Whats wrong with my Halo A21?

[silverfox]

I've been enjoying my A21 tremendously for 2 channel music for the past couple of months until now.....

I've suddenly begun to notice that the output from the right channel is significantly lower than the left. When the amp is first turned on and music played, the right channel is significantly weaker than the left with the entire soundstage moved to the left. I have to walk up to the right speaker to even tell if it is still playing. It is, just at a significantly lower level. Mind you, this is not an issue of the gain controls not being balanced.....both gain controls are on max.

Now, sometimes the right channel suddenly gets louder (on it own) and things get more balanced, however, the channel is still audibly lower than the left channel. I can tell because the soundstage is still slightly skewed to the left. I've also verified this using a sound meter and test tones. I have also changed source units and the issue is without question at the amp.

Another way that I've been able to verify that it is the amp is that when the right channel output is significantly lower than the left (i.e. before it partially corrects itself) and I tap the top cover of the amp on the right side just above the gain controls, the output increases......but again, not completely balanced as it should be.

I did read through Mitch57's long post about his issue with his A51 and it appears that my problem may be similar. Only difference is 99% of the time the right channel output is lower than the left when the amp is first run.

I did have a short conversation with Tony at Parasound and his comment was similar to the feedback Mitch57 received in that they'd rather see something go up in smoke in the amp before the unit is actually sent to them as very often they are not able to replicate the problem.

The other issue, is that I am not the original owner of the unit, as such I will have to come out of pocket to have the unit fixed.....and that is ok with me as long the problem can be diagnosed and solved as I can't afford to incur repeated shipping costs.

I also own an A51 and have no such issues with it. I have also connected my A51 to my main speakers and can tell that the soundstage is dead center and levels equal, further verifying that problem lies with the A21.

Frankly, I love both the Halo pieces and really want to get this fixed. I am, by no means, out to try and get the manufacturer to replace the unit with a new piece or any such tactic (I am fully cognizant of the fact that I am not the original owner and hence, not entitled to any warranty support).

I do have admit though that I am nervous about the fact that two other members on this board have experienced a similar problem (drop in output level) and it hasn't been an easy fix for them. Given my particular situation, can anyone shed any thoughts around what my issue may be?

Thanks in advance.

[mitch57]

silverfox,

I feel your pain. I don't understand why Tony would be so hesitent to have you send it in when it sounds like your problem is very consistent. My problem was very inconsistent. Sometimes it would take two or more weeks for it to surface. It sounds like your problem happens every time you turn it on.

Did he give you an estimate on what it would cost to send it in for repairs? Also, since your amp is out of warranty you might consider taking it to an authorized Parasound service center in your area if there's one available. That would save you the shipping costs and some of the repair shops have reasonable prices on repairs.

Ultimately Parasound would be your best bet but you run the risk of having to pay to have it shipped to them and if they can't reproduce the problem they're going to ship it back to you and you'll be out shipping charges plus possibly labor charges from Parasound.

Food for thought anyway.

[Vince Helm]

My first A-21 had the same type of problem.

Best of luck
Vince

[bhuskins]

Read above...he bought it used. A video tape might be interesting...you could even burn a DVD.

[Vince Helm]

Read above...he bought it used. .

Sorry about that!
Vince

[silverfox]

Read above...he bought it used. A video tape might be interesting...you could even burn a DVD.

I'm sorry, Brent, are you implying that because I purchased it from the original owner as opposed to directly new from Parasound that somehow means that I was asking for trouble?

If there is any category of audio gear that is most often traded on the used market....it is amplifiers. There are very often no buttons at all (other than Power) and not a lot of switching or such activity that goes on, such as in an SS processor, making them less suspectible to user related issues.

As I mentioned, the amp was flawless for the first several months on ownership, and if it started developing problems with me, it most likely would have, if it was still in the hands of the original owner.

If I misinterpreted your comment, I apologize.

