Crackling in Marantz PM7200 Amp

[kpjf]

Hi,

I have a Marantz PM7200 amplifier and in the last month or so it has started crackling on the right input. I have switched speakers and the sound transfers to the left speaker from the right; so it can't be the speakers, or the cables (as when you plug headphones into the amp the problem is in the right side of the headphones). Sometimes the crackling simply stops and as long as you don't turn off the amp it's fine.

I have had the amp since january 2004 and don't know if it's simply a case of having to buy a new one. I did think buying a Marantz amp @ £250 that it would last a long time, considering it's never left my bedroom and cosmetically is in perfect condition and treated well.

Does anyone know what would be causing the crackling, and how to solve it? I'm assuming (although i don't know much about this stuff) that you would simply need to replace the chip that deals with the speaker part/input section, no? But the other story is how to do this and/or know where to buy this part.

Any help appreciated.


Thanks

 

[TLS Guy]

Hi,

I have a Marantz PM7200 amplifier and in the last month or so it has started crackling on the right input. I have switched speakers and the sound transfers to the left speaker from the right; so it can't be the speakers, or the cables (as when you plug headphones into the amp the problem is in the right side of the headphones). Sometimes the crackling simply stops and as long as you don't turn off the amp it's fine.

I have had the amp since january 2004 and don't know if it's simply a case of having to buy a new one. I did think buying a Marantz amp @ £250 that it would last a long time, considering it's never left my bedroom and cosmetically is in perfect condition and treated well.

Does anyone know what would be causing the crackling, and how to solve it? I'm assuming (although i don't know much about this stuff) that you would simply need to replace the chip that deals with the speaker part/input section, no? But the other story is how to do this and/or know where to buy this part.

Any help appreciated.


Thanks

It needs service by a qualified and competent service technician. You can not guess this problem. It requires instruments to find the cause.

From the nature of your inquiry this is not something you should attempt.

 

[kpjf]

Thanks for the reply TLS Guy.

I'm not merely guessing the fault, i'm trying to use logic. Is it not simply that the right input device is faulty and needs replaced? I am not an expert on technology but this seems to be the problem, no? The right input part is the one causing the problem, this is where the crackling is coming from and when the speaker wires aren't connected to that right input everything is fine (no crackling, but obviously you only get sound from one speaker). So, where else could the problem come from?

Would you roughly have any idea how much a technician would charge? I know it may be hard to say but everywhere seems to charge fees just to look at it, and if i know now it'd probably cost £100-£150 i'd be best buying a new amp.

Thanks

 

[TLS Guy]

Thanks for the reply TLS Guy.

I'm not merely guessing the fault, i'm trying to use logic. Is it not simply that the right input device is faulty and needs replaced? I am not an expert on technology but this seems to be the problem, no? The right input part is the one causing the problem, this is where the crackling is coming from and when the speaker wires aren't connected to that right input everything is fine (no crackling, but obviously you only get sound from one speaker). So, where else could the problem come from?

Would you roughly have any idea how much a technician would charge? I know it may be hard to say but everywhere seems to charge fees just to look at it, and if i know now it'd probably cost £100-£150 i'd be best buying a new amp.

Thanks

I know there is a problem, with that amp channel. You have to understand, there will be well over a hundred components in that amp channel. The type of problem you are talking about is usually caused by a bad leaking capacitor that becomes noisy, sometimes resistors become noisy. It could also be a solid state device stating to fail. There are just numerous possibilities.

Now as to charges. Of course a tech has to charge to look at it! I do my own service work, and by far the most labor goes into identifying what the cause is. It is not easy, as stages interact with each other, so isolating the correct component is often difficult. In fact your type of fault is always much harder than when a unit is dead. Once you find the fault it is usually a just a few minutes work to change a component costing about a few cents.

Now the tech has to have knowledge and experience, and is entitled to a living, fair UK rates would range from about $30 to $40 per hour.

Sometimes you get lucky and you have a fault a piece of equipment is known for and the tech has a good idea what the problem is from your description. Then you may get it fixed very reasonably, as the tech will have little time in it.

 

[kpjf]

Thanks TLS Guy!

Sorry, i must sound like an idiot. I just assumed that you say okay the right input is crackling: replace the whole of that section and that's that... but obviously as you mention it isn't that simple.

I guess it's probably best to buy a new amp and get an extended warranty as say i do take it to get fixed and in a years time the left input starts crackling i'm back to having to get it repaired again.

