Audire Audio Components
- Thread starter Bostown
- Start date
Corrine Jutz
New Member
It's an early single switch. I'm not sure if Julius is still with us. At one time I had his contract information. Unfortunately I don't know where it is. If I run across it I certainly share that.
I see you still taking care of my amplifier .... ?
Does that mean you owned the very unit that has been in my system for the past several years or that you owned a similar dual breaker/ power switch Otez?Corrine Jutz
New Member
I still own a single breaker unit.
There were 3 posted on for sale this week. 1 sold ( the one with RCA + XLR) 2 others are still up ( XLR only) all are the older single breaker version. Rare to see so many Otez amps offered at the same time I wouldn't be surprised it if was an AK member that scooped up the one that sold.
a.wayne
Well-Known Member
LOL, No I have a single Switch otez ......
a.wayne
Well-Known Member
Hawkeye83
Super Member
Does anyone know if there is any credence to the "rumor" that Audire amps must be used with short interconnects (less than 3 feet) or you risk the amp picking up RF and damaging it? I have had an Audire Forte for 3-4 months and it worked great for awhile but then the right channel developed an issue. My speakers (KEF 107's) use sort of an EQ (KEF KUBE) requiring longer interconnects...I have 3 feet interconnects from the preamp to the KUBE and another 3 feet from the KUBE to the amp. Just wondering if this may have damaged the amp...I am going to have the amp fixed but don't want to put it back in use in this system if it's just going to have this problem again!
What my amp started doing is putting a distortion into the right channel. It works, but the tweeter has a very nasty sound to it...kinda "spitty" and distorted. I have narrowed it down to the amp (substituted another amp in its place and the issue is gone). There is also a hum in my system from the preamp, but that's another issue. I also tried another preamp with the Audire and the spitty noise remains and the hum is gone with the other preamp.
"I used a Model 2 Audire (100 wpb AB) for 25 plus years. The amp was an improved version of the Model 1. Both have oscillation issues that are ground related. Input cables must be 3 feet or less; otherwise the amp picks up RF and fries itself, usually just the outputs.
Later designs were free of this issue, but still have to set up and disconnected correctly. There is no protection circuitry. If you touch the speaker wires together, even if it has been unplugged for a short time, it will fry the innards, usually the outputs."
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/solid-state/198972-audire-oh-dear-3.html
What my amp started doing is putting a distortion into the right channel. It works, but the tweeter has a very nasty sound to it...kinda "spitty" and distorted. I have narrowed it down to the amp (substituted another amp in its place and the issue is gone). There is also a hum in my system from the preamp, but that's another issue. I also tried another preamp with the Audire and the spitty noise remains and the hum is gone with the other preamp.
"I used a Model 2 Audire (100 wpb AB) for 25 plus years. The amp was an improved version of the Model 1. Both have oscillation issues that are ground related. Input cables must be 3 feet or less; otherwise the amp picks up RF and fries itself, usually just the outputs.
Later designs were free of this issue, but still have to set up and disconnected correctly. There is no protection circuitry. If you touch the speaker wires together, even if it has been unplugged for a short time, it will fry the innards, usually the outputs."
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/solid-state/198972-audire-oh-dear-3.html
Hawkeye83
Super Member
Just an update - local tech looked at the unit and found no faults. He didn't say much other than both channels tested equally...amp had no clipping before 130 watts (normal? I guess so, if into 8 ohms, I think it's rated at 125 wpc @ 8 ohms). Possibly it has to do with cheaper cabling. I read some reviews on this amp being finicky with cheap cables. Might try it in my office system. Trying to decide whether to keep it. Certainly a good sounding amp. Just might not be right in my system.
Sold and serviced Audire equipment for years. As far as cabling goes -these were designed in the era when almost all RCA cables were co-ax construction (center conductor + -insulating material -outer shield for - ). Spec most of us paid some attention to was low(ish) capacitance for interconnects. In the wild world of interconnects today -assumptions about interconnect construction or performance are simply foolish (has nothing to do with price). I certainly had dozens of systems that were running longer than 3 foot interconnects- 10-16 was common - .The distance from the output of the Cube to the amp should be the only issue . What is the output impedance of the Cube ? I never had a Audire amp go intermittently noisy in the way you describe -IOW -if you could turn it on for say 1/2 hour and it only became noisy some of the time - I'd suspect the KEF Cube or your preamp ??? We sold these amps for many years -with time -two service issues did occur : 1.) some units had bad power supply filter capacitors - pressure relief would bulge or rupture -Julius would provide replacements and we would replace all of them in a unit. let me be clear on this - this was not a design flaw -but a specific batch failure of a component part. LOTS of Audire's have been perkin right along for decades with their original capacitors doin the job. 2.) The MPQ-6600 would fail and become noisy-hissy typically. This looks like a IC - but isn't . It's pairs of transistors on a common substrate. The idea is that they will thermally track each other because they are contained in the same package. I do not know of a available substitute for this specific part ? Any working channel is worth something because it will have one MPQ-6600 on it -please sell these modules rather than junking them.Let me elaborate : The amp modules are relatively easily removed from the amp - they are comparatively light to ship -and are a bolt in and hook back up replacement for a entire channel minus transformer/power supply - so even if you don't want to ship a entire amp to someone -consider listing the working module as a separate item. If someone knows from personal experience of a succesfull substitute for the MPQ-6600 -please post this info.
Last edited:
@ Stonedeaf & others...
Hey you guys, I picked up a Parlando Mosfet version last month and have gotten a bit paranoid in regards to the whole stability issue for some of Audire's products.
