Fried amp.....

Robdespy

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I did post the crux of this on the turntable forum a little while ago but it seems my problem has become rather more serious and wanted to ask a couple of questions

equipment is as follows - rotel RA 1570 amp (new about 6 months ago), B&D cm8s (bought second hand) and AR legend turntable (an old record player from the 80s I think)

So I was taking a record off of the platter, felt a bit of static (not massively more than sometimes happens with new records), heard a loud distorted noise and my amp turned itself off. I turned it back on and again it turned itself off but this time I noticed that it said amp protection on the display.

i initially thought my turntable might have died (it still may well be dead) but more seriously, once the amp had cooled down I turned it back on again (as instructed by the manual) and after a couple of minutes noticed a burning smell coming from the right hand side of the amp. This obviously scared me a bit so I turned everything off and unplugged it all and called Camden superfi to attempt to arrange getting the amp fixed.

Sorry for for all the context but apart from being a bit distraught at being unable to listen to music for sometime whilst the amp is being fixed (not to mention how much it might cost) I'm wondering if anyone would have any idea what might have caused this? Unsure if it could/would be the record player that did it or just a coincidence? The other big thing that worries me (which I can't test) is whether the speakers could be damaged/blown? Is this likely?

sorry for such a long post but struggled to find much by googling around......
 

Robdespy

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It was about 6 months ago give or take so hopefully covered by warranty. Told the dealer similar to post above over the phone but haven't taken it in yet. Hopefully will do tomorrow.
 

BigH

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Robdespy said:
It was about 6 months ago give or take so hopefully covered by warranty. Told the dealer similar to post above over the phone but haven't taken it in yet. Hopefully will do tomorrow.

The reason I ask is your rights change at 6 months. Upto 6 months if there is a fault its upto the dealer to prove you caused it, after 6 months the onus is on you to prove its a manufacturing fault. Hmmm if you told him that I think he will blame you, however taking a record off the TT is normal use, so see what he says and I would find the receipt.
 

scene

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Robdespy said:
It was about 6 months ago give or take so hopefully covered by warranty. Told the dealer similar to post above over the phone but haven't taken it in yet. Hopefully will do tomorrow. 
Sorry to hear of your woes. I can't believe that a nigh on £1200 amp won't have at least a 1yr warranty, so hopefully you should be OK and superfi are a reputable dealer... The turntable is a classic and shouldn't be able to put out enough power to damage the amp (I assume you have a MM pickup on the TT?)
As the protection warning came on, you might just have blown the amp's internal power fuse - this needs to be replaced by an authorised dealer anyway, so superfi will need to do that...
You might want to check your cables, especially at the terminals on the amp and TT to make sure you haven't got to much write exposed and had a short...
 

Robdespy

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Thanks. I am dearly hoping so! Especially galling as I blew my guitar amp recently as well..... But yes I'd assumed (with my absolute 0 knowledge of anything electrical, mechanical or otherwise) that it would be strange for a record player to blow an amp.

sorry not sure what you mean by MM pickup?
 

Robdespy

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Oh don't know. I'll research tomorrow. Was fitted with an audio technics cartridge and a linn arm is all I know (if that's even relevant!)
 

davedotco

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Whilst static or a poorly earther turntable might cause a bit of noise through your amp, you would have to be pretty inventive to blow up an amp in that way.

Tell them you were just playing records and the amp went into protect. Really should be under warrantee.
 

SteveR750

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I had a legend when I was a student, beautiful piece of kit, with the linn basik arm and k9 cartridge. Had it for about 10 years before upgrading to an LP12/ITTOK and gold ring. Then my house blew up, along with all my vinyl sadly. The AR decks were well made so it's unlikely to be the cause unless a monkey has rewired it.
 

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