[bhuskins]

You definitely misinterpreted...I was only answering Vince's question. Good luck with your repair.

Here is Vince's deleted comment:

"My first A-21 had the same type of problem. Call Tony, get an R/A number and send it in to be fixed asap! You do not want to damage anything else in the system. If you have a camcorder, put it on video tape and send a copy to Tony. Tell them to keep it until they can fix it because you desire to own a product that is working at 100% not 75%... or ask them to cover the shipping costs because you are not going to put up with this issue. I hope you bought it new and from an authorized dealer.

Best of luck
Vince"

[silverfox]

You definitely misinterpreted...I was only answering Vince's question. Good luck with your repair.

Here is Vince's deleted comment:

"My first A-21 had the same type of problem. Call Tony, get an R/A number and send it in to be fixed asap! You do not want to damage anything else in the system. If you have a camcorder, put it on video tape and send a copy to Tony. Tell them to keep it until they can fix it because you desire to own a product that is working at 100% not 75%... or ask them to cover the shipping costs because you are not going to put up with this issue. I hope you bought it new and from an authorized dealer.

Best of luck
Vince"

Aahh! I see. I'm sorry......I hadn't seen Vince's original post, I only saw your comment......about the unit being used. I know you are highly regarded by folks on the forum and as a dealer. As such, I was a bit surprised by what I interpreted from your reponse and assumed there was more to what you were getting at.

Sorry.....and thanks for the suggestion about video taping. As I said in my original post, I only want to do the best I can to replicate the issue so that the manufacturer can diagnose the problem and apply a fix.

My gut feeling tells me that there may be an issue with the input attenuator on that particular channel.

[bhuskins]

No problem, I'm just glad I found the deleted comments to show you what I was replying to. Actually when I looked at it I couldn't figure out why I had said what I said and then finally realized someone (Vince) had deleted his comment once he realized the unit was used.

[r100gs]

If my A21 does that, I will beat it with a baseball bat in honor of tboooe.

[Chris D]

Really? Wow! I suppose that would be defining "over the edge"...

Silverfox, did I ever give you a welcoming banana for coming here to Club Parasound? :banana:

[Paul W]

Mitch & Vince,
What was the root cause of the problems you experienced? What was the final resolution?
Thanks,
Paul

[mitch57]

Paul,

Parasound never did determine what the problem was. The last thing they did was replace the entire 5th channel. I didn't have a chance to test the defective amp because Parasound replaced it with a brand new amp before I had a chance to even un box it. They issued a call tag for it the same day that I received it.

I've had the new amp now for just shy of a month and it works great! I still find it odd that Parasound couldn't duplicate the problem. The bottom line is the amp sounds fantastic and I'm a happy camper again.

[r100gs]

Paul,

Parasound never did determine what the problem was. The last thing they did was replace the entire 5th channel. I didn't have a chance to test the defective amp because Parasound replaced it with a brand new amp before I had a chance to even un box it. They issued a call tag for it the same day that I received it.

I've had the new amp now for just shy of a month and it works great! I still find it odd that Parasound couldn't duplicate the problem. The bottom line is the amp sounds fantastic and I'm a happy camper again.

Right on :T

[Paul W]

Mitch,
I called Tony a couple of weeks ago and he knew about the problem reports but said they have never been able to replicate it.

It is good to know Parasound stands behind their products!
Paul

[mitch57]

It makes a person wonder how they do their testing, what they test with, and do they test in a similar environment to what the end user would be using. If the problem is that consistent why can't they duplicate it? Especially if the same problem has been reported by more then one person on the same model amplifier.

[bhuskins]

Chalk it up to being a fluke and nothing else...

[mitch57]

Chalk it up to being a fluke and nothing else...

How many times would it take for the same problem to appear on identical amplifiers before you would consider it something other then a fluke? Especially if there's been several reports of the same problem.

It might be fluke but why is it so consistent with the customer and un repeatable when Parasound gets it? Different setup in the customers home versus setup and testing at Parasound maybe?

