Anthem STR won’t power up

[Foxchapeliron]

My anthem str amp is 1.5 years old. Works flawlessly with str preamp till today. No changes, no excessive volumes, will not power up. Fuses are good. Cycled power input from fuse panel. No idea what is going on. I use a remote trigger from the preamp and unhooked it and still the amp won’t power. Seems I have a dead power supply in the amp? I can’t find any numbers for anthem to call. I sent an email. If anyone had this happen be fore any advice to trouble shoot is appreciated. It is a rock and there haven’t been any changes to the system. Just dead today after light playing as I do every day

 

[PENG]

My anthem str amp is 1.5 years old. Works flawlessly with str preamp till today. No changes, no excessive volumes, will not power up. Fuses are good. Cycled power input from fuse panel. No idea what is going on. I use a remote trigger from the preamp and unhooked it and still the amp won’t power. Seems I have a dead power supply in the amp? I can’t find any numbers for anthem to call. I sent an email. If anyone had this happen be fore any advice to trouble shoot is appreciated. It is a rock and there haven’t been any changes to the system. Just dead today after light playing as I do every day

Have you read the owner's manual yet? It could just be blown fuse(s).

 

[TLS Guy]

My anthem str amp is 1.5 years old. Works flawlessly with str preamp till today. No changes, no excessive volumes, will not power up. Fuses are good. Cycled power input from fuse panel. No idea what is going on. I use a remote trigger from the preamp and unhooked it and still the amp won’t power. Seems I have a dead power supply in the amp? I can’t find any numbers for anthem to call. I sent an email. If anyone had this happen be fore any advice to trouble shoot is appreciated. It is a rock and there haven’t been any changes to the system. Just dead today after light playing as I do every day

Did you check the fuse for continuity with a multimeter? Sometimes a fuse can look OK, but is actually blown. If you have no power this is often something relatively simple, like a bad on/off switch. These days power buttons are often momentary, and just flip a starting circuit. That is now very common. If you have a multimeter and don't mind opening the unit up, then use your multimeter the check voltage at the fuse panel. If there is, then identify the power connection to the power transformer. If there is no voltage after you press the on button, then I bet the starting circuit needs replacing. If there is voltage at the primary, then check for voltage at the secondary taps. If there is voltage on the primary, but not secondary of the transformer, then the transformer has failed. Anything beyond that you will not be able to determine the cause. If you are working inside the case with the power on, be very careful as high voltages can be lethal. When doing service work you have to really keep your wits about you.

I have just done a bit more checking on that amp of yours. It only has one main fuse, there are no amp line fuses. That is a really powerful amp. It has a complex starting circuit that contains a sequencer to start the amps in sequence, to prevent the in rush current to the huge capacitor bank from tripping your house circuit breaker on turn on. That amp really requires a dedicated 20 amp circuit and breaker. Have you made sure there is power at the outlet, that amp is plugged into? It could be that breaker at the panel has failed due to chronic overload if it is only a 15 amp breaker. If that outlet is OK, then I have a strong hunch the problem likely is in the starter/sequencer circuit. If that is the case, then you will have to ship your amp to Anthem for service.

 

[Foxchapeliron]

Thank you for all the info. Yes it is a monster amp. I have a true 20 amp outlet and dedicated feed to it and the preamp because of the pull. I swapped the two plugs and the preamp still fires up. The amp is dead with remote switching or the manual power on button

 

[TLS Guy]

Thank you for all the info. Yes it is a monster amp. I have a true 20 amp outlet and dedicated feed to it and the preamp because of the pull. I swapped the two plugs and the preamp still fires up. The amp is dead with remote switching or the manual power on button

I would put big money on the starter/sequencer board being the problem. You are going to have to send it to Anthem for service. What is the warranty? For the cost of that unit at over 6G they should take care of you and not have the affront to send you a bill. This should be down to them on a unit of that cost after 1.5 years.
Let us know what happens. This thread should show up on an Internet search, and if they don't take care of you professionally, they will loose sales and deserve to.
Any unit can fail now and again, but the after sales service is also a big indicator of their quality. If they can't or won't make this right, then this will be made known. Not that I want to depress you, but we have had cases before where Anthem after sales service has been wide of the mark, and that is putting it mildly.

 

[lovinthehd]

Interesting how they still have the we're still suffering greatly from Covid stuff going on. The tab that says there's a phone definitely has no phone. They really want you to email. I suppose you could use a phone information service to get a number, tho. Good luck!

