soundstream reference picasso

[russdeanlee]

soundstream reference picasso class A amp one of the channel is producing low volume level compared to the rest what could possibly be wrong. can the rail capacitor cause this? i don't think so, could it be a leaky transistor? when i screw down the board to the heatsink if i test for continuity will any of the legs on the transistor show continuity with the heatsink? even for a split second?

will the amp operate fine if i was to just use the amp without the rear channels its a 4 channel amp and the front channel works fine.

[Perry Babin]

Operating all of the switches through their entire range, does the audio in the weak channel ever become the same as the other channels?

[russdeanlee]

no it doesn't now i can barely hear sound coming out of it i know it can't be the switches because i removed all of them and jumped the pins everything worked till yesterday after i removed the cover and was trying to figure out what was causing this static/pop sound coming from my tweeter when i start up my car i looked around and didn't see anything unusual and put everything back and now that same channel plays at low volume. this amp is really frustrating me so close in throwing it away and will be purchasing a mcintosh i hear they are the best?

[Perry Babin]

It's possible that you have a bad solder connection or a broken trace where the driver board connects to the main board. If you gently push on the driver boards, does that channel work intermittently?

[russdeanlee]

no it doesnt now to think of it i always had this problem ever since i got the amp i will look for broken traces thanks

[Perry Babin]

If the traces are broken, they would likely be broken on the solder connections between the main and driver boards. It's not likely to be visible and would have to be found by flexing the board or heating/cooling the board.

[azvrt]

Best apply some fresh solder to all solder joints of the driver PCB's.
This is best done on all Soundstreams if you have the board removed for whatever reason, even if it works perfectly fine.

These solder joints can cause problems even if there is no problem to be detected, visually.

If you decide to throw it away, let me be the trashcan.