Rega Elicit mk5 4ohm: overheating is real 😟

[Revolutions]

Ah so you've tried the Rega and Audiolab as pre-amps instead of trhe damaged Adcom one?

It does look like you've had a lot of fun! What is the 1,000 watt transformer? An external power supply?

Glad you're enjoying it all!

Yeah, didn’t try the Adcom preamp due to the volume control being stuck.

The transformer is for the Adcom units as they’re USA voltage. It has to be 1000w as the power amp runs at 700w or so. Big vintage guitar amps only operate at 400w.

Here’s where I’ve ended up. Amp back in a sensible place which is helpful because no remote is really annoying. Modern amps definitely got that right. And, yes I’m right back to square one where I probably need a proper hifi rack 😂

 

[SohoAudiophile]

Yeah, didn’t try the Adcom preamp due to the volume control being stuck.

The transformer is for the Adcom units as they’re USA voltage. It has to be 1000w as the power amp runs at 700w or so. Big vintage guitar amps only operate at 400w.

Here’s where I’ve ended up. Amp back in a sensible place which is helpful because no remote is really annoying. Modern amps definitely got that right. And, yes I’m right back to square one where I probably need a proper hifi rack 😂

It looks great. I bet it sounds fantastic

 

[Stuart83]

The current game is: ‘can I get the same quality sound, with no overheating, for as cheap as possible?’

Appreciate your suggestions, although both of those offer loads of features I’ll never use. Anything over £1k is probably out as I decided against doing a like-for-like swap, instead save my money for the long-term plan: my final amp. That’s likely to cost upwards of £4k, so I’m in no rush to visit that right now.

As per the previous page, I spent £180 on the Audiolab. That is rated to 2ohms.

I also spent £180 on a power amp, which should be arriving Monday. For reasons unknown (because old equipment looks cool), I was also persuaded to buy the matching integrated amp.

I’ll sell whichever of the 2 old integrated amps I like the least, so let’s call my total investment: £400

Open to any interesting ideas. I’m even toying with the idea of picking up an old valve preamp that’s going for a great price. Although that really is an extravagance beyond sensibility- it’s likely to give me the valve experience. But I really don’t need to be buying more niche hifi products that will be difficult to sell when I live in a one bedroom flat, and already discovered that the audiolab does a fine job at a fraction of the cost of the Rega.

Ever thought of trying a pioneer A-400 ?

Good examples can be found for around 250 £ when they come up.

Mines never faultered and lays waste to most of the other more expensive amps I've had.

I repaired it's power light whilst there checked for drift and the DC offset to find nothing has changed in 33yrs of sporadic to heavy use.

I often mention it as I sometimes sit in awe at it's performance whilst cycling from a modern hifi to my somewhat vintage setup.

It took ages to sonically improve upon it with modern kit even having to quadruple it's original price into the budget.

Maybe it's too old to consider but quality lasts and remains quality.

I fully expect my modern steaming amp setup to fault first.

 

[nopiano]

According to t’internet it’s a Nelson Pass design that runs class A up to 10 watts. Although Adcom is an American brand, this range was built in China.

Well, as you might guess from my signature, I’m a fan of anything Nelson Pass designs, so I’m sure the Adcom is great. And if it indeed it offers class A up to ten watts then yes it’ll be warm, and it will not idle cheaply like a class D amp will.

Mine is the baby Pass Labs power amp and sucks about 250 watts once powered up, even playing nothing. But it’s a price worth paying for the luxurious sound. All IMO, obviously.

 

[DougK1]

Got a suggestion for you Rev. Flagship Marantz PM+SA-10 hugely reduced as they're on run-out, should drive any speakers you care to put on the end of it

 

[Revolutions]

Ok, so what good is playing around if you’re not playing around?

My research led me to AVI. Apparently a brand much loved but little known. First I’d heard of them - an interesting story.