 

[Foxchapeliron]

I would put big money on the starter/sequencer board being the problem. You are going to have to send it to Anthem for service. What is the warranty? For the cost of that unit at over 6G they should take care of you and not have the affront to send you a bill. This should be down to them on a unit of that cost after 1.5 years.
Let us know what happens. This thread should show up on an Internet search, and if they don't take care of you professionally, they will loose sales and deserve to.
Any unit can fail now and again, but the after sales service is also a big indicator of their quality. If they can't or won't make this right, then this will be made known. Not that I want to depress you, but we have had cases before where Anthem after sales service has been wide of the mark, and that is putting it mildly.

I unplugged everything this morning to drain it all down and still nothing. Swapped the preamp and amp plugs on the dedicated circuit and no go. Unhooked trigger wire and turned off remote trigger switch, still dead. Was working perfect as since new on Monday. Anyway I emailed anthem and their automated case tracking sent me a reply they got my service ticket. I changed the amp fuses even though they were not blown just to satisfy myself I did everything I can without pulling the covers. I’m not wild about opening it up since it has a five year warranty and cost me 6k and I have the matching 4k preamp. It’s amazing stuff when it’s working !! Power to spare and an amazing DAC. At least for me it is. We will see how their service works out. This is 62 pounds to ship.

 

[highfigh]

I unplugged everything this morning to drain it all down and still nothing. Swapped the preamp and amp plugs on the dedicated circuit and no go. Unhooked trigger wire and turned off remote trigger switch, still dead. Was working perfect as since new on Monday. Anyway I emailed anthem and their automated case tracking sent me a reply they got my service ticket. I changed the amp fuses even though they were not blown just to satisfy myself I did everything I can without pulling the covers. I’m not wild about opening it up since it has a five year warranty and cost me 6k and I have the matching 4k preamp. It’s amazing stuff when it’s working !! Power to spare and an amazing DAC. At least for me it is. We will see how their service works out. This is 62 pounds to ship.

If you want them to void your warranty, open it. I haven't found anything that says the recent Freedom to Repair Act has been ratified but the warranty likely states clearly that it should only be services by qualified persons and while changing a fuse can be very simple, it might be best to leave it if the proper troubleshooting measures include disconnecting some sections inside, to find which has a problem.

Did you try using their live chat?

 

[Cos]

I get it, I would much rather call a number for Paradigm.

<support@anthemav.com>

They are very responsive over email, at least in my experience. I would definitely have them look at it to save warranty.

I delt with a Chris P not too long ago when I was inquiring about upgrading my AVM70 to 8K

I sent you a PM with a contact number of another person, didn't think it was appropriate to publish the guys phone number etc. on the open forum. It was from a 2014 email.

If I were you, and bought from a reputable dealer, I would just have them take care of the repair issue for you. When I had an issue in the past, I would just bring it in and my dealer would take care of the hassle of the repair order.

 

[cpp]

My anthem str amp is 1.5 years old. Works flawlessly with str preamp till today. No changes, no excessive volumes, will not power up. Fuses are good. Cycled power input from fuse panel. No idea what is going on. I use a remote trigger from the preamp and unhooked it and still the amp won’t power. Seems I have a dead power supply in the amp? I can’t find any numbers for anthem to call. I sent an email. If anyone had this happen be fore any advice to trouble shoot is appreciated. It is a rock and there haven’t been any changes to the system. Just dead today after light playing as I do every day

did you try this number (905) 564-1994.

 

[Foxchapeliron]

I get it, I would much rather call a number for Paradigm.

<support@anthemav.com>

They are very responsive over email, at least in my experience. I would definitely have them look at it to save warranty.

I delt with a Chris P not too long ago when I was inquiring about upgrading my AVM70 to 8K

I sent you a PM with a contact number of another person, didn't think it was appropriate to publish the guys phone number etc. on the open forum. It was from a 2014 email.

If I were you, and bought from a reputable dealer, I would just have them take care of the repair issue for you. When I had an issue in the past, I would just bring it in and my dealer would take care of the hassle of the repair order.