I've been checking the beast out, It came with a blown fuse in one NPN transistor pair position, so I was taking my time, checking all the things I could (all resistors, rectifiers, outputs and finally slowly powered it up after replacing that 1 fuse.
Voila! She lives!
So, then I measured all these different heat sink temps and discovered some variation on 1 channel.
I first let it warm up for a good 25 minutes, and measured:
L. Channel: 106.6, 107.1, 103.4, 104.4, 109 (center), 103.3, 99.5, 99.5. @50 minutes - 1Hr.
R. channel: 95, 95, 95, 98.6, 102.7 (center), 104.5, 105.3, 104 @ 30 minutes (Sorry, I shoulda measured this at the 1 hr mark too.)
In any case, there seems to be quite a bit of variation on both channels (10 degrees Farenheit). and the temps are getting up there for the L. channel at the 1 hr mark.
Reading up on EchoWars DC offset post, I decided to measure that too!
R. channel measures -30 mVDC & -32.3 mVDC.
L. channel Measures -.6 mVDC & & 3 mVDC. Hmmmm....
So the DC offset on the R. channel is a bit high, the L. channel crosses into positive territory, don't know if that's acceptable.
I also might note, there are some toasty looking resistors on that L. channel, but they measure the same as the R.namely a 10 ohm
Think it's safe? or should I play with it?
There is no other obvious issue with the amp, unless we approach the dreaded MPQ6600 issue, which BTW, this amp doesn't have.
It has the Bi-polar devices joined with a small heat sink conduit.
I would think if it's the drivers, there would be variation affecting a whole block of the outputs. No?
Great thread for me by the way!
SaltyDog
Hey you guys, I picked up a Parlando Mosfet version last month and have gotten a bit paranoid in regards to the whole stability issue for some of Audire's products.
I've been checking the beast out, It came with a blown fuse in one NPN transistor pair position, so I was taking my time, checking all the things I could (all resistors, rectifiers, outputs and finally slowly powered it up after replacing that 1 fuse.
Voila! She lives!
So, then I measured all these different heat sink temps and discovered some variation on 1 channel.
I first let it warm up for a good 25 minutes, and measured:
L. Channel: 106.6, 107.1, 103.4, 104.4, 109 (center), 103.3, 99.5, 99.5. @50 minutes - 1Hr.
R. channel: 95, 95, 95, 98.6, 102.7 (center), 104.5, 105.3, 104 @ 30 minutes (Sorry, I shoulda measured this at the 1 hr mark too.)
In any case, there seems to be quite a bit of variation on both channels (10 degrees Farenheit). and the temps are getting up there for the L. channel at the 1 hr mark.
Reading up on EchoWars DC offset post, I decided to measure that too!
R. channel measures -30 mVDC & -32.3 mVDC.
L. channel Measures -.6 mVDC & & 3 mVDC. Hmmmm....
So the DC offset on the R. channel is a bit high, the L. channel crosses into positive territory, don't know if that's acceptable.
I also might note, there are some toasty looking resistors on that L. channel, but they measure the same as the R.namely a 10 ohm
Think it's safe? or should I play with it?
There is no other obvious issue with the amp, unless we approach the dreaded MPQ6600 issue, which BTW, this amp doesn't have.
It has the Bi-polar devices joined with a small heat sink conduit.
I would think if it's the drivers, there would be variation affecting a whole block of the outputs. No?
Great thread for me by the way!
SaltyDog
I knew that Julius had come up with a MPQ-6600 substitute a while back. But didn't know he had ever built amps with MOSFET's. Kool! I will tell you this -his class A amps after they had been powered up for about 1/2 hour were some of the best amps I have ever heard. Heavy ,gave off a lot of heat and ran the electric meter pretty well - but could grab a woofer and make it do things that lesser A/B didn't know about -while sounding so very smooth and effortless at the same time.Really don't know anything about your version of this amp - it dates from years after I quit servicing audio gear.
Take away the heat, and the higher than average electrical cost and you just described his hybrid A - A/B OTEZ which is physical identical twin to the Parlando. Both amps sound excellent and I wouldn't rank over the other with the exception of the variances in temp and potential increase in power consumption.
noobydoo
Active Member
powerman
Super Member
Hello Bostown, here are some pictures of my Audire 3x18 electronic crossover. Never have I seen any others. I do not know if I lost or misplaced a set of cards as this was a 3 way Xover and 18db/octave hence the 3x18. It has 500 hz cards in it. Did anyone find the contact info for Julius. Let me know please and keep going on a great thread
noobydoo
Active Member
I currently have a model 2 that I love. There's one on ebay that is advertised as not working but I from it's description it sounds more like an end user issue. My question is if I do get it and the problem is more serious than I believe it to be are parts available, original or replacement to get it working?
I'd buy it as a parts donor for your fully functional unit. The only thing that is sorta unobtanium is the MPQ6600 or Julius's replacement for that part. Maybe somebody has figured that out - but I don't know who that is ? In servicing these amps for a number of years -the only consistent problems were the MPQ6600 issue (which was available from Julius at the time) and a batch of bad power supply capacitors -and Julius supplied us with those as replacements. Are you talking about a Diffet 2 preamp or a newer model power amp that came out after I was no longer servicing audio equipment ? Come to think of it - I'm not sure we ever had a defective pre-amp (and we sold lots of 'em).
I think the Model 2 is a power amp. there are a couple of version including one with meters, and one that has a different brand name which escapes me.
This looks a lot like what we sold as a Crescendo -a honest 75 watts per channel.At the price it's worth buying as a parts donor to your fully functional unit. (BTW-you are welcome to ignore this advice - my basement being the argument against adopting this practice .
.