Avatar - there aren't too many folks in the business as helpful as he is.
 
#5
I bought an Avatar 212 neo a while back, had a strange buzzing noise as well.. turned out it was the dust cap (dome) on one of the drivers.
There was just one litttle spot on the dust cap that wasn't glued to the cone and boy did it get noisy! Dave was cool about swapping it out, I just pulled the driver and my wife picked up the replacement on her luch break.... we only lived/worked 15 minutes from the Avatar factory.

As far as the smell, sounds like a crossover problem..

Good luck..
 
#6
I had a problem very similar to yours...minus the smell. I turned the tweeter all the way off and it made the same sound. So, I played while someone pushed on the tweeter. This made the buzzing sound almost all the way gone. So I pulled the grill off then removed the mounting screws for the tweeter. From there I put some 3/8" thick by 1/4" wide foam weather striping on the back side of the tweeter and re installed it. WOW!!! My trust went up so much more in that cab.

Now I did call Avatar one day shortly after I bought my cab, and was asking them some questions about it and for some reason the tweeter controller came up. The guy on the other end of the phone said if I was not using the tweeter to remove one of the leads to it and cover it with electrical tape. He said to do this because when the control is at 0 it is still getting power and after 3 or more hours of this it can get hot and my lead to damage of the...crossover? I am pretty sure it was the crossover. All in all something was going to get hot. Hot make smells.

Hope that helps.
 
#8
I've had some farting/buzzing issues with mine, but no smell. I couldn't isolate a driver, as it was coming from the tweeter regardless if it was 'off'. I disconnected the tweeter wires and still got the noise. I removed the tweeter and it's still there.

Dave is sending a tweeter and crossover (great guy to talk to). Based on the troubleshooting, it's probably the crossover. Should get the parts by the end of this week.
 
#9
jmain said:
I've had some farting/buzzing issues with mine, but no smell. I couldn't isolate a driver, as it was coming from the tweeter regardless if it was 'off'. I disconnected the tweeter wires and still got the noise. I removed the tweeter and it's still there.

Dave is sending a tweeter and crossover (great guy to talk to). Based on the troubleshooting, it's probably the crossover. Should get the parts by the end of this week.
Click to expand...

I just talked to Dave last Friday. It's Monday and the parts were on my front porch when i got home. Included was a t-shirt. I probably won't get a chance to install the crossover and tweeter until later this week. Shouldn't be a big deal. No soldering, just screws (removing drivers, crossover) and keeping the connections straight. Kinda like changing spark plugs - one at a time: take one off, put one on.
 
#10
good deal. I talked to someone else at Avatar, Dave was on another call. He told me the burning was caused by me turning off the tweeter after it buzzed so much. He also suggested disconnecting the tweeter, which I have yet to try. Question on that, actually - do I have to remove the entire back plate (6 screws) to get to it?
 
#11
arispect said:
good deal. I talked to someone else at Avatar, Dave was on another call. He told me the burning was caused by me turning off the tweeter after it buzzed so much. He also suggested disconnecting the tweeter, which I have yet to try. Question on that, actually - do I have to remove the entire back plate (6 screws) to get to it?
Click to expand...

Yeah. Remove the 6 screws and set the crossover on a chair or something so the wires won't be pulling. Remove the wires from the tweeter - you have to wiggle them to work them off. **Remember which one was on which side.** Put tape on each individual connector so they won't short. Screw the plate back in a check it out with the attenuator all the way off.
 
#17
jmain said:
Yeah. Remove the 6 screws and set the crossover on a chair or something so the wires won't be pulling. Remove the wires from the tweeter - you have to wiggle them to work them off. **Remember which one was on which side.** Put tape on each individual connector so they won't short. Screw the plate back in a check it out with the attenuator all the way off.
Click to expand...

If I run my crossover atten. dial at about 5-10% on, will that keep the crossover in good shape. I mean not hurt it, like running the dial all the way off supposedly does?
 
#18
jmain said:
Chris, that's like so last week. Bruce beat you to it.:)

My patience is wearing a little thin and my enthusiasm for the process is starting to wane. I'm checking it out more this weekend. If it's okay, I'm cool. If not, it's going back.
Click to expand...

I know, but I just thought I would get a little dig in on this thread...lol. Seriously, I hope you get it worked out. I know you are looking forward to cranking it up next week.

Good Luck...
 
#19
OP1964 said:
I know, but I just thought I would get a little dig in on this thread...lol. Seriously, I hope you get it worked out. I know you are looking forward to cranking it up next week.

Good Luck...
Click to expand...

Hey Chris,

I'm always up for some good ribbing. :) I'm hoping it will work out. I got it for some new outdoor shows I had, and I've missed two of them. I can borrow the guitarist cab (he plays bass too), but it's not the way I like to operate.
 

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