My dealer basically got out of two channel high end audio last year and has went total home theater and I don’t think they even sell anthem anymore. I can call them, not a bad idea to get resources on the inside

 

[Foxchapeliron]

My dealer basically got out of two channel high end audio last year and has went total home theater and I don’t think they even sell anthem anymore. I can call them, not a bad idea to get resources on the inside

Paradigm is good. I have their 15’s ported with these STRs. Earth moving subs and the tuning app is damn nice. You can dial it in and not set up mics and triangulation and all the cables. Just connect to them and tune away. Never fails either, always connects and maintains settings

 

[Foxchapeliron]

did you try this number (905) 564-1994.

You are the poop, got right through to technical support and I wrote this number down on my manual and sales receipt. Unfortunately 6k gets you 1.5 years and pack it up and ship it back. They had me trouble shoot on the phone which was cool and we verified power can be swapped with preamp and the preamp fires up. Nothing changed since install, worked flawlessly till it didn’t. Frustrating as I bought it as a life time piece and the end all be all for quality and finally no headaches if you throw money at it but now headaches and no music. Partly my karma this year. 5 people dead and a friends wife with a brain aneurism. Not surprised I had another wrench thrown in life and now no music. Life can beat you down further than you ever thought but we will get it fixed. Thanks for all the help guys. I’ll let you know how it plays out. I honestly
Don’t care if they charge me. Want my STR back. It’s a wow factor

 

[TLS Guy]

Paradigm is good. I have their 15’s ported with these STRs. Earth moving subs and the tuning app is damn nice. You can dial it in and not set up mics and triangulation and all the cables. Just connect to them and tune away. Never fails either, always connects and maintains settings

Just do one more step before packing up that 64 lb. monster. It occurred to me that you should test the power cord, just in case it failed. This is a long shot, but that amp takes a huge current and it is just possible the power cord has failed.

I suppose you are naturally wondering if this problem is a one off or will happen again. Faults occur from bad luck due to a faulty component or faulty design. There are no reports of your problem from other users, but I doubt that amp is a big seller, and even if another has had the problem, they would not necessarily have taken to the Internet.

That soft start sequencer has a lot of power to handle. That is the only part common to both amps. The unit is otherwise two mono blocks, so no wonder it weighs 64 pounds!

So I would push them and ask if you are the only customer with this problem. You might also ask if avoiding the 12V trigger will help mitigate against recurrence. If the trigger only controls the turn on indirectly it won't matter, otherwise it will. In my view that would be too much power to control directly through a 12 volt trigger.

I say that, as I have a bank of amps in my AV room providing a total of just over 3000 watts. So I customized a 24 volt starting system, that I sequence manually. So far so good, after 17 years.

 

[highfigh]

Just do one more step before packing up that 64 lb. monster. It occurred to me that you should test the power cord, just in case it failed. This is a long shot, but that amp takes a huge current and it is just possible the power cord has failed.

I suppose you are naturally wondering if this problem is a one off or will happen again. Faults occur from bad luck due to a faulty component or faulty design. There are no reports of your problem from other users, but I doubt that amp is a big seller, and even if another has had the problem, they would not necessarily have taken to the Internet.

That soft start sequencer has a lot of power to handle. That is the only part common to both amps. The unit is otherwise two mono blocks, so no wonder it weighs 64 pounds!

So I would push them and ask if you are the only customer with this problem. You might also ask if avoiding the 12V trigger will help mitigate against recurrence. If the trigger only controls the turn on indirectly it won't matter, otherwise it will. In my view that would be too much power to control directly through a 12 volt trigger.

I say that, as I have a bank of amps in my AV room providing a total of just over 3000 watts. So I customized a 24 volt starting system, that I sequence manually. So far so good, after 17 years.

WRT testing the power cord, I think he did, before the first post- "...and we verified power can be swapped with preamp and the preamp fires up".

The 12V trigger switches something, possibly a FET- that only serves to cause a sequence to begin and there's no reason it should be any more taxing on components than using the botton on the front. 12V trigger outputs are usually rated for 150mA and if something tries to use more current, the output shuts down.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

You are the poop, got right through to technical support and I wrote this number down on my manual and sales receipt. Unfortunately 6k gets you 1.5 years and pack it up and ship it back. They had me trouble shoot on the phone which was cool and we verified power can be swapped with preamp and the preamp fires up. Nothing changed since install, worked flawlessly till it didn’t. Frustrating as I bought it as a life time piece and the end all be all for quality and finally no headaches if you throw money at it but now headaches and no music. Partly my karma this year. 5 people dead and a friends wife with a brain aneurism. Not surprised I had another wrench thrown in life and now no music. Life can beat you down further than you ever thought but we will get it fixed. Thanks for all the help guys. I’ll let you know how it plays out. I honestly
Don’t care if they charge me. Want my STR back. It’s a wow factor

I don't feel lucky.