Thanks again for your help

 

[TLS Guy]

Thanks TLS Guy!

Sorry, i must sound like an idiot. I just assumed that you say okay the right input is crackling: replace the whole of that section and that's that... but obviously as you mention it isn't that simple.

I guess it's probably best to buy a new amp and get an extended warranty as say i do take it to get fixed and in a years time the left input starts crackling i'm back to having to get it repaired again.

Thanks again for your help

It seems profligate, to just throw it away. I would take it to a good tech, and see if it is a simple fix. If you don't want to fix it, put it on eBay as a repair item. There are many enthusiasts that do service work, that like to pick gear up cheap that way, I have.

 

[kpjf]

Yeah, i see what you're saying and i really don't want to just "throw it away" because it is a great amp and i love it for using my decks as i'm really happy with the sound quality etc but as i say if i did get it fixed and let's say it cost £100 and it happened 1 year later on the other input i'd say to myself damn i should've just bought another amp!

The guy in a local electronics shop seemed to suggest i should be happy that i had it for almost 5 years. I just thought to myself this is a Marantz amp; it should last. I actually saw someone selling an amp on ebay from the 60s or 70s and it made me think well if this amp is still working and it's 40/50 years old why can't mine. Maybe it's that old saying they don't make them like they used to!

One problem for selling it on ebay is that it is a very heavy amp. I just had a look and seen one go for £135, but i wonder with mine being damaged how much would i get for it.

I'm in two minds

One good thing though is richersounds offer a 5 year warranty for only £22.95 so if i did buy a new amp and this sort of thing happened i could get it repaired no problems. It's funny too, because i actually tried to buy the marantz amp there but they had a massive waiting list for it... if i had of got it from there i would've been sorted!

 

[j_garcia]

I had a PM7000 that had a similar issue and the shop that I bought it from was owned by a friend of mine. He said they had seen it before in small quantities - some bad components used apparently. They let me trade it in for 100% credit towards a PM7200 which I have had no problems with Perhaps you could talk to your dealer and see what they will do for you? Maybe they can give you a loaner while yours is being repaired? I had another Marantz dealer do that for me also.

 

[TLS Guy]

I had a PM7000 that had a similar issue and the shop that I bought it from was owned by a friend of mine. He said they had seen it before in small quantities - some bad components used apparently. They let me trade it in for 100% credit towards a PM7200 which I have had no problems with Perhaps you could talk to your dealer and see what they will do for you? Maybe they can give you a loaner while yours is being repaired? I had another Marantz dealer do that for me also.

Thanks J_garcia! That is just the sort of tip, the OP needs. So often gear, and especially cars, are known for certain problems.

If the OP takes that amp to someone who has serviced a few before, then he likely will already know what the problem is, and he should get sorted very reasonably.

And by the way this will not likely be Marantz's fault. No manufacturer makes their own components. It only takes a supplier sending a bad batch of caps for instance to cause this. The problems only show up over time, and this is he result.

Hunts, a British manufacturer of capacitors, single handedly decimated the British electronics industry during the sixties and early seventies.

 

[kpjf]

I had a PM7000 that had a similar issue and the shop that I bought it from was owned by a friend of mine. He said they had seen it before in small quantities - some bad components used apparently. They let me trade it in for 100% credit towards a PM7200 which I have had no problems with Perhaps you could talk to your dealer and see what they will do for you? Maybe they can give you a loaner while yours is being repaired? I had another Marantz dealer do that for me also.

Thanks J Garcia! I'm from Northern Ireland so i don't know if there would be a specific marantz dealer but as I say I was just put off going there paying for the tech person to look at it and then for them to say it will cost £150 to fix etc but i guess then i would definitely know for sure instead of always wondering. But when you talk about a "bad component" is there any chance you know how much this issue would cost roughly to fix? It would just be good to know if this is a relatively small/simple job for a technician to do

I actually telephoned up Marantz a few days ago to see if this was a common problem and to see if maybe they knew what needed to be fixed exactly. When i explained the problem the woman gave me a number, so i assumed that this number was say for a different line that dealt with tech support and it just happened to be a random electronics shop! That kind of annoyed me.

But i have to say i think i have just made a mistake on eBay today! I was watching a few amps and ended up bidding on a marantz one because it was pretty cheap: Marantz PM4200 all in £48. I'm starting to think i shouldn't have done this as when i checked online for instance under specs it says:

4200 = Power Output (8/4 Ohm RMS) 30 / 40 Watts
whereas my 7200= Power Output (8/4 Ohm RMS) 95/155 Watts (Class A: 25 Watts)

I only seen this bit after so i'm thinking it was a big mistake and that the 4200 could be noticeably inferior. I never have it up full blast but i just have a feeling this amp won't have the same sound quality.
I am thinking maybe i should just try and resell it on ebay and try and get my money back and get the 7200 fixed...

