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Nikko Alpha 450 noise

CrazeeD

CrazeeD

New Member
Hi All, having a weird problem with a Nikko Alpha 450 power amp I'm working on. I've posted here before regarding this amp and the suggestions were invaluable. I've re-capped the power supply as 1 of the big filter caps had leaked and wasn't even making contact with the board. The amp sounds great but still has a buzz. Oddly enough, when I touch the input lines that go to the main board the buzz stops, silent. Likewise when I unstrap the lines from where they are attached to the chassis and pull them away from the other circuitry the buzz drops right off. I've looked closely at grounding and there doesn't seem to be anything out of place. This is the only problem left on this amp that prevents it from being awesome. Another weird twist, the previous owner of this amp had some work done on it that included having the little input board that comes stock pulled out and wired the inputs straight to the main board. Not sure why this was done or if its causing my issue but thought I'd mention it. Any suggestions are very much welcome and appreciated!
 
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I do not remember where this was posted {440?} but may be related. Take a reading of the volume controls at mid point and put the equivalent fixed resistors between the rca inputs and the board rather than straight in. If they are missing I would try a 1 or 2 ohm resistor for starters. There are also .47 uf 50 v caps on the 440 input board LR signal path . Also change the original cheapo rca s to higher quality. This helps eliminate unintended hot swapping {loose positive pin lightning blast sound} For giggles short term you could try cleaning the pots and reattaching but long term the original rca s should go.
 
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Were the old jacks grounded to the chassis at that point and the new jacks not grounded? Or vice-versa? Many replace the jacks on the GAS Son of Ampzilla and isolate them from the chassis, this doesn't work because the jacks need to be grounded to the chassis as they are the ground for the driver board.

Craig
 
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