Did I damage my amp (how to test)

[Deleted member 46664]

Just got home. Ran some tests. Things appear fine. I’ll test daily for the next few weeks (because I’m like that); then call it fixed.

I used your take a measurement low and then turn it up. It was exactly the same. It was also the same regardless of channel on the amp.

Anthem is prepared to RMA but I think that’d be a waste of time for me and money for them.

Now ... stop fussing over it and enjoy your system... Until it acts up again, you got nothing to worry about.

 

[Deleted member 46664]

I don't have any issues myself, am comfortable with figuring out things for myself short of analysis of the spec of a given particular unit that may need a test bench.....I rarely find any issues over the last 50 years a tech could help with in any case.

Then why did you ask?

 

[Chrispy]

Then why did you ask?

I didn't really, just exploring the idea and how it may differ where you are....

 

[Deleted member 46664]

I didn't really, just exploring the idea and how it may differ where you are....

Well, you see, I never have a problem contacting a technician ... because I am one. (Grin)

 

[Chrispy]

Well, you see, I never have a problem contacting a technician ... because I am one. (Grin)

Yeah, I think that's part of it I did see a Geek Squad truck roll thru here the other day, tho

 

[tjcinnamon]

Now ... stop fussing over it and enjoy your system... Until it acts up again, you got nothing to worry about.

Yeah, anthem already offered to RMA and Polk offered to send me a new crossover.

They both have good warranties.

 

[AdamG]

Not to pour water on the party but……If anything got damaged, it would probably be the tweeters. They don’t take much power to cook. Look for a test sweep. Their should be test tracks on Tidal, Apple, Amazon and the like. Do a sweep and cross your fingers. Don’t ask me how I know this.

Here is an example from Tidal: https://tidal.com/album/153750685
Same record from Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/albums/B08H56MPFW?ref=dm_sh_eqwjUa3LscufA6P6S4H985yoi
Same from Qobuz: http://open.qobuz.com/album/t6ywnstymzjub

 

[Doodski]

Not to pour water on the party but……If anything got damaged, it would probably be the tweeters. They don’t take much power to cook. Look for a test sweep. Their should be test tracks on Tidal, Apple, Amazon and the like. Do a sweep and cross your fingers. Don’t ask me how I know this.

Here is an example from Tidal: https://tidal.com/album/153750685
Same record from Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/albums/B08H56MPFW?ref=dm_sh_eqwjUa3LscufA6P6S4H985yoi

This tone generator works pretty good for frequency sweeping.

Online Tone Generator - generate pure tones of any frequency

www.szynalski.com

 

[JRS]

Not to pour water on the party but……If anything got damaged, it would probably be the tweeters. They don’t take much power to cook. Look for a test sweep. Their should be test tracks on Tidal, Apple, Amazon and the like. Do a sweep and cross your fingers. Don’t ask me how I know this.

Here is an example from Tidal: https://tidal.com/album/153750685
Same record from Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/albums/B08H56MPFW?ref=dm_sh_eqwjUa3LscufA6P6S4H985yoi
Same from Qobuz: http://open.qobuz.com/album/t6ywnstymzjub

Personally, I wouldn't trust anyone who hasn't fried at least one tweeter. With my first good speakers, could lunch 6 at a time (AR-LST's meet Phase Linear 700 + dorm party--who knew?)

 

[tjcinnamon]

Not to pour water on the party but……If anything got damaged, it would probably be the tweeters. They don’t take much power to cook. Look for a test sweep. Their should be test tracks on Tidal, Apple, Amazon and the like. Do a sweep and cross your fingers. Don’t ask me how I know this.

Here is an example from Tidal: https://tidal.com/album/153750685
Same record from Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/albums/B08H56MPFW?ref=dm_sh_eqwjUa3LscufA6P6S4H985yoi
Same from Qobuz: http://open.qobuz.com/album/t6ywnstymzjub

Would REW work? I did sweeps up to 20K Hz with REW nearfield and things worked good.

 

[LTig]

Would REW work? I did sweeps up to 20K Hz with REW nearfield and things worked good.

Yes.

 

[AdamG]

Would REW work? I did sweeps up to 20K Hz with REW nearfield and things worked good.