Wish i had of been outbid!

Anyway thanks for the help J Garcia & TLS Guy

 

[TLS Guy]

Thanks J Garcia! I'm from Northern Ireland so i don't know if there would be a specific marantz dealer but as I say I was just put off going there paying for the tech person to look at it and then for them to say it will cost £150 to fix etc but i guess then i would definitely know for sure instead of always wondering. But when you talk about a "bad component" is there any chance you know how much this issue would cost roughly to fix? It would just be good to know if this is a relatively small/simple job for a technician to do

I actually telephoned up Marantz a few days ago to see if this was a common problem and to see if maybe they knew what needed to be fixed exactly. When i explained the problem the woman gave me a number, so i assumed that this number was say for a different line that dealt with tech support and it just happened to be a random electronics shop! That kind of annoyed me.

But i have to say i think i have just made a mistake on eBay today! I was watching a few amps and ended up bidding on a marantz one because it was pretty cheap: Marantz PM4200 all in £48. I'm starting to think i shouldn't have done this as when i checked online for instance under specs it says:

4200 = Power Output (8/4 Ohm RMS) 30 / 40 Watts
whereas my 7200= Power Output (8/4 Ohm RMS) 95/155 Watts (Class A: 25 Watts)

I only seen this bit after so i'm thinking it was a big mistake and that the 4200 could be noticeably inferior. I never have it up full blast but i just have a feeling this amp won't have the same sound quality.
I am thinking maybe i should just try and resell it on ebay and try and get my money back and get the 7200 fixed...

Wish i had of been outbid!

Anyway thanks for the help J Garcia & TLS Guy

Since you live in the UK, why don't you bid on this amp

And this pre amp.

If you buy those you won't look back. I have been around the net, and it seems the processor boards, on those Marantz units, cause a myriad of problems, especially one or both channels not turning on.

You live in the UK and so you might as well have the best. Unfortunately the great British audio companies had a difficult time with all this Far Eastern stuff being imported. It is far inferior to the Quad gear, which in the unlikely event it needs service can be done very reasonably at the service center at Huntingdon, all under the watchful eyes of Rob Flain. If you get those units you will never want anything else.

I have used Quad amplification most of my life, and plan to keep it that way.

 

[kpjf]

Since you live in the UK, why don't you bid on this amp

And this pre amp.

If you buy those you won't look back. I have been around the net, and it seems the processor boards, on those Marantz units, cause a myriad of problems, especially one or both channels not turning on.

You live in the UK and so you might as well have the best. Unfortunately the great British audio companies had a difficult time with all this Far Eastern stuff being imported. It is far inferior to the Quad gear, which in the unlikely event it needs service can be done very reasonably at the service center at Huntingdon, all under the watchful eyes of Rob Flain. If you get those units you will never want anything else.

I have used Quad amplification most of my life, and plan to keep it that way.

Thanks for the recommendations, but before all that i think i need to try and get a decently priced cd player separate first! I have been using an old technics hifi that i bought for about £500 10 years ago and the only thing i use it for is a cd separate. Just like this one below:

So i think i need to try and find a cheapish cd player to keep me going for a while. Seen some 2nd hand cd players going for decent price. At the moment i'm not sure about those quad amps. There didn't seem to be many connections on those amps though! Maybe i'm missing something? Or that you need to buy a power amp, pre amp then standard amp, i don't know.

Thanks again.

 

[TLS Guy]

Thanks for the recommendations, but before all that i think i need to try and get a decently priced cd player separate first! I have been using an old technics hifi that i bought for about £500 10 years ago and the only thing i use it for is a cd separate. Just like this one below:

So i think i need to try and find a cheapish cd player to keep me going for a while. Seen some 2nd hand cd players going for decent price. At the moment i'm not sure about those quad amps. There didn't seem to be many connections on those amps though! Maybe i'm missing something? Or that you need to buy a power amp, pre amp then standard amp, i don't know.

Thanks again.

Quad units are separates. You would need both of those units. The first was a preamp, and the second the power amp.

I have a couple of Quad 303 power amps bought 1070, now at my Eagan residence, and I have never been in either case.