Kenwood KA3020 Amplifier Problem

[Daz B]

I have a problem with my 20 year old Kenwood 3020 amp.

I have a crakle and hum coming out of the phono stage, this can be heared when the turntable is not on aswell as when it is on.

The crackling noise is only present when the phono leads are plugged into the amp.

Could there be a problem with the phono leads or is it a problem with the phono stage of the ampThe phono leads are connected to my Rega P1 turntable.

My CD sounds fine so no issues there.

I just hope there is not a problem with my turntable and the issue is with the amp.

Has anybody else come across this issue or could provide any advice.

Any advice would be welcome.

 

[matthewpiano]

Could be a dry solder joint on the phono input.

 

[Daz B]

Thanks for the reply

I am hoping it is the amp and not the turntable.

The crackling can only be heard in the silent parts of a record.

I like the sound of the Kenwood and dont want to have to replace it, even though it's 20 years old.

If it is the phono stage, i could add a phono pre amp in the aux input.

 

[matthewpiano]

If you like the Kenwood, I would suggest looking into getting it serviced. The chances of dry joints are pretty high at that age, so it wouldn't hurt for someone competent to have a look and re-solder any connections that require it. Might cost you ballpark of £100 but cheaper than replacing the amp and better than parting with something you clearly still enjoy.

 

[JamesMellor]

Have you tried swaping the cables over , using the cables from the CDP and on the TT , just to make sure its not a break in the cable . maybe also if you have a friends amp you can plug the TT into to check .

Failing that take it to a dealer with a repair service , last year a dealer local to me was charging £24.50 to inspect and report ( guessing that was a flat hours labour charge )

james

 

[Daz B]

I did have my old amp at my parents house, but found out they took it down the tip a while ago.

Was going to check the turntable on that.

Will check to see if any of my mates have hifi separates and have a amp I can check the turntable on.

The other question I have is if I carry on using the turntable on the amp in it's current state could it damaged the turntable?

 

[Blackdawn]

Is there a problem with the earthing or mains which is causing the hum? Is there another electrical appliance like washing machine or work tools that are causing some interference? I also owned the special edition of this Kenwood amp but it broke down in the end. Much prefered the Denon PMA 250SE sound-wise which I found on the usual second hand site for approx £40. If you have some spare cash - perfect opportunity to buy a new amp - I wouldn't bother getting the old one fixed - just my opinion. Pioneer A30, Onkyo 9030, Denon PMA720AE plus others all good amps - less than £200. For a proper service it would cost at least £100 for the old amp, I would guess. Another option is to buy some cheap £2 phono leads to check its not the cable.