Who knows...

[bhuskins]

more than 2 or 3 which could be completely unrelated as is...several is a GROSS overstatement compared to the number that have been sold.

[silverfox]

Update:

Have listened to music every single day this week. Each time, without fail, when I first turn on the A21 and start listening, the right channel output is significantly lower than the left. The entire soundstage is pulled over the the left, so much so that I have to walk over to the right speaker to ensure it is playing......it is, just at a much lower volume. At this point, I generally walk out of the media room and let the music play. After a while the problem mysteriously corrects itself and the soundstage is re-centered once again. There is absolutely no consistency in terms of how long it take to "right itself"....sometimes I've been listening for a good bit and the output balance is still off. Additionally, just because it corrects itself doesn't mean it is good for that entire listening session, until I power off the amp. At times, the soundstage will once again pull back to the left as the output drops from the right channel. At first i used to tap the top cover of the amp and it would often (but not always) correct itself. I've stopped doing this now as I don't want to inadvertently loosen anything within the internals (mind you, I never did whack the top or anything....just a few quick taps).

Yesterday I opened the top cover of the unit and just peered into the unit with a flashlight. I was very careful not to touch anything, but just to have a look to see if everything looked ok. I saw nothing out of the ordinary and hence, i put the cover back on. What I did notice though is that there is one board, that is somewhat suspended, on the back of the unit that has the inputs -unbalanced and balanced, gain controls etc and other switches that hook into it. My sense is that there may be some issue with this board, since tapping on the top cover seems to somehow correct the problem.

Parasound did inform me that they have a test bench where their amps are tested and alerts them if a channel drops. In my situation, the channel has NEVER dropped completely, just the output level drops. As such, I don't know if there test equipment would be able to detect a reduction in output vs. a complete loss of output.

I have continued to use the unit, based on advice from Parasound, as opposed to just using the 2 channels available on my A51. I guess the hope is that catastrophic failure could occur, at which point the problem can 100% be diagnosed. My gut feeling tells me my hair is going to turn grey before that happens.

I really love this unit, and am frustrated with this problem. I'm in two minds as to whether I should pack up the unit and send it to Parasound. However, I really don't want to get into a situation where the response is "we were not able to duplicate your issue".

Sigh.....

[Vince Helm]

Sorry for the trouble. We should be able to have trust in the equipment that is reproducing our beloved music. The advise from Parasound... wait until a catastrophic failure just chaps my a#$, but hey, it is not my amp having the problem. When I sent my unit in for repair, Tony was unable to duplicate the problem on the bench. He said that he did resolder the connections on the back of the balanced input for the right channel as I was using balanced cables and that repair did work. Look, I love my Halo gear, I love Tony, Richard and Paul, it sounds great, looks great etc. But we must be able to trust it to work when we turn it on otherwise what is the point of listening to music. I hope that nothing else goes wrong and I hope that you can afford to have the unit fixed and I hope that Parasound will be willing to help fix the product they designed and manufactured. What is the serial number? I wonder if it is an early production unit?

Kind regards
Vince

[mitch57]

I'm with you on this one Vince. "Wait until it fails completely..." boils my blood as well. Why not say something like: "You can send it in and we will attempt to diagnose and repair the problem. Let us take a look at it and we will get back to you once we have bench tested it."

These statements of we probably won't be able to reproduce the problem, and if we can't reproduce the problem we will ship it back to you, and wait unitl it fails 100 % of the time are just not acceptable answers. These are the last things a customer wants to hear when they have a problem.

Silverfox,

I love my Halo A51 but I was really bummed when it wasn't working and I know exactly what your going through.

As I suggested earlier, maybe you should take it in to a local authorized Parasound dealer and ask them what they charge for both a diagnostic test and repairs if they find a problem. That would save you the shipping charges. If nothing else give the repair center a call and ask them what they charge.

Let us know how it goes.

[Vince Helm]

Any updates on the repair process?