Underpowered or broken?

[MyrskyVaris]

One last thing
I know it is obvious.....but did you try a different speaker cable? and instrument cable?

I tried 7 different cables.

 

[Tracebassplayer]

Show me pics of both the front and rear of the amp. close up so I can read the print.. I wanna see something...

 

[MyrskyVaris]

Show me pics of both the front and rear of the amp. close up so I can read the print.. I wanna see something...

Ahhh... it's in the shop at the moment.

 

[Hawaii Islander]

Then you should get the full output of the head. To me it sounds like you may need more power and are running out of headroom. I would take the amp in to a tech and have it checked out to be sure.

+1

 

[Tracebassplayer]

I'm erring on the side of caution as I don't understand ohms as it relates to attaching heads to cabs.

Your AMP defines how many cabs you can run.
Simply put...
An amp that says "Minimum Impedance 4 ohms" will take one 4 ohm cab or two 8 ohm cabs in parallel (they make this part easy by supplying an output jack on the cab). You can also use a "mono to mono Y cable" to connect two 8 ohm cabs that do not have an output connection on them and achieve 4 ohm load.
Any less than what the amp is rated for will cause it to run hot, be unstable and "blow" the final output transistors... like a 2way radio with bad SWR. Big dollars to fix.

 

[MyrskyVaris]

Your AMP defines how many cabs you can run.
Simply put...
An amp that says "Minimum Impedance 4 ohms" will take one 4 ohm cab or two 8 ohm cabs in parallel (they make this part easy by supplying an output jack on the cab). You can also use a "mono to mono Y cable" to connect two 8 ohm cabs that do not have an output connection on them and achieve 4 ohm load.
Any less than what the amp is rated for will cause it to run hot, be unstable and "blow" the final output transistors... like a 2way radio with bad SWR. Big dollars to fix.

Thanks - that's clear. So running one 4 ohm cab was the right think to do (lacking two 8 ohm cabs).

 

[Tracebassplayer]

Thanks - that's clear. So running one 4 ohm cab was the right think to do (lacking two 8 ohm cabs).

Yeah, that would be OK. The 4 ohm cab wasn't the problem... unless there was a short in wiring of the cab or cable - ZERO ohms would definitely blow it.

 

[Rune Bivrin]

Yeah, that would be OK. The 4 ohm cab wasn't the problem... unless there was a short in wiring of the cab or cable - ZERO ohms would definitely blow it.

Not really. A WELL DESIGNED amp should have protection in place to deal with simple things like a short circuit. At least in the context of musical instrument amplification where operating conditions are variable and reliability is paramount.

 

[Tracebassplayer]

Not really. A WELL DESIGNED amp should have protection in place to deal with simple things like a short circuit. At least in the context of musical instrument amplification where operating conditions are variable and reliability is paramount.

You'd think so. Huh.
The Trace Elliot amps have fuses on the back but not all amps do.
Doesn't mean they always work either.

 

[Rune Bivrin]

You'd think so. Huh.
The Trace Elliot amps have fuses on the back but not all amps do.
Doesn't mean they always work either.

I did say WELL DESIGNED. The fuses are really there to protect from a domino effect when something inside the amp breaks. Other measures are required to protect against adverse external conditions. But there are a lot of amps out there that fail when they shouldn't.

 

[pnut166]

I had a similar sounding problem awhile back. A GP 11 preamp into a Tapco 800w power amp, into two 8 ohm cabs. Sounded terrible, as the OP described. After trying everything I could to isolate the problem without success , I sold the pre and power amp to separate people - they both said the components work great in their rigs. I kept the cabs and now use `em with another amp - they work flawlessly with the current rig. Go figure.

 

[Tracebassplayer]

I did say WELL DESIGNED. The fuses are really there to protect from a domino effect when something inside the amp breaks. Other measures are required to protect against adverse external conditions. But there are a lot of amps out there that fail when they shouldn't.

+1

 

[MyrskyVaris]

Okay, the music store phone me. The report is that some circuit tracks are damaged, and they cannot repair the amp.

There is no TE agent in South Africa... so no parts available...

 

[JimmyM]

find another shop that can repair circuit traces.

 

[MyrskyVaris]

find another shop that can repair circuit traces.

In an ideal world...

I'm not saying this is impossible to achieve in South Africa, but it is certainly difficult to achieve.

The store suggested I contact a hifi shop, and get the traces repaired. I have phoned one, and they told me it's "impossible to repair traces on a circuit board". Um, right.

I'll phone around, but in the end I'll probably just get my money back and get a different amp.

 

[staindbass]

lol i have bridged traces my self, i did 34 traces on a yamaha clavinova piano circuitboard that was snapped in half. it looked like frankenstein stitches, but it worked.

 

[dbase]

At this point.. I would buy a soldering iron and do it myself. Nothing to lose.

 

[staindbass]

i agree dbase. flow new solder over the traces and you will get the proper connection back. the traces should be blackened/speckled/ burnt or peeling up from the circuit board where the problem is. if they are peeled off,or peeling up, you may have to bridge with short pieces of wire.

 

[MyrskyVaris]

At this point.. I would buy a soldering iron and do it myself. Nothing to lose.

At this point I can still get my money back.

 

[JimmyM]

At this point.. I would buy a soldering iron and do it myself. Nothing to lose.

if he can get his money back, though, that would be the route i'd go first.