issues with lsi

cembros

I am having some serious issues with my lsi 15's, c, and fx's. I recently purchased a rotel rmb1095 and connected it to my sony strda3300es, the amp would cut out after about a minute. I disconnected the amp and connected the speakers to the receiver but the sound out of the speakers is now really distorted, it sounds muted, asthough a blanket is covering the speakers. I thought the problem was with the receiver so i picked up a pioneer sc05 and connected amp to the receiver and experienced the same problem. I once again connected the speakers directly to the receiver and the sound was again distorted. I do not know if the amp damaged my old receiver and my new one (even though it was only connected to the new one for a couple of minutes where as i spent serveal hours trying to get the amp to work with the sony before i ecperienced the issues with the speakers)or if my speakers are damaged. I would greatly appreciate any feedback.

mmadden28

Just a guess based on a similar issue I had a few months ago. Sounds like you blew a tweeter or driver. The blown tweeter or driver may be shorted causing the amp to shut down. Not saying the issue isn't elsewhere, just a preliminary guess.
Do you have a volt-ohmmeter ? If so while disconnected, measure the resistance across the posts on the speaker terminals-they should not be shorted.
Another test would be to remove the jumpers between the top and bottom posts and hook up the reciever again, first connect the speaker cables to just the bottom posts (only lower freq sounds) and listen. Then to the top posts (higher freq) and listen again. This might confirm if the issue is the speakers and if so which section (high or low).

cembros

when i first hooked up the amp to my sony the sound was cutting outand sounding distorted, i disconnected it and connected the speakers to the receiver and then watched a movie, everything sounded fine. The next day i tried to get the amp hooked up again only to encounter the same problem. I hooked the speakers back up to th receiver only to find that the speakers were now distorted even when the amp was not connected

ohskigod

curious, your not trying to biamp the mains with the amp and reciever and leaving the binding post jumpers in are you?

I can imagine that shutting an amp down but quick

cembros

mmadden28 wrote: »

Just a guess based on a similar issue I had a few months ago. Sounds like you blew a tweeter or driver. The blown tweeter or driver may be shorted causing the amp to shut down. Not saying the issue isn't elsewhere, just a preliminary guess.
Do you have a volt-ohmmeter ? If so while disconnected, measure the resistance across the posts on the speaker terminals-they should not be shorted.
Another test would be to remove the jumpers between the top and bottom posts and hook up the reciever again, first connect the speaker cables to just the bottom posts (only lower freq sounds) and listen. Then to the top posts (higher freq) and listen again. This might confirm if the issue is the speakers and if so which section (high or low).

OMG im such an idiot i totally forgot that i dont have the jumpers on my front speakers because i had them bi amped with the sony and then once i got the amp i used single wire, im going to put them back and see if that fixes the problem

ohskigod

hope it works, like I said, whatever you dont DONT biamp with the jumpers on. sounds like you already know, but sometimes mistakes are made and that could be REAL bad

cembros

wow that is exactly what the problem was, no i wonder if this was the problem for the amp to, im going to try and hook up the amp now

cembros

ohskigod wrote: »

hope it works, like I said, whatever you dont DONT biamp with the jumpers on. sounds like you already know, but sometimes mistakes are made and that could be REAL bad

ya the problem was that i forgot to put the jumpers back on once i decided no to bi amp. It seams that this was the root of allllll my problems, the amp seams to work fine now, and boy do my speakers sing.

cembros

ah **** the amp shut off after a couple of minutes, i had such high hopes

cnh

Sounds like a nice easy fix. I remember when I bought me first set of Polk towers I was getting no high end out of one speaker. Couldn't figure out what was wrong. They were brand new.

Turns out. One of the upperterminals was not fully screwed down onto the jumper. Applied a little elbow grease and I was fine. Whewww! I felt for you there!

cnh

cembros

cnh wrote: »

Sounds like a nice easy fix. I remember when I bought me first set of Polk towers I was getting no high end out of one speaker. Couldn't figure out what was wrong. They were brand new.

Turns out. One of the upperterminals was not fully screwed down onto the jumper. Applied a little elbow grease and I was fine. Whewww! I felt for you there!

cnh

ya im sooo releived, but unfortuantly the amp is still giving me problems. I have contacted rotel to see if maybe they can get me a new unit. I hope they dont ask me to send it in for repair, this thing weighs about 70lbs, i cant imagin the cost of shipping

tcrossma

cembros wrote: »

ya im sooo releived, but unfortuantly the amp is still giving me problems. I have contacted rotel to see if maybe they can get me a new unit. I hope they dont ask me to send it in for repair, this thing weighs about 70lbs, i cant imagin the cost of shipping

The cost of shipping will be about $50-70 most likely. Not a fun thing to have to do, but usually not the end of the world either.

cembros

ya but with a high end product this really shouldnt happen, i expected much more and im really disapointed. But atleast i get to enjoy my new pioneer which sounds just wonderfull, such an improvment over my sony, i cant wait to get the amp fixed so i can get the power to my speakers that they really need. I paid 1700 for my amp, iv had it for a week and i still havent been able to use it

F1nut

High end product???