Yeah REW works. You have a measurement mic? Your looking for a drop in spl above 6-8K. A few dbs is normall. But a big drop in spl above 6k depending on where your speakers cross over to the tweeter. It should be pretty obvious but only if you run a 20hz to 20khz sweep tone. Does that make sense?

If you did the sweep and had no noticeable drop in volume and didn’t hear any obvious distortion you’re golden.

 

[tjcinnamon]

Yeah REW works. You have a measurement mic? Your looking for a drop in spl above 6-8K. A few dbs is normall. But a big drop in spl above 6k depending on where your speakers cross over to the tweeter. It should be pretty obvious but only if you run a 20hz to 20khz sweep tone. Does that make sense?

If you did the sweep and had no noticeable drop in volume and didn’t hear any obvious distortion you’re golden.

Fantastic! No big drop at all. I have a Umik 1 calibrated by Cross Spectrum Labs.

Nothing seemed out of sorts. I’m out of town but I’ll run it again to ease my anxieties.

 

[DVDdoug]

I had a thought... Maybe the speakers have polyfuses, These are fuse-like devices that cut-off the current when it's excessive (like a regular fuse or circuit breaker) but they automatically reset themselves. There could be separate polyfuses on the woofers & tweeters.

 

[Deleted member 46664]

Would REW work? I did sweeps up to 20K Hz with REW nearfield and things worked good.

REW is okay for that. If the plots looked normal for your setup ... again, please stop fussing over a mistake and relax.
Make a nice mug of hot chocolate, put on your favourite tunes and enjoy your system. Both you and it have been through enough already.

 

[Deleted member 46664]

I had a thought... Maybe the speakers have polyfuses, These are fuse-like devices that cut-off the current when it's excessive (like a regular fuse or circuit breaker) but they automatically reset themselves. There could be separate polyfuses on the woofers & tweeters.

What he described was an output-to-output amplifier conflict. It's likely one or both amps went into protection and shut down before any real harm was done.

 

[Chrispy]

Fantastic! No big drop at all. I have a Umik 1 calibrated by Cross Spectrum Labs.

Nothing seemed out of sorts. I’m out of town but I’ll run it again to ease my anxieties.

So is it being out of town partially exacerbating your worries? It does seem you're overthinking this.

 

[tjcinnamon]

What he described was an output-to-output amplifier conflict. It's likely one or both amps went into protection and shut down before any real harm was done.

This seems like a great description. I love these speakers and my set up. I just replaced some fiber glass insulation in my DIY treatments with Fiberboard. I moved them around and I’m building a false wall for better SDA.

They’ve been a real treat over the last 2 months. That’s what was so devastating. However, the prospects look great. I’m excited for the false wall. The SDA is something to experience. Both TV and Music. These are deeply underrated speakers. I think most reviewers didn’t understand them. They are a picky speaker but once set up proper, they are jaw dropping.

If you ever get a chance to demo the Polk L800’s set up properly (maybe at Axpona?)… do it! I never thought I’d get Polk. I had some Paradigm and was going to get something more boutique like a pair of Salk Sounds or Perlisten at orders of magnitude higher cost…. I demoed these speakers next to the newest Paradigm Flagship and they were nearly the same without SDA (unplugged) and with SDA were leagues ahead

 

[Deleted member 46664]

If you ever get a chance to demo the Polk L800’s set up properly (maybe at Axpona?)… do it! I never thought I’d get Polk. I had some Paradigm and was going to get something more boutique like a pair of Salk Sounds or Perlisten at orders of magnitude higher cost…. I demoed these speakers next to the newest Paradigm Flagship and they were nearly the same without SDA (unplugged) and with SDA were leagues ahead

If the chance arises I will ... thanks for the recommendation.
Hope your system troubles are over ... (Grin) just remember to power down next time.

 

[EB1000]

It's unlikely for speakers to be damaged and then recover to sound OK. The change in sound is more likely due to the class-D amp's output filter coil saturating. The best way to test your speakers is to run a near-field REW frequency sweep with a good mic. If the curve is flat and matches the claimed range, then you're good.

BTW, atmos enabled speakers are a scam! You'll never get a true Atmos overhead effect using reflections... Either get true atmos speakers or just gave up on atmos...