So, while messing around with some DIY CAT6 speaker cables, I noticed some distortion coming from my left speaker. The volume goes down to a whisper and instead of Norah Jones' voice, i hear distortion where her voice should be. When I heard this the first time, I immediately got up from my seat to check the connections, but by the time I got there, the distortion was gone and Norah was singing again. Since then, the distortion has come and gone at random intervals.

I don't any get distortion when I put both speakers on the right channel (A+B). I do get random distortion when I put the left speaker on the left A or B channel.

When I shut off my source and play with the volume knob, there are some scratchy sounds coming from the left speaker from 7 o'clock to 11 o'clock. If I turn the volume all the way up, I hear some buzzing on my right speaker, but not my left speaker.

What do you guys think? A resistor issue? I haven't done the pre-out crossover test yet. I only read about that just recently. I'll do that when I get home.

Have you treated your switches and controls with Caig DeoxIT D5, and have you ever burnished the contacts on your protection relay?

Best,

Fred Longworth

(who has long liked the SX-850 -- fine middle-of-the-road vintage Pioneer)

Fred,

The 850 has been in my hands for about 1 month. The previous owner said he had it "serviced & cleaned" but he didn't say when. Before this incident, none of the dials made any noises. I've been trying to locate some deoxit in my city, but haven't found any yet.

And I don't know about burnishing contacts on the protection relay. I'll do a search on it now.

Thanks for the quick response,
Kelvin

Kelvin,

Caig DeoxIT D5 can be ordered from AK sponsor dealer Parts Express.

If you reinstall your previous speaker wiring, does the problem still happen?

Fred Longworth

I've read that PE won't ship DeOxit to Canada :no: Maybe because it's combustable?

I didn't swap back to the original cables. But I did swap the left and right cables and had the same problem on the left side.

Bummer about the DeoxIT and Canada . . .

* * * * *

Do you have a DMM (digital multimeter)?

Fred Longworth

Did you do the pre-out crossover test yet?

So far the entire left channel is suspect.

With the crossover, if it stays on the left, then it is the amp or the output wiring.

IF it swaps sides, then try turning the tone switch to OFF, that removes the tone controls from the circuit.

The thing is that SOMEHOW, we have to get you some deoxit.... this sounds suspiciously like a bad connection.

For the controls, a "tuner" or "contact" cleaner is better than nothing, it could blast the crud out of the pots, and leave at least some lube behind.

Okay, remember how I said it was intermittent? So, I did the crossover test and it seems to be playing fine. I left it crossed for about an hour while listening and the distortion never came back! So, I uncrossed it and have been listening to it all evening and the distortion still hasn't come back. Maybe it was under the weather for just the one day? Although, with my luck, I'm sure the distortion will come back right after I click the "post" button.

Thanks again guys for you input. If (or when) the problem reoccurs, I'll do the troubleshooting steps and report in. For now, I'm happy that my music sounds great!

Dirty controls can come and go like that. Fine one day but look at it cross-eyed the next and down she goes. One of my first posts on AK was about an SX-1080 that had funky distortion. Any guess as to the problem?

If you plan on servicing other gear then don't wait to find a source for deoxit red. It will save you hours of knocking your head against the wall. Just trust us on this one.

Okay, remember how I said it was intermittent? So, I did the crossover test and it seems to be playing fine. I left it crossed for about an hour while listening and the distortion never came back! So, I uncrossed it and have been listening to it all evening and the distortion still hasn't come back. Maybe it was under the weather for just the one day? Although, with my luck, I'm sure the distortion will come back right after I click the "post" button.

Thanks again guys for you input. If (or when) the problem reoccurs, I'll do the troubleshooting steps and report in. For now, I'm happy that my music sounds great!


Maybe your pre-out / main-in jumpers needed some cleaning which you did when doing the swap test.?

It's possible, one of the first things I'll do in conjunction with the Deoxit is reseating plugable connectors. :scratch2:

If your speaker wires are able to touch, that can also be a source of the type of problem you are having.

I switched out some speaker cables on the CR-620 and it had a little bit of distortion, long story short, the new wires were able to brush each other just enough to cause a little intermintent distortion. No real damage done and I was able to better insulate the wires so all is well (only thing I do not like is the speaker plugs on the Yammy).

Update!

The problem seemed to go away but came back recently. It now seems to happen about an hour after I turn on the receiver. The left channel goes nearly silent during low volume periods and I can hear distortion during high volume periods. Also, I did the crossover trick and swapped L/R channels. The problem moved to my right speaker, which suggests an issue with the pre-amp? Am I on the right track?

Additional info:
-I can clear the distortion in the left channel by powering the receiver off for a few seconds
-It seems to happen about an hour into my listening session
-If I put it into mono, both speakers play at normal volume and I hear distortion during high volume periods

I know I really should deoxit first, but I had a bad deoxit experience with another amp and I'm afraid to open up my sx-850 at this time. And actually, I'm not using deoxit because I can't find it here in Canada. Instead, I'm using Nexxtech Tuner Control Cleaner & Lubricant.

Have you downloaded the service manual? (it says owners manual in the file but it IS the service manual)

Does it do the distortion regardless of the source selected?

As a note, the FIRST signal operation is the stereo / mono switch, before the balance or volume controls or ANY transistors etc...

When the problem is occurring, the tone controls being turned off have no effect?

You may want to try using a hairdryer to warm up the inside of the case to agravate and accelerate the symptoms. Then a can of "canned air" or freeze spray can be used to either clear or worsen the symptoms, component by component.

I've got a 950 which is basically the same unit. Was having a similar problem and it turned out to be in the muting circuit.
If it happens again switch the muting off and on a few times and jiggle the controls and see if it helps.
Can't guarantee this will do it but just sharing my experiences.

Hi Folks
I'm having problems finding DeoxIT in Nova Scotia. But their is a place in British Columbia that sells it.
http://www.fitnessav.ca/Contact-Cleaner-p/d5.htm

Beaver