Anyway, are you sure you have the amp connected properly? At what volume level are you playing things at? The LSi's are 4 ohm loads, perhaps the amp can't handle that kind of load at high volume.

cembros

you dont think that rotel is high end. The amp is hooked up correctly and can eaisly handle the lsi at 4ohms. I am now 100 percent sure there is a problem with the amp

F1nut

I know it's not.

Again, at what volume level are you playing things? Is the amp brand new or used?

cembros

1700 dollars is alot of money to spend on a peice of electronics and i have certian expectations for that amount of money, so to me it is high end. It doesnt matter what volume i play the amp at, no matter what the sound shuts off after maybe 3 or 4 minutes

F1nut

It doesnt matter what volume i play the amp at, no matter what the sound shuts off after maybe 3 or 4 minutes

Ok then....where is the amp located...does it have plenty of air space around the top, bottom and sides? Does the protection light come on or does the amp simply shut down? How hot is the top surface of the amp when it shuts down?


I understand that you consider it to be high end, however the truth is that Rotel gear is mid-fi.

Toolfan66

Do you have the amp plugged into the wall or a power source? if it is plugged to a power source unplug it and plug it straight to the wall.

cembros

iv tried it both plugged into the wall and into a panamax m5100pm power conditioner and still experience the same problem

cembros

the amp doesnt hot at all, it has about an inch of room on each side and then about 8inches on top, the lights dont come on when the sound cuts out but they come on when the sound comes back

F1nut

Ok, since the amp isn't getting hot then ventilation is probably not the issue, although an inch on either side isn't much considering that those vents on the sides help with the cooling.

What light comes on when the sound comes back, the protection light?

cembros

yes its the protection light

cnh

I don't know what your problem is but I can understand your outrage. Finut's comments aside (He is right, a few thousand is mid-fi because you can spend what your house is worth or more on equipment if you're B. Madoff).

For 1700 dollars I would expect my amp to work for a couple of years minimum without any problems and I would consider it irresponsible of the manufacturer not to have sufficient quality control at that price. That said, I will never be able to spend more than that myself. But I do understand that there is a layer of audiophile who can entertain his/her highest dreams and million dollar home theaters EXIST! As to whether or not those who own them can actually hear the difference.

Well, many of them don't even have a 'real' musical ear, no training in music, don't play an instrument, haven't inherited perfect pitch, etc., etc. But they sure do own some great pieces! This is a hobby...yes. But once we get up that high, shouldn't we be musicians of a sort? At least good musicians! Just a thought from someone who does play a few instruments.

cnh

F1nut

Ok then, since the protection light is coming on and you still get sound, something is seriously wrong. You didn't say, but I get the impression that the amp is new, so Rotel will take care of it under warranty. Don't worry, they have excellent customer service. More than likely they will issue a RMA# and a pick up tag, so that you're not out of pocket for shipping.

cembros

F1nut wrote: »

Ok then, since the protection light is coming on and you still get sound, something is seriously wrong. You didn't say, but I get the impression that the amp is new, so Rotel will take care of it under warranty. Don't worry, they have excellent customer service. More than likely they will issue a RMA# and a pick up tag, so that you're not out of pocket for shipping.

ya i figured that, i emailed rotel eairler, i really do hope that im not responsible for the shipping, im not having that, if not though i can live with waiting . Thanks for the help

danger boy

cembros wrote: »

OMG im such an idiot i totally forgot that i dont have the jumpers on my front speakers because i had them bi amped with the sony and then once i got the amp i used single wire, im going to put them back and see if that fixes the problem

Idiot



hey we've all been there.. the simplest thing will get you every time.. glad nothing was wrong with your speakers.

cembros

danger boy wrote: »

Idiot



hey we've all been there.. the simplest thing will get you every time.. glad nothing was wrong with your speakers.

haha, ya mad i almost had a heart attack, its one thing to have a peice of electroncs go bad, but the speakers are another story. Well now i will never make the same mistake again, you live and you learn

cfrizz

I'm sure you will get it straightened out Cembros.

Jesse, One persons High end is another person's midfi & vice versa. It really shouldn't matter so long as the person is happy with what they have. And if it does, then it might be best to keep it to ones self.

F1nut

Cathy, one of the reasons for being here is educational and another is to help others aspire to greater things. So, no I'm not keeping it to myself.

This is an EMO free zone.

cfrizz

Then Jesse you REALLY need to work on aspiring others to greater things WITHOUT putting down what they already spent hard earned money to get at the level they did.

Rotel is not in the same league as Emo & we both know it. And even if they were, it doesn't matter. Both will take someone to the next level they are trying to achieve, and that should be the whole point.