Problem with Classé 5300 amp

[BWguy]

Hello, I am hoping someone here might be able to help. I am getting a loud boom or pop from my amp on a daily basis. It then goes into protection mode. When I unplug the unit, it resets and continues to be fine. Can anyone tell me what might be causing this?

 

[lovinthehd]

Why not send it in for repair or are you looking for info to do a diy repair?

 

[lovinthehd]

I looked at a review that indicates it's got a microprocessor controlled "IC tunnel cooling" system so if resets for a while I'd suspect the problem lies with that tech.

 

[BWguy]

Why not send it in for repair or are you looking for info to do a diy repair?

I dread sending it in for repair and not being able to use my system, although I might have to end up doing that.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Did you call the company for ideas and suggestions?

 

[lovinthehd]

I dread sending it in for repair and not being able to use my system, although I might have to end up doing that.

Get one of these in the meantime?

 

[BWguy]

Get one of these in the meantime?

?

 

[lovinthehd]

?

For the cost involved with running an amp like the Classe, this is cheap backup insurance (and may make you wonder why you bought the Classe ).

 

[TLS Guy]

Hello, I am hoping someone here might be able to help. I am getting a loud boom or pop from my amp on a daily basis. It then goes into protection mode. When I unplug the unit, it resets and continues to be fine. Can anyone tell me what might be causing this?

That is a serious problem. Do not use the amp, as you will likely do more damage and run up a very big bill.

Either there is a cap discharging internally and randomly because of breakdown of the dielectric. The other and probably more likely possibility since it is shutting down is that you have a hole or holes developing in the semiconductor of a power transistor with sudden high current discharge through the device. This would activate speaker protection and lead to protection mode. If it did not, it would fry your speaker with huge DC offset. If you keep it up you might well destroy the DC sensing circuit and fry a speaker which will be a flame event.

Take this unit out of service immediately.

 

[BWguy]

That is a serious problem. Do not use the amp, as you will likely do more damage and run up a very big bill.

Either there is a cap discharging internally and randomly because of breakdown of the dielectric. The other and probably more likely possibility since it is shutting down is that you have a hole or holes developing in the semiconductor of a power transistor with sudden high current discharge through the device. This would activate speaker protection and lead to protection mode. If it did not, it would fry your speaker with huge DC offset. If you keep it up you might well destroy the DC sensing circuit and fry a speaker which will be a flame event.

Take this unit out of service immediately.

Great

 

[BWguy]

That is a serious problem. Do not use the amp, as you will likely do more damage and run up a very big bill.

Either there is a cap discharging internally and randomly because of breakdown of the dielectric. The other and probably more likely possibility since it is shutting down is that you have a hole or holes developing in the semiconductor of a power transistor with sudden high current discharge through the device. This would activate speaker protection and lead to protection mode. If it did not, it would fry your speaker with huge DC offset. If you keep it up you might well destroy the DC sensing circuit and fry a speaker which will be a flame event.

Take this unit out of service immediately.

Thanks for your response. I have shut it down and will call the dealer to have it shipped for repair. This is the second time I have had a problem with this unit so I am not a happy camper today.

 

[TLS Guy]

Thanks for your response. I have shut it down and will call the dealer to have it shipped for repair. This is the second time I have had a problem with this unit so I am not a happy camper today.

This a a boutique brand. Often times boutique brands do have an excess of problems. This is hard to get a handle on as the price mitigates against large production runs.

However I have found some doubt as to whether these amps are actually 4 ohm stable.

What speakers are you using?

They do not quote a power response into 4 ohm. They have a weasel excuse for not divulging it. Into 8 ohm they quote 300 watts all five channels driven. However they do not quote a spec. into four ohms. The reason given is that they say an AC circuit will not deliver enough current which it would not. However they could, and should have quoted the power into four ohm with at least one channel driven.

My suspicious nature leads me to suspect these units have a problem with four ohm loads.

This is a problem as most speakers are actually nearer four ohms and often lower, even though the speaker manufacturer quotes the speakers as "nominal" 8 ohms which means virtually nothing.

