absorbentgnome
Rotting Member
Just a little heads up about these nice little amplifiers, specifically the A3, A4, A5, A300 series etc. (They're all 60-70W amplifiers, and loads of people have them)
I've had several in to repair recently, and become accustomed to their simple design. (Which is probably why people think they sound good.) Unfortunately they suffer smoky death from a few problems that are easily avoided.
1) The amp is not designed for 4 ohm loads. That means no wiring up of 4 (8 ohm) speakers - you will kill it.
2) The transformer inside is under-rated in terms of power capability. While this is generally not a problem, avoid playing at high volume for extended periods. Like at parties. You *will* smoke it. You'll know if you've smoked it if you turn it on and you get no power light at the front, and there's a nice enamel burning smell. A replacement is only £15 but you have to take the *whole* thing to pieces to remove it. (High volume for an hour [or two, touch wood] should be fine though.)
3) There is only simple short circuit protection. Don't wire up or fiddle with the speakers or wires with the power on. It's a lottery whether the protection will fail. If you're lucky it'll be fine. If you're not, bye bye output transistors at £5 a pop and there's two of them for each channel. Plus a few burnt resistors and possible exploded capacitor. Not good.
:ismile:
I've had several in to repair recently, and become accustomed to their simple design. (Which is probably why people think they sound good.) Unfortunately they suffer smoky death from a few problems that are easily avoided.
1) The amp is not designed for 4 ohm loads. That means no wiring up of 4 (8 ohm) speakers - you will kill it.
2) The transformer inside is under-rated in terms of power capability. While this is generally not a problem, avoid playing at high volume for extended periods. Like at parties. You *will* smoke it. You'll know if you've smoked it if you turn it on and you get no power light at the front, and there's a nice enamel burning smell. A replacement is only £15 but you have to take the *whole* thing to pieces to remove it. (High volume for an hour [or two, touch wood] should be fine though.)
3) There is only simple short circuit protection. Don't wire up or fiddle with the speakers or wires with the power on. It's a lottery whether the protection will fail. If you're lucky it'll be fine. If you're not, bye bye output transistors at £5 a pop and there's two of them for each channel. Plus a few burnt resistors and possible exploded capacitor. Not good.
:ismile: