Need some guidance please

[miner]

I need some additional help now. I have all of my Rotel equipment connected to a Rotel RLC-1040 line conditioner. Yesterday we had some storms and a strike happened nearby. No loss of power at the house or off/on power. After that strike a crackle could be heard through my B&W N804 speakers in the right channel. I thought my right speaker had been damaged. I switched speakers around and the crackle did not move with the speaker but stayed with the right channel which told me it was not the speaker. At the preamp I switched the R & L outputs around; the crackle also switched which points to the RB-1092 amp. Now, I have a whole-house surge at my breaker box plus the RLC-1040 which all of my equipment is connected to. Why did this happen to my amp? I assume it is my amp and not my preamp. I will be taking the amp by Modia’s service center today to have it diagnosed. Can the repair be covered under the RLC-1040 equipment protection policy?

[madmac]

A crackle eh???......well, if the surge protector has a protection policy and you get the gear professionally checked.....probably yes. However, It's not going to go smoothly though.

[miner]

OK, took the amp to the dealer and had it checked out - it is AOK and points toward the preamp which makes sense following the prior troubleshooting I did. If the amp was the culprit the noise should have stayed in the right channel after I switched the ICs between the amp & pre. Since the noise moved with the ICs then the preamp is causing the problem. APC has been notified and they are sending a new S20BLK to replace the RLC-1040. I will need to send the RLC-1040 to them to check out.

[PewterTA]

I was going to say it actually points to the pre-amp as the problem...

Are you going to have your pre-amp checked out?! You could open it up and look to see if you can notice anything fried in there.

[miner]

I verified last night it is my preamp. I hook up my Grado headphones and the crackle was there in the right channel (music is still playing) - if it wasn't there I was going to change out the Kingcat ICs. The paperwork I got from APC to file a damage report states I can't send it off for repair until they determine if the RLC-1040 was the issue. How else could my preamp get FUBARd? 4-8 week decision process. In the meantime I went ahead and purchased another preamp to use to hold me over. Once I get the go ahead I will have my RC-1090 repaired and maybe sell if I am liking my new preamp.

[wkhanna]

It will be interesting to see what determination APC make concerning their liability.
Thus far, they seem to be acting in good faith.

Sorry to hear of the injury to your RC-1090.
What did you acquire as the ‘temporary’ replacement?

I have experienced some strikes and outages over the years, too. Occasionally, it will cause my RSP-1066 to reset itself to the factory default setting, requiring a totally re-programing of the unit. Interestingly enough, this would happen with my old monster HTS 3600 MKII (big surprise......Not) & still occurs with my current APC H15. I tend to think this is more an issue relating to power interruption as opposed to voltage/current spikes. Since I now have intergrated an NAS for my digital music, I am adding a battery backup shortly. Maybe that will put an end to it.

Best of luck with your situation, Miner.

[miner]

My Rotel system is our living room background music setup. I got a Rotel RC-1550 (only model my dealer had in stock in black). Can't wait 4-8 weeks and then a repair to listen to music. Plus, we are about to move and my McIntosh setup is stored away.

[miner]

UPDATE: hooked up new RC-1550 - noise still present. Switched speaker cables around on amp and tests point to the left channel of the amp. Bought a RB-1582 yesterday and insert it in the chain. F*&* - noise still present - I was frustrated to say the least. Began to dismantle the setup. Turned of the subwoofer (B&W ASW800) and noise was no longer present. After further testing, right channel of sub amp was the culprit. I switched sub cable to be sure and noise was only in the right channel. Left channel on sub amp is fine. Now, could I use a Y-cable at the preamp end and run a single to the left channel of the sub and not cause harm?

Bad news - I spent $1700 to not solve my problem but have newer gear. Good news - I now have a backup system in case of any problems with my new amp & preamp.

[Blindamood]

So, you run both channels to the sub to use the sub's crossover (and then run the speakers out from the sub)? Just clarifying...I've never done it this way - always used a (mono) sub out from my preamp.

[miner]

No, speakers are run from the main amp. The second R/L output on my preamp goes to the R/L input on the subs amp - preamp does not have a sub out. Full signal is filtered at the sub amp.

[miner]

I am not feeling too positive about APC's sole discretion on deciding if the RLC-1040 is faulty and caused my subwoofer amp issue. All they have to do is deny the claim and I am SOL. You can bet B&W Group USA will be aware of the outcome - good or bad. Problem occured immediately after a nearby strike - that is the fact. What really do these equipment failure guarantees mean if it is the manufacturer that decides if there piece was at fault?