AVI units appear pretty cheap on the used market, and with all the positive reviews it seemed worth the risk to get this AVI S2000 preamp.

It’s not pretty. And the buttons are definitely of their time. I knew it was 2/3 size of a standard component, but still couldn’t help being a little disappointed when I pulled out what looked like a large car stereo from the box, and it doesn’t weigh much more either.

Excited for a chance to use my a/b switchers: WiiM to the preamps, then preamps to power amp 😃😃😃

Instantly the AVI has much punch & a little more definition than the Audiolab. Really like it, quite a surprising little thing even though I went in with high hopes. Wasn’t expecting it to better the Audiolab, but it has definitely edged it. Shame I don’t have the Rega still to compare against that.

Long story short: AVI S2000 is a keeper! With the Adcom power amp I’ve spent £390 & it’s pretty much on a par with the Elicit Mk5. Old hifi is awesome 🙌

 

[DougK1]

But wait, there’s moreb

C'mon spill the beans

 

[Revolutions]

C'mon spill the beans

I clicked submit when I was trying to add a photo 😂

 

[Messiah]

My research led me to AVI. Apparently a brand much loved but little known. First I’d heard of them - an interesting story.

If you frequented hifi forums 10-15 years ago you would not have been able to escape 'friendly debates' about AVI, their ADM 9.1 speakers (which I used happily for many years) and one of the founders Ashley James.

A decent company but sadly no longer around.

(I know until recent years, Acoustic Energy were still using AVI gear to demo their speakers).

 

[nopiano]

I know until recent years, Acoustic Energy were still using AVI gear to demo their speakers).

That figures, as they were/are all in the Cotswolds around Cirencester/Stroud near where we used to live.

ATC have been on the edge of the airfield near Stroud for a while. AE were in a new unit in Cirencester on one of the bypass roundabouts, then moved since Covid more rurally. AVI was nearby but can’t recall where exactly.

 

[Horn-loaded]

Greetings from down under - Palmerston North, NZ.
I have owned an Elicit Mk5 since April last year and initially used it to drive 8-ohm speakers, PSB Imagine T2 towers. Happy with the sound, and I preferred the sound to a Naim pre-power combo (ex my father) which I later sold.
A year back I replaced the PSBs with a 4-ohm speaker, Elac Vela 407 floor-standers. In store I also auditioned two other 4-ohm floor-standers from Monitor Audio and Sonus Faber.
Last month after running the Rega and the 407's for about a year I struck problems. Listening at moderate volumes, i.e. volume knob between 9 and 10 o’clock, the amp got quite warm to the touch (top panel) and cut out (no power to speakers) after only 30 mins listening. I let it cool down, powered off - on again and was OK for a bit longer but if anything the problem got worse. Reading this forum and others online made me aware of the issue with the Elicit and 4-ohm speakers.
Contacted the vendor in Wellington who suggested that I return the amp to them for a warranty repair. The amp was returned to me soon afterwards and has functioned fine ever since (touch wood). There was no email exchange as to what was done, but a phone call confirmed that the service team had adjusted the bias of the amp, which had 'left the factory with the wrong setting'. More on bias here: https://resources.pcb.cadence.com/blog/2024-top-5-power-amplifier-bias-circuit-design-considerations
Posting this to encourage other Elicit Mk5 owners encountering this thermal cut-off problem to send their amps back to your dealer/distributor to get the bias setting adjusted.

 

[Din5]

Interesting, I wonder how likely is it that Rega are sending out amplifiers with an incorrect bias setting ? (perhaps they should be alerted to this possibility). Or, could the bias have drifted slightly to the point where it can't handle 4 ohm speakers properly?

