Strange amp problem! • Non-Gaming • Science & Technology • Eurogamer.net

Mike_Hunt 21 Nov 2005 12:42:21 23,524 posts
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Guys, I really need some help here.

Over the weekend I dug out my old amp (Sherwood) , connected the DVD player, new speakers (5.1) and slapped in a DVD.

This is when a VERY strange thing started happening, sound came out of the speakers... however it was playing the 'surround' track out of all of the speakers. So I didn't get any voice or normal sound, only the occasional bit of background music/explosion sort of thing.

The DVD player was connected via optical, so I tried to rule that out by connecting via digital coax and had the same problem. I finally gave up with digital and connected it up via the red, white and yellow cables and it sounded fine. All the sound came out of all of the speakers, so it was clear that the speakers were working fine at least.

Does anyone have any idea what I could be doing wrong?

[MH]

ssuellid 21 Nov 2005 13:21:03 19,142 posts
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Not entirely sure - maybe its stuck in an odd mode - 5 channel stereo for example. Does it have an OSD so you can check what it thinks the input signal is and in what mode it thinks its in?

ssuellid 22 Nov 2005 10:08:45 19,142 posts
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Just been thinking about something vaguely related.

Are your speakers out of phase? Check whether the + and - have got swapped on the speaker cables - check both ends. If you have two speaker out of phase then they will cancel each others sound out.

Mike_Hunt 22 Nov 2005 10:41:12 23,524 posts
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Wow. Thanks for the responses. I thought this thread was well and truely dead.

Ok the OSD tells me that it thinks the sound source is digital/optical and that it's trying to output in dolby digital 5.1.

The chances of my speakers being out of phase are very high. The cables it came with didn't have any plus or minus figures on so I was simply going to go for a "trail and error" way of finding out. However, I was under the impression that out of phase speakers just sounded awful (low bass) rather than not work at all.

I had to return to Richer Sounds yesterday (they sold me a sub without a power cable) so I took my amp with me in the hope that they could test it and confirm I wasn't doing something stupid (very likely). However they no longer have a demo room, and the unit is over 2 years old so is waayyy out of warrenty. They did offer to send it away for free though, but I'll have to pay for whatever parts need replacing (they're guessing it's the mainboard which'll cost Ł150) - so whilst this was a Ł250 amp it's not worth a Ł150 repair.

The frustrating thing is that I'm now without an amp (for up to 4 weeks!) so I've no sound whatsoever. Watching movies isn't that much fun as you can imagine.

I've been trying to find a store selling kit with a good returns policy. So I could buy an amp, and when I find out that mine is dead (likely) then I'll keep it. If mine can be fixed for a tenner I'd return it.

I need sound, damnitt!

[MH]

Deleted user 22 May 2007 14:49:57

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