 

[TLS Guy]

Here we go.

This is lab testing of this amp.

Note that the amp will deliver 293 watts at 0.1% THD into 8 ohms. However any amp channel driven into a four ohm load goes into protection at 190 watts.

This indicates that the output stages have a serious inadequacy. This is not a good result and hidden by the manufacturer. I would predict and excess incidence of failure from this result.

There are far better amps available at a fraction of the cost of this amp. One has already been recommended to you. That amp will deliver 180 watts into 4 ohms all channels driven without going into protection.

 

[PENG]

This a a boutique brand.

Yep, and I assume B&W dealers (those who sell the 800 series) would love to recommend boutique brand amps as they understand the power of Placebo effect.

 

[BWguy]

This a a boutique brand. Often times boutique brands do have an excess of problems. This is hard to get a handle on as the price mitigates against large production runs.

However I have found some doubt as to whether these amps are actually 4 ohm stable.

What speakers are you using?

They do not quote a power response into 4 ohm. They have a weasel excuse for not divulging it. Into 8 ohm they quote 300 watts all five channels driven. However they do not quote a spec. into four ohms. The reason given is that they say an AC circuit will not deliver enough current which it would not. However they could, and should have quoted the power into four ohm with at least one channel driven.

My suspicious nature leads me to suspect these units have a problem with four ohm loads.

This is a problem as most speakers are actually nearer four ohms and often lower, even though the speaker manufacturer quotes the speakers as "nominal" 8 ohms which means virtually nothing.

I am using B&W 803D3 for front and 805D2's for rears.

 

[everettT]

I am using B&W 803D3 for front and 805D2's for rears.

Depending on the cost of repair and if you want to continue with this amp, I'd recommend ATI amps.
http://www.ati-amp.com/products.php
Excellent specs and build many oem products including the outlaw linked iirc

 

[TLS Guy]

I am using B&W 803D3 for front and 805D2's for rears.

That is your problem. The 803 D3 have a minimum impedance of 3 ohms. That dip is also where the power is.

From the measurements done on that Classe amp it is not a suitable amp to power those speakers, and you can expect further problems and repair bills.

B & W speakers in general do require very robust amplification.

You do need better power amplification but not necessarily more expensive amplification.

 

[BWguy]

That is your problem. The 803 D3 have a minimum impedance of 3 ohms. That dip is also where the power is.

From the measurements done on that Classe amp it is not a suitable amp to power those speakers, and you can expect further problems and repair bills.

B & W speakers in general do require very robust amplification.

You do need better power amplification but not necessarily more expensive amplification.

I should elaborate a little more. I actually have my 803D3's bi-amped with the Classé 2300 and 2 of the channels from the 5300. The other 3 channels are used for my center and rears. Perhaps I should not be using the other 2 channels for bi-amping?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I should elaborate a little more. I actually have my 803D3's bi-amped with the Classé 2300 and 2 of the channels from the 5300. The other 3 channels are used for my center and rears. Perhaps I should not be using the other 2 channels for bi-amping?

Good idea to stop passive bi-amp. I've seen more cons than pros with passive bi-amp.

 

[TLS Guy]

I should elaborate a little more. I actually have my 803D3's bi-amped with the Classé 2300 and 2 of the channels from the 5300. The other 3 channels are used for my center and rears. Perhaps I should not be using the other 2 channels for bi-amping?

Well that depends. The low impedance is in the LF range. So if you are using the failed amp on the LF end, that is still your problem as it will see a 3 ohm impedance. Absent an impedance curve, the best rule of thumb for getting closest to the true impedance of a speaker, is the minimal impedance plus 10%, which would make your speaker 3.3 ohm and not 8.

There really is no advantage to passive biamping. The power is all on the LF circuit, and the top end is largely a waste of amp power. Active biamping is totally different matter, and with proper total system design, (that means being in control of speaker and active crossover design) it has highly significant advantages for the construction of high powered active reference speakers.