 

[nopiano]

Greetings from down under - Palmerston North, NZ.
I have owned an Elicit Mk5 since April last year and initially used it to drive 8-ohm speakers, PSB Imagine T2 towers. Happy with the sound, and I preferred the sound to a Naim pre-power combo (ex my father) which I later sold.
A year back I replaced the PSBs with a 4-ohm speaker, Elac Vela 407 floor-standers. In store I also auditioned two other 4-ohm floor-standers from Monitor Audio and Sonus Faber.
Last month after running the Rega and the 407's for about a year I struck problems. Listening at moderate volumes, i.e. volume knob between 9 and 10 o’clock, the amp got quite warm to the touch (top panel) and cut out (no power to speakers) after only 30 mins listening. I let it cool down, powered off - on again and was OK for a bit longer but if anything the problem got worse. Reading this forum and others online made me aware of the issue with the Elicit and 4-ohm speakers.
Contacted the vendor in Wellington who suggested that I return the amp to them for a warranty repair. The amp was returned to me soon afterwards and has functioned fine ever since (touch wood). There was no email exchange as to what was done, but a phone call confirmed that the service team had adjusted the bias of the amp, which had 'left the factory with the wrong setting'. More on bias here: https://resources.pcb.cadence.com/blog/2024-top-5-power-amplifier-bias-circuit-design-considerations
Posting this to encourage other Elicit Mk5 owners encountering this thermal cut-off problem to send their amps back to your dealer/distributor to get the bias setting adjusted.

Very interesting, and thanks for posting this.

I cannot be alone in noticing Elac Vela speakers appear to be the common link here, and the chances of two similar systems, albeit on opposite side of our planet, behaving the same way must be slim! Either Elac have an unrevealed impedance plunge that Rega amps get indigestion over, or Rega made a number of amps with out of spec (or poorly designed) bias settings.

 

[Revolutions]

@Horn-loaded thanks so much for sharing this - really interesting. As nopiano says, something isn't quite right: great sounding pair that don't play well together out of the box.

I do wish I'd got the amp properly looked at so we'd have a 2nd example of what the fix might be. Ended up selling the amp to someone who was using 8 ohm & wasn't worried about previous overheating. And the speakers are sold too, waiting collection by the new owner.

 

[speedthing]

Interesting thing while I was in my local Audio T buying a set of AE320 floor standing speakers I asked them about those Rega Amps. The reply I got was they are great but don't play them to hard as they heat up and cut out ;-( mmmm

 

[Horn-loaded]

Now on my second Rega Planar 3 T/T (my first, bought late eighties, is on long-term loan to a friend) so I am a bit of a Rega fan-boy. I even have a copy of Roy Gandy's book.
So I want to let a company I respect know about this problem with a product of theirs that I like. I even tried to contact them using Instagram, as they are not on FaceBook (can't blame them). They have not responded. There is no contact email address for the company and the website says, For service enquiries and product information please contact your UK dealer or global distributor.
How about if your distributor doesn't really seem to care about the product they are selling?
If anyone from Rega is reading this, please 'fess up and be open about what has happened, before your reputation suffers. The phrase product recall comes to mind.

 

[nopiano]

Now on my second Rega Planar 3 T/T (my first, bought late eighties, is on long-term loan to a friend) so I am a bit of a Rega fan-boy. I even have a copy of Roy Gandy's book.
So I want to let a company I respect know about this problem with a product of theirs that I like. I even tried to contact them using Instagram, as they are not on FaceBook (can't blame them). They have not responded. There is no contact email address for the company and the website says, For service enquiries and product information please contact your UK dealer or global distributor.
How about if your distributor doesn't really seem to care about the product they are selling?
If anyone from Rega is reading this, please 'fess up and be open about what has happened, before your reputation suffers. The phrase product recall comes to mind.

We used to have a very obliging contributor from Rega here until 2020. His name was Paul Darwin. Not sure what happened to him.

Amazing how the company seem to want to keep themselves hidden away. I suppose snail mail might work?

PS. Dr Google says Paul now runs a record shop!

New Record shop in Southport is a must visit - Rega News & Events

Opening 21st February 2024 from 10.00am for Tunes, Coffee, chat and treasures!

www.rega.co.uk