popping/crackling sound from arcam avr250

SteamPunk123

Active member
Mar 12, 2021
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Hi!
Today, I got arcam avr250 from ebay and it was working just great when I connected two speakers to it. But when I put my hand on top of it(no big force, just put it there), everything started to f**k up with it. There appeared crackling sound(from the speakers, not reciever), but cca only each 10 seconds. I started to check if speakers and input are connected correctly and they were. i tried different input with same effect. It started to get worse by crackling and popping more and more, so I just disconnected it to prevent harm to speakers. then I came with idea with factory resetting it by pressing mute and preset buttons and then ok. After I connected it(before factory reset), there was just this crackling with no other audio. After factory reset it got even worse - less crackling, but when not crackling it was silent - no audio to speakers. In direct stereo mode it went fine. Now it threw spark sound in direct mode(coming from speakers like playing what's inside avr), so I completely switched it off as I'm afraid of burning it and speakers.

Just some details here:
Speakers are 8ohms 80W Monitor Audio Bronze 50s and avr is set to 8ohm mode for speakers.
First time i turned it on it was put on chair with soft surface, like bed(i know I shouldn't do it, but I thought it wouldn't be porblem if I just test it for a while on low volume).
input was coming with jack to cinch cable - from headphone 3.5mm jack output of one soundbar - SBX Katana and on side of reciever it was cinches coming to one possible input - CD in.
Speakers are working right, because when I connect them to different(and worse) avr they work normally.
It looks like amp is almost ok and different parts(these being used when direct stereo mode is off) could be troublesome...

Could it be broken just because of putting hand on it or because of that chair surface from bottom?
Do you think I should open it, as a person who doesn't know much about electrical engineering, and look inside if there isn't something(like some fallen screw) shorting the circuits or something "half-connected"?
Is it now damaged? It went like damage timer. It gradually went worse and worse - even when it wasn't connected to electricity...

Thanks for any answers and let me know if i forgot some information.

Edit: one more detail - there isn't any burned smell if i sniff at avr case's top.
 
Last edited:

Gray

Well-known member
Sorry, it's not funny.
But when the story got to 'now it threw spark sound', I was amused.
We can only hope the seller didn't know about the problems.
Best option would be for him to take it back - probably unrealistic.
If you really don't know much, there may not be any point, but you've got nothing to lose by opening it up to look for any obvious problem(s).
Make sure you isolate it from the mains if you do decide to look inside.
 

SteamPunk123

Active member
Mar 12, 2021
8
3
25
Visit site
Sorry, it's not funny.
But when the story got to 'now it threw spark sound', I was amused.
We can only hope the seller didn't know about the problems.
Best option would be for him to take it back - probably unrealistic.
If you really don't know much, there may not be any point, but you've got nothing to lose by opening it up to look for any obvious problem(s).
Make sure you isolate it from the mains if you do decide to look inside.
thanks for answer
yes, my english is not very good
idk if he knew about this problem, but he has 100% positive reviews on ebay.
Even if he would take it back, it would be maybe 60 eur lose... AVR cost about 120 eur and delivery was cca 35 eur. If I would send it back to him it would be next 30 eur i think...
I looked inside and found some piece of sponge to be freely there, but nothing different...
Idk what else changed inside, but now when i put it together it's working in pure stereo direct mode without any distortion on low volume. on high volume it sends static high pitched sound to speakers.

Idk, maybe i will try to send it back to ebay seller.
What about unauthorised services? Is there some risk that if they'll fix the reciever, it will lose sound quality, or they will break something? Or is there some other risk with unauthorised services?
I haven't found any authorised arcam service here in slovakia...

thanks
 

Gray

Well-known member
thanks for answer
yes, my english is not very good
idk if he knew about this problem, but he has 100% positive reviews on ebay.
Even if he would take it back, it would be maybe 60 eur lose... AVR cost about 120 eur and delivery was cca 35 eur. If I would send it back to him it would be next 30 eur i think...
I looked inside and found some piece of sponge to be freely there, but nothing different...
Idk what else changed inside, but now when i put it together it's working in pure stereo direct mode without any distortion on low volume. on high volume it sends static high pitched sound to speakers.

Idk, maybe i will try to send it back to ebay seller.
What about unauthorised services? Is there some risk that if they'll fix the reciever, it will lose sound quality, or they will break something? Or is there some other risk with unauthorised services?
I haven't found any authorised arcam service here in slovakia...

thanks
Sorry about your problems
(Your English is OK, don't worry about that)

I don't know much about how e-bay works. But I think that if a buyer contacts a seller, they monitor the correspondences. They might be able to step in and help you (if they think the seller has done something wrong).

As for using an unauthorised repairer.
As long as they know what they're doing, there's no reason why they should make things any worse for you.
Wherever you take it for repair, make sure you get them to give you a very good idea of how much it will cost you before they start- and if the repair itself is guaranteed.
A repair guarantee would be for the repair that they have done so, if something else goes wrong you can't expect that to be fixed free of charge.

Arcam is a good brand - but you need to make sure the repair cost is not too much.
I hope you can get it sorted out.
Good luck.
 

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