Another failed unit, integrated amp this time.

[KevinCorr]

Now my Rotel 1070 only plays one channel. It was made from 2001 to 2004 and went for $1200. It was very good. Under rated I feel.
My great little Onix OA21S amp failed last month. http://www.onix-hifi.com/stor.html

These break downs were preceded by 3 failed cd players, Rega Apollo, Rotel 1072 and NAD 515 BEE. Everything seems to be wearing out at once. That makes 5 components failed recently.

I am not ready to buy my next dream amp Rega Brio R because the house is still under construction, by me, and I have way overspent.

Since my Onix failed, I have been working up a list of the best cheap integrated amps to search for online. I foolishly let an Onix pass on ebay for $375. Someone got a great deal. There is another one at Hawthorne for $540, but Rega Mira 3 are going for $500 and would be a lot newer.

First option, repair. I got the Apollo and NAD cd players fixed. Shipping round trip is about $100 plus the repair up to around $200. Putting $300 into an old unit may not be best. I did really like the Onix and Rotel amps though. All my integrated amps have phono amps.

I wonder what I could buy near that $300 which would be in the ball park with the Rotel and Onix?
I would guess the best bargain quality sound might be Cambridge Audio? Topaz 10 going for about $350. I am thinking of something fairly current.

 

[komoyuki]

Check for Nad integrated amp.

 

[slippers-on]

That is very strange your gear is going out like that at the same time. Is your electricity dirty? I have two Rotel amps...a 1070 and 1080 an d both have been flawless.

 

[Art K.]

I'm with Slipper on this. Then again I understand, Kevin, as I have that kind of luck as well. Were it me I'd look long and hard at that Mira 3.

 

[KevinCorr]

Slippers-on, I can see that it looks bad but I think it is the house that is dirty. We are living in it while rebuilding. I try to cover from dust and allow cooling at the same time. My wife thinks it is too much moving stuff around. The Rotel has a light film of paint on top where a painter (not me) took some metal doors into the garage to spray them and didn't contain his paint area. On the other hand neither of the 2 repair shops that fixed the Rega and NAD cdp said anything about sawdust in the gear so I am not sure that is the problem.

Also the gear was bought used and used for a long time by me so it could simply be time to upgrade a lot of my old hifi.

Komoyuki, I do have the newly repaired NAD cdp so that is a consideration. I have it with a monster huge HK and it sounds ok.
Art, you know my favorite amp so far is my Mira 3 so you are probably right to go for a 2nd one. I will have to wait unless I go cheap.
Cheers.
btw, there is a Well Tempered Simplex used at Hawthorne. I can't even think about it. I couldn't get away with that.

 

[Art K.]

The fella's at Hawthorne better move that Simplex soon as the rest of their tables will get embarrassed in a side by side, especially at anywhere near the same price.

 

[KevinCorr]

Really I have not shopped for turntables for many years. I am clueless there. I noticed that they have a Roksan table for 3 times the price of the Simplex. Before I get a good table, I will look into a vintage one, since I miss my old Thorens and AR. Nostalgia.

 

[KevinCorr]

My Rotel dealer may be able to fix the amp locally. Maybe I am in luck. He recommends that I quit using a power strip to turn the gear off when not in use. He says that that causes both surges and brown outs. He says if we must turn equipment off, we should use the switch on the unit and never turn them all on at once with a strip.
He is not saying that it is for sure my problem but it is not a good practice. Finally now I learn after doing it for 20 years. On the other hand it is amazing how long my gear has lasted abusing it this way.

 

[slippers-on]

You have been using one of those little power strips that cost $5.00?

 

[KevinCorr]

You have been using one of those little power strips that cost $5.00?

Ha, that is funny. Well not quite. Decent ones for $20-30 but on my Rega system I have an expensive surge protector with no switch that I plug into a cheap one just for the switch. The local hifi store says that even with the good ones I don't want to be switching them on and off.

 

[Navy Guy]

With all those loads coming on at once, you could be causing quite a power surge. Definitely good practice that if you are going to turn them off, do it on the unit. Were you using the power strip to save money on electricity by not having the units on in standby?

 

[Art K.]

Decent ones for $20-30 but on my Rega system I have an expensive surge protector with no switch that I plug into a cheap one just for the switch.

Plug your amp directly into the wall socket and if you must plug your sources into your nice surge protector. Toss the cheapo...

 

[slippers-on]

If you want a unit to to plug all your gear into you should get a better conditioner.

something like these will be better for you....these are but a few cheaper ones costing from a few hundred to about $500....they are worth it.

 

[Navy Guy]

There was an audio shop that I used to go to in Honolulu that sold this power conditioner that was unlike most of the others out there. He claimed it was the best accessory he ever added to his system.

