Hi all,
I just wanted to run something passed this forum.
I have an Akai AM-32 amplifier (together with the whole system that went with it).
Since I had it (2021), it's been giving me issues.
- Left channel always lower and crackling/distorting, particularly on bass note. Increased with volume.
- Music very subdued.
- Generally ran hot.
Sent it to a tech and he said it was generally clean but had to sort out a lot of cold joints.
He also said he cleaned the controls.
When I got it back it sounded very different. Much more clear and powerful.
Did not run hot at all.
The left channel issue was gone, for about a day or two.
Non-bassy music played fine, but as soon as something with low bass played it came back, and then stayed.
I could get it to play fine if the music wasn't as bass intense AND letting it play a while. Sometimes adjusting the various controls and switches helped.
I switched speakers to check and it was definitely the left channel itself. I changed sources from CD to tuner to bluetooth and they all had the issue. CD was worse though.
Took it to another tech, and he had a look at it together with the equalizer.
On the scope everything did look fine. We tested for about an hour.
He had it for a few days and said that he did manage to replicate what I was seeing, particularly on colder days on startup.
He said he just gave it a good clean (equalizer as well).
When I got it back it played flawlessly, for a week.
Then the crackling came back on the left channel. No amount of button/knob twiddling could adjust it away. Sometimes switching it on and leaving for a while could help.
I did try to exclude the equalizer and it helped for like 20 minutes.
The sound coming from the right channel is fine, great even.
This brings me to the latest issue, which is a constant hum from both speakers.
It's loudness , tone and balance follows the controls. So it's gone if volume is 0.
It plays on both channels.
It is present with or without any inputs connected.
It does not start immediately after switching on, but rather after the first "click" I hear from the amp itself.
It does seem to play a bit softer if I use the "source direct" feature, but is not gone.
It is evident on all sources, from tape to aux...except it's completely gone on phono (although I don't have a player to test the actual music).
I think in general there's a lot of problems, and sorting one out is only allowing another to be revealed.
I would like to sort out these issues if possible.
Anyone have any ideas? I can pass them on to the tech.
I just wanted to run something passed this forum.
I have an Akai AM-32 amplifier (together with the whole system that went with it).
Since I had it (2021), it's been giving me issues.
- Left channel always lower and crackling/distorting, particularly on bass note. Increased with volume.
- Music very subdued.
- Generally ran hot.
Sent it to a tech and he said it was generally clean but had to sort out a lot of cold joints.
He also said he cleaned the controls.
When I got it back it sounded very different. Much more clear and powerful.
Did not run hot at all.
The left channel issue was gone, for about a day or two.
Non-bassy music played fine, but as soon as something with low bass played it came back, and then stayed.
I could get it to play fine if the music wasn't as bass intense AND letting it play a while. Sometimes adjusting the various controls and switches helped.
I switched speakers to check and it was definitely the left channel itself. I changed sources from CD to tuner to bluetooth and they all had the issue. CD was worse though.
Took it to another tech, and he had a look at it together with the equalizer.
On the scope everything did look fine. We tested for about an hour.
He had it for a few days and said that he did manage to replicate what I was seeing, particularly on colder days on startup.
He said he just gave it a good clean (equalizer as well).
When I got it back it played flawlessly, for a week.
Then the crackling came back on the left channel. No amount of button/knob twiddling could adjust it away. Sometimes switching it on and leaving for a while could help.
I did try to exclude the equalizer and it helped for like 20 minutes.
The sound coming from the right channel is fine, great even.
This brings me to the latest issue, which is a constant hum from both speakers.
It's loudness , tone and balance follows the controls. So it's gone if volume is 0.
It plays on both channels.
It is present with or without any inputs connected.
It does not start immediately after switching on, but rather after the first "click" I hear from the amp itself.
It does seem to play a bit softer if I use the "source direct" feature, but is not gone.
It is evident on all sources, from tape to aux...except it's completely gone on phono (although I don't have a player to test the actual music).
I think in general there's a lot of problems, and sorting one out is only allowing another to be revealed.
I would like to sort out these issues if possible.
Anyone have any ideas? I can pass them on to the tech.