Amp Popping and Humming…

mindhead1

mindhead1

Active Member
A thunderstorm passed through my area the other night and has wreaked havoc on the electronics in my house. Pool filter board shot, garage door opener shot, garage vacuum shot, video doorbell shot. But the most painful casualty is my Kinki Studio EX-M1+.😭

I turned it on today and heard a loud popping noise from the right speaker. Same right channel noise when I switch between amp, preamp, and amp/preamp options, and turn the amp off. When the amp is on there is an audible hum from the right speaker. Prior to the lightning storm the amp was dead quiet.

Anyone experience anything like this before? Any tips to troubleshoot?

I have checked all the connection and reached out to Kinki Studio, but I thought I would share here to see if anyone had any insights.
 
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mindhead1 said:
A thunderstorm passed through my area the other night and has wreaked havoc on the electronics in my house. Pool filter board shot, garage door opener shot, garage vacuum shot, video doorbell shot. But the most painful casualty is my Kinki Studio EX-M1+.

I turned it on today and heard a loud popping noise from the right speaker. Same right channel noise when I switch between amp, preamp, and amp/preamp options, and turn the amp off. When the amp is on there is an audible hum from the right speaker. Prior to the lightning storm the amp was dead quiet.

Anyone experience anything like this before? Any tips to troubleshoot?

I have checked all the connection and reached out to Kinki Studio, but I thought I would share here to see if anyone had any insights.
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Just a guess, but it sounds like a bad source selector / relay. No way to really troubleshoot without a trip to the shop. Sorry.

For future protection, I'd recommend a SurgeX which handles power surges well with full recovery. The qualifier is that I only use mine on the low current devices - preamp, phono, CD player, DAC, etc. My Class AB power amp stays plugged into the wall as my SurgeX can also restrict current into a high-current amplifier with a stiff linear power supply; makes the amp sound "closed in". I don't know if the Kinki is Class D or if it uses a switching power supply.
 
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Angsty said:
Just a guess, but it sounds like a bad source selector / relay. No way to really troubleshoot without a trip to the shop. Sorry.

For future protection, I'd recommend a SurgeX which handles power surges well with full recovery. The qualifier is that I only use mine on the low current devices - preamp, phono, CD player, DAC, etc. My Class AB power amp stays plugged into the wall as my SurgeX can also restrict current into a high-current amplifier with a linear power supply; makes the amp sound "closed in". I don't know if the Kinki is Class D or if it uses a switching power supply.
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Oh really? The Surgex can be detrimental to the AB amps? So perhaps I should take my AB Arcam 550 and go straight into the wall?
 
Mather said:
Oh really? The Surgex can be detrimental to the AB amps? So perhaps I should take my AB Arcam 550 and go straight into the wall?
Click to expand...

The fella I bought the PL off told me to always plug it directly into the wall and not through my power conditioner or any surge protection device because of the level of power draw it takes. Only plug lower draw source and preamp into it. Luckily lightning strikes are massively rare here.
 
Joe Mac said:
The fella I bought the PL off told me to always plug it directly into the wall and not through my power conditioner or any surge protection device because of the level of power draw it takes. Only plug lower draw source and preamp into it. Luckily lightning strikes are massively rare here.
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Well, if my 8 year old AVR goes bye bye WHOOPSIE LOOK AT ALL THESE FUN NEW AMPS
 
Mather said:
Oh really? The Surgex can be detrimental to the AB amps? So perhaps I should take my AB Arcam 550 and go straight into the wall?
Click to expand...
Try it and see how it sounds to you. If the Arcam has a switching power supply, it may be less impacted by the surge control circuitry than my linear PS, Class AB amp.
 
Angsty said:
Just a guess, but it sounds like a bad source selector / relay. No way to really troubleshoot without a trip to the shop. Sorry.

For future protection, I'd recommend a SurgeX which handles power surges well with full recovery. The qualifier is that I only use mine on the low current devices - preamp, phono, CD player, DAC, etc. My Class AB power amp stays plugged into the wall as my SurgeX can also restrict current into a high-current amplifier with a stiff linear power supply; makes the amp sound "closed in". I don't know if the Kinki is Class D or if it uses a switching power supply.
Click to expand...
My amp is plugged into a Furman Power Conditioner (PST-8). The Kinki is a Class AB amp with a linear power supply.

Didn’t realize I should not be plugging it in to a power conditioner.

I’ll have to figure out how I can get it serviced. Hopefully, they respond to my email with guidance.
 
mindhead1 said:
My amp is plugged into a Furman Power Conditioner (PST-8). The Kinki is a Class AB amp with a linear power supply.

Didn’t realize I should not be plugging it in to a power conditioner.

I’ll have to figure out how I can get it serviced. Hopefully, they respond to my email with guidance.
Click to expand...
Assuming you bought the furman new and from an authorized dealer, you should be reaching out them. As I recall they guarantee the protection bit of their products.
 
Just had an electrician at the house. He thinks the house got hit by lightning and damaged some of the less resilient devices. Ring doorbell, 2 garage door openers, garage vacuum, pool pump circuit board all DOA.

Going to get a whole house surge protector installed.
 
mindhead1 said:
Didn’t realize I should not be plugging it in to a power conditioner.
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Agree you should check the Furman protection guarantee.

I didn’t mean to equate all power conditioners as being the same. I don’t think of the SurgeX as being a power conditioner as much as it is a surge protector. The unique circuit features of the SurgeX, ZeroSurge and Brickwall protectors make them especially resistant to large voltage surges like lightning strikes. I won’t detail the engineering here, but they are quite different from MOV based surge devices. I don’t know what circuitry the Furman units use.
 
mindhead1 said:
A thunderstorm passed through my area the other night and has wreaked havoc on the electronics in my house. Pool filter board shot, garage door opener shot, garage vacuum shot, video doorbell shot. But the most painful casualty is my Kinki Studio EX-M1+.😭

I turned it on today and heard a loud popping noise from the right speaker. Same right channel noise when I switch between amp, preamp, and amp/preamp options, and turn the amp off. When the amp is on there is an audible hum from the right speaker. Prior to the lightning storm the amp was dead quiet.

Anyone experience anything like this before? Any tips to troubleshoot?

I have checked all the connection and reached out to Kinki Studio, but I thought I would share here to see if anyone had any insights.
Click to expand...
Another thought, if you haven’t already, check with your home insurance?
 
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