Do you have to pay for your own shipping like most companies (unlike Yamaha who pay for shipping both ways) ?

Definitely sucks when things break - good thing yours is still under warranty.

I used to buy expensive items. But after my $7500 Denon AVP broke after 8 years, it changed my point of view.

Now I would NOT spend more than probably $2K on any processors/AVR.

Now the salient factor to me is Reliability/Warranty/Customer Support, not SINAD or any measurements.

Anyway, hopefully things will work out for you soon. But I think this is also a life-lesson on electronics.

 

[Foxchapeliron]

Just do one more step before packing up that 64 lb. monster. It occurred to me that you should test the power cord, just in case it failed. This is a long shot, but that amp takes a huge current and it is just possible the power cord has failed.

I suppose you are naturally wondering if this problem is a one off or will happen again. Faults occur from bad luck due to a faulty component or faulty design. There are no reports of your problem from other users, but I doubt that amp is a big seller, and even if another has had the problem, they would not necessarily have taken to the Internet.

That soft start sequencer has a lot of power to handle. That is the only part common to both amps. The unit is otherwise two mono blocks, so no wonder it weighs 64 pounds!

So I would push them and ask if you are the only customer with this problem. You might also ask if avoiding the 12V trigger will help mitigate against recurrence. If the trigger only controls the turn on indirectly it won't matter, otherwise it will. In my view that would be too much power to control directly through a 12 volt trigger.

I say that, as I have a bank of amps in my AV room providing a total of just over 3000 watts. So I customized a 24 volt starting system, that I sequence manually. So far so good, after 17 years.

I did swap cords as I’m in the same mind set of doing anything to not send back. Cord works fine on preamp. I even pulled my breaker and reseated it in the panel just in case the amp doesn’t like the power cycle or something related to supply. No go but preamp comes up and will feed the subs fine and all functions on its menu come up same as always

 

[lovinthehd]

Are you in Canada? Just curious where you have to ship to....

I've heard of bugginess with their avrs and pre-pros, but a power amp you'd think would be "safe".

 

[PENG]

Are you in Canada? Just curious where you have to ship to....

I've heard of bugginess with their avrs and pre-pros, but a power amp you'd think would be "safe".

Agreed, the funny thing is, so far I have only read about failing of their high end amps, the P series and now the STR on audioholics. I do not recall reports of failures about the MCA series other than minor ones.

 

[TLS Guy]

WRT testing the power cord, I think he did, before the first post- "...and we verified power can be swapped with preamp and the preamp fires up".

The 12V trigger switches something, possibly a FET- that only serves to cause a sequence to begin and there's no reason it should be any more taxing on components than using the botton on the front. 12V trigger outputs are usually rated for 150mA and if something tries to use more current, the output shuts down.

Usually starting circuits seldom fail, but this one is complex. So the trigger, or on/off button has to start a sequence. The first amp will start to fire up, probably by destabilizing something like a tailed Darlington pair or equivalent, this has to work through some type of ramping circuit, which is primarily to stop blowing the 20 amp breaker at the panel. At the same time an LM timer circuit must be enabled, to time the start of the voltage ramp to the second power amp. Now there comes the part that I don't know how they figure out, as this starting circuit has to get out of the way, otherwise the ramping circuits will current limit the amp. This is where I have a concern that the power is transferred to the closed 12 volt relay operated by the 12 volt trigger voltage. This is not unlikely as the absence of the 12 volt trigger has to shut the amp down.

I don't know of a 12 volt relay that will handle that amount of power without potentially being a point of failure. It is a great pity that the trigger voltage is not 24 volts rather than 12. The OPs amp has 16 power output transistors in each channel!

In my in wall system I turn on the two Quad 909 power amps with the twelve volt trigger via a relay. I have had issues, so far capping the relay contacts has solved the problem, I hope. But I fear the system is marginal. That is a compact system, and I don't really have the space for a 24 volt system. Since my wife is the primary user of this system, I would like to keep it so the AVP and the two amps start from the remote on button.

I'm always curious, and looking for potential points of failure, and avoiding them.