I got my SDA 2? today.shipping damage and amps not working right.

fbm211

So I finally got em and first all the posts that hold the grills on were broken! I dont know if there the A or b either.Back says SDA 2. I was going to replace 3 of the drivers and get another silk cause the left has a silk the right has a sl2000. Anyway I have to put off restoring them because both my adcom 565s have issues.The 555II preamp too! This really sucks.I guess having them in storage for 7 years did something bad.I know its the amps because when I tried them out I noticed the right speaker sounded bad the left good.So I swapped the amps and the problem was reversed.And when I switched off the good sounding amp I got some serious nasty sound out of the speaker.And it wouldnt stop untill I pulled the plug!And the distortion light glowed for several minuites too.With no power even.And the preamp is real touchy.Just touching any of the knobs caused all sorts of distortion and even moving it made bad things happen. So now I have to get an amp and preamp.Im looking at adcoms and haflers on ebay but if any of you know of any good deals to help me out then let me know.PLEASE.

heiney9

fbm211 wrote: »

So I finally got em and first all the posts that hold the grills on were broken! I dont know if there the A or b either.Back says SDA 2. I was going to replace 3 of the drivers and get another silk cause the left has a silk the right has a sl2000. Anyway I have to put off restoring them because both my adcom 565s have issues.The 555II preamp too! This really sucks.I guess having them in storage for 7 years did something bad.I know its the amps because when I tried them out I noticed the right speaker sounded bad the left good.So I swapped the amps and the problem was reversed.And when I switched off the good sounding amp I got some serious nasty sound out of the speaker.And it wouldnt stop untill I pulled the plug!And the distortion light glowed for several minuites too.With no power even.And the preamp is real touchy.Just touching any of the knobs caused all sorts of distortion and even moving it made bad things happen. So now I have to get an amp and preamp.Im looking at adcoms and haflers on ebay but if any of you know of any good deals to help me out then let me know.PLEASE.

Sorry to hear your misfortune. Some Adcom 565's and 585's had a bad run run of caps on the driver board that swell and leak electrolyte all over the driver boards. This most likely could be your issue. The fluid is caustic and eats away at the boards. It's a major PITA to fix because the driver boards have to be completely stripped (of all parts) and cleaned meticulously in order form them to work properly again. The boards are no longer avail from Adcom. Check your DC offset it's probably way off the charts. Hopefully Ben will chime in as he has hands on.

If you have no expertise in this area it's best to send them to a very qualified service center that is willing to take the time and effort to do the job right and is familiar with this specific fix. I've talked with a few tech's and they say most won't put in the time an effort to clean the boards properly.

Ben has successfully fixed his after months of tinkering, stripping and cleaning in an ultrasonic cleaner with simple green solution.

Do not us the amps with the SDA's until you know what the issue is. The pegs on the SDA's are an easy fix.

Good luck

H9

P.s. The bad caps were from another manufacturer and really not Adcom's fault; it's still a shame the damage one small part can cause.

fbm211

I think id be better off just getting another amp and preamp.It would probably cost around the same as getting the monos fixed anyway.

heiney9

The preamp sounds like it needs a good cleaning with DeOxit on all the controls, they sound dirty especially if they have been around a fair amount of moisture. I restored all the controls on an old Yammy integrated. I tore the whole thing apart and cleaned it with Caig DeOxit. Time consuming but an easy fix.

heiney9

fbm211 wrote: »

I think id be better off just getting another amp and preamp.It would probably cost around the same as getting the monos fixed anyway.

Those are great amps............atleast investigate it and see what it is. Most repair shops charge a small diagnostic fee.

fbm211

There are no repair shop in state college anymore.We used to have one but they moved.Id have to ship them and that would cost a-lot.I still have the original boxes and Ill call this place in harrisburg and find out if they would be willing to try to fix them but if shipping is too much I think I will got a GFA 555II and later another one and bridge them.Or get a bridgeable hafler and do the same.

F1nut

You can't use bridged amps with those speakers

heiney9

fbm211 wrote: »

There are no repair shop in state college anymore.We used to have one but they moved.Id have to ship them and that would cost a-lot.I still have the original boxes and Ill call this place in harrisburg and find out if they would be willing to try to fix them but if shipping is too much I think I will got a GFA 555II and later another one and bridge them.Or get a bridgeable hafler and do the same.

You can't run SDA's on a bridged amplifier, plus it's not a desirable load on the amplifier. Get one 555 and you'll have all the power you need.

A bridged amp because of the way it's designed CANNOT have a common ground. You also halve the impedance so essentially if your running SDA's you are around 2-3 ohms and a bridged amp usually doesn't like to see much less than 6-8 ohms. This goes for most (if not all) bridgeable stereo amps when run in bridged mode.

Fast_Eddie_72

Ok...

#1 Your pre amp controls are dirty. Open it up an hit it with some deoxit. Very good posibility you'll fix it. Hit each pot and switch and then work them a bit. It is amazing what it can do.

#2 As F1 says, you can't use them with your SDAs. I assume these are two stereo amps that you are running in bridged mode. If so, I further assume you could use one of them in stereo mode, the assumption being that it's a common ground amp (very likey)

#3 Send the other amp to me as payment for this good advice. Or send me all three and I'll send back a working pre amp and one amp!

heiney9

Fast_Eddie_72 wrote: »

Ok...

#2 As F1 says, you can't use them with your SDAs. I assume these are two stereo amps that you are running in bridged mode. If so, I further assume you could use one of them in stereo mode, the assumption being that it's a common ground amp (very likey)

The original amps in question can be used with SDA's if they were functioning properly. Adcom 565's are mono bloc amps.

The 555 and 555II are bridgeable stereo amps and can not be used in bridged mode (mono) with the SDA's.

H9

fbm211

I just called a repair center within 30 min of here.They require 45.00 deposit for each amp to give an estimate of repair cost.On a side note I only hooked up the speakers to test them.I did not connect the interconnect cable because I havent recieved the grounding cable frank is putting together for me.The only other problem I noted was I had to ground the CDplayers chassis to the preamp groung lug to stop the hum I got when I selected it.Hopefully they can repair the amps though.Adcom parts for those may be a problem.

heiney9

fbm211 wrote: »

I just called a repair center within 30 min of here.They require 45.00 deposit for each amp to give an estimate of repair cost.On a side note I only hooked up the speakers to test them.I did not connect the interconnect cable because I havent recieved the grounding cable frank is putting together for me.The only other problem I noted was I had to ground the CDplayers chassis to the preamp groung lug to stop the hum I got when I selected it.Hopefully they can repair the amps though.Adcom parts for those may be a problem.

Many equivalent parts are sourceable for Adcoms, no worries there. Also Ben62670 has (2) whole lots of original matched Toshiba out transistors if that's what it turns out to be. He'll gladly sell them to you for a good price. These should also fit the 565's and 555's as well. These are original Adcom stock and are getting harder and harder to find; especially matched sets.

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61955&highlight=toshiba

If it turns out the cap(s) have leaked on the boards the cost isn't for the parts but for the intense labor involved to clean the boards well enough to be reused.

Good luck

H9