Please help me diagnose a fault with my hi-fi!
 

Hi,
Can anyone help me diagnose a fault? I have a separates system and
have lately had the following problem: after listening to a CD (any
CD) for around 10-30 minutes, the sound from the right speaker starts
to go strange - kind of distorted and a bit like the white noise you
get from a badly-tuned t.v. The volume level in the right speaker also
begins to fade and sometimes cuts out completely. I am using a
seperates system, so have separate amp, CD player, speakers, etc. How
can I diagnose this problem effectively, so that I can deduce whether
it's the CD player, the amp, the speaker or cabling? The first thing I
did was check the speaker cables and interconnects were all plugged in
properly - they were...

Any advice welcome - anyone hazard a guess at which component is the
likely culprit? I do have a cassette deck so I suppose I should listen
to some tapes and that would at least rule out the CD player...

Marco

Please help me diagnose a fault with my hi-fi!
 

Marco Cinnirella wrote:
Hi,
Can anyone help me diagnose a fault? I have a separates system and
have lately had the following problem: after listening to a CD (any
CD) for around 10-30 minutes, the sound from the right speaker starts
to go strange - kind of distorted and a bit like the white noise you
get from a badly-tuned t.v. The volume level in the right speaker also
begins to fade and sometimes cuts out completely. I am using a
seperates system, so have separate amp, CD player, speakers, etc. How
can I diagnose this problem effectively, so that I can deduce whether
it's the CD player, the amp, the speaker or cabling? The first thing I
did was check the speaker cables and interconnects were all plugged in
properly - they were...

Any advice welcome - anyone hazard a guess at which component is the
likely culprit? I do have a cassette deck so I suppose I should listen
to some tapes and that would at least rule out the CD player...

Start at the CD, swapping left and right phono plugs,
and work your way forward to the speakers.
When the fault swaps channels, you have found the faulty component.

If you have a tape monitor switch on the amp you can determine
whether a fault is in the front or back end.

--
Eiron.

Please help me diagnose a fault with my hi-fi!
 

"Marco Cinnirella" wrote in message
om...
Hi,
Can anyone help me diagnose a fault? I have a separates system and
have lately had the following problem: after listening to a CD (any
CD) for around 10-30 minutes, the sound from the right speaker starts
to go strange - kind of distorted and a bit like the white noise you
get from a badly-tuned t.v. The volume level in the right speaker also
begins to fade and sometimes cuts out completely. I am using a
seperates system, so have separate amp, CD player, speakers, etc. How
can I diagnose this problem effectively, so that I can deduce whether
it's the CD player, the amp, the speaker or cabling? The first thing I
did was check the speaker cables and interconnects were all plugged in
properly - they were...

Any advice welcome - anyone hazard a guess at which component is the
likely culprit? I do have a cassette deck so I suppose I should listen
to some tapes and that would at least rule out the CD player...


Yes, you need to do a series of swaps to try and isolate the problem. It's
complicated but goes summat like this:

First try a different source to rule out the CDP, as you say.

Presuming the problem remains, swap the interconnects at one end to see if
the problem changes sides and then the other end so the cables have been
completely swapped. If the problem remained static you can rule out source
and cables at this point.

Then swap the speaker cables over to see if the problem moves. If it does,
it's not in the speakers.

Guess what? - That means it's gotta be in the amp!! :-)

(Where my money is anyway - due to the symptoms you described.... ;-)

Now, here's a wacky one: with the system playing (and the problem occuring),
pick up the amp (****ed if it's a valve behemoth !!! :-) and tip it and
tilt this way and that (even upside down) to see if you can make the problem
stutter. Might find it's a dry joint that way.....

HTH