The conditioner itself took the AC power from the wall and converted it to DC and then back to AC along with having a decoupling transformer at some point in the line (I'm pretty sure it did anyway). It's supposed to give you "perfect power." The DC power also fed a battery pack that could power your rig for like 2 hours if the power went out with zero interuption in play. In principle, the concept makes more sense to me than most of the others based on my time in the Navy and some of the equipment we used. It was around $2500 but for the life of me I can't remember the name of the brand.

 

[hjames]

Liebert Power conditioners work that way - A CATV system I used to work for had all the main gear for a 120+ ch system running off a Liebert system.
The Liebert hooked to the power grid, charged up a battery bank, and the batteries fed a 120v inverter system that ran the racks of gear.
When power dropped on the grid, you never even knew it!

http://www.emersonnetworkpower.com/en-US/Products/ACPower/RackmountUPS/Pages/default.aspx

There was an audio shop that I used to go to in Honolulu that sold this power conditioner that was unlike most of the others out there. He claimed it was the best accessory he ever added to his system.

The conditioner itself took the AC power from the wall and converted it to DC and then back to AC along with having a decoupling transformer at some point in the line (I'm pretty sure it did anyway). It's supposed to give you "perfect power." The DC power also fed a battery pack that could power your rig for like 2 hours if the power went out with zero interuption in play. In principle, the concept makes more sense to me than most of the others based on my time in the Navy and some of the equipment we used. It was around $2500 but for the life of me I can't remember the name of the brand.

 

[KevinCorr]

With all those loads coming on at once, you could be causing quite a power surge. Definitely good practice that if you are going to turn them off, do it on the unit. Were you using the power strip to save money on electricity by not having the units on in standby?

Yes to save on standby. Dealer tells me standby use is exaggerated by the electric co. We pay about $80-90 month electric bill with oil heat and oil hot water, and gas cook stove. Have energy saving bulbs. The laundry is a big user.

 

[KevinCorr]

Plug your amp directly into the wall socket and if you must plug your sources into your nice surge protector. Toss the cheapo...

I will do that. Especially because my wife turns off the power strip when I don't. That solves one system with the strip with no switch and the Mira3 in the wall. Now on to look at some more good strips for the other rooms.

Don't you worry about surge protection? What about those wall plug surge protectors? They must be basically the same thing as a plug in one?

 

[KevinCorr]

There was an audio shop that I used to go to in Honolulu that sold this power conditioner that was unlike most of the others out there. He claimed it was the best accessory he ever added to his system.

The conditioner itself took the AC power from the wall and converted it to DC and then back to AC along with having a decoupling transformer at some point in the line (I'm pretty sure it did anyway). It's supposed to give you "perfect power." The DC power also fed a battery pack that could power your rig for like 2 hours if the power went out with zero interuption in play. In principle, the concept makes more sense to me than most of the others based on my time in the Navy and some of the equipment we used. It was around $2500 but for the life of me I can't remember the name of the brand.

I saw an ad online yesterday for an integrated amp where he included a made in Korea 120v/12 converter/inverter. He said it cost $50. I am looking for that ad again.

 

[KevinCorr]

slippers-on: "...If you want a unit to to plug all your gear into you should get a better conditioner.

something like these will be better for you....these are but a few cheaper ones costing from a few hundred to about $500....they are worth it..."
My dealer has surge bar from $45 to $150 and power conditioners for $150 up to $400. The $150 is a Rotel, the others are Panamax.

So it looks like we are talking about 4 different products here:
1- surge supresser
2- power conditioner
3- power backup
4- power converter/inverter 120v/12v

Art, why don't you use this stuff? Does it interfere with sound quality? I think we need surge supression here. Some people here have whole house surge protection.

 

[slippers-on]

slippers-on: "...If you want a unit to to plug all your gear into you should get a better conditioner.

something like these will be better for you....these are but a few cheaper ones costing from a few hundred to about $500....they are worth it..."
My dealer has surge bar from $45 to $150 and power conditioners for $150 up to $400. The $150 is a Rotel, the others are Panamax.

So it looks like we are talking about 4 different products here:
1- surge supresser
2- power conditioner
3- power backup
4- power converter/inverter 120v/12v

Art, why don't you use this stuff? Does it interfere with sound quality? I think we need surge supression here. Some people here have whole house surge protection.

do you know what dirty power is? May I suggest you do a little home work. google is your best friend. the Rotel conditioner is really a APC unit and many audiophiles use them. a good conditioner will clean your dirty power give you good protection from surges and browns, shut down all your gear with some small electrical storm strikes, and due to better cleaner power, your systems sound will be better. I use one my self and have all the benefits I described.