Amp is making popping and snapping noises...

[Someone7272]

Not only is this highly annoying, these intermittant and random noises have already damaged one of my high frequency drivers. (no high frequency resonance anymore)
I don't know where this comes from. I've never heard it before except for when switching something power hungry on the same circuit. The only other thing which is on is my laptop, its cooler and the washing machine.
The amp never used to do this, only till today when I turned it up to ear damaging levels cos I needed to de-stress myself.
I don't think this was the cause because I've turned it up all the way outdoors for my party once.
It's a SkyTec Pro 600. No known groundloops.
I'm pretty sure these noises are coming from my amp and not my laptop's sound card. No other applications are running except Virtual DJ.

[Jan Dupont]

Is it on both channels ?

[Someone7272]

I can't actually verify this as it seems to have stopped now. When it did pop though, I did not see either channel LEDs shoot up, they just kept lit to the music. The piezo horn is still damaged

[gootee]

I'm not familiar with that amp's design. But maybe high-frequency RF or short high-frequency bursts from industrial or other equipment can get in. Even a simple unrelated on/off switch, somewhere, can generate a momentary burst with a broad-band spectrum, including RF frequencies. If there are not RF filters in the right places in an amplifer, the RF can get rectified by any P-N junction in any semiconductor, and can cause many different problems, including momentary (or longer) DC levels where you don't want them, which can easily cause pops and cracks. Typically you want an RF filter for each active device's input, but especially the power amplification devices. However, RF can also get in through the outputs, and through the power connections, and directly through any internal conductors which can act as antennas, and might find a way to affect the power devices' inputs.

Since you probably don't want to begin by worrying about the circuitry inside the amplifier, maybe you could make sure that you use input signal cables that have an outer shield, which is not used as signal ground, and which is grounded to a chassis at one end only.

But there are a lot of other possibilities, since you say it first happened when you had the amp up to ear-splitting levels. Maybe you just got unlucky and a rare RF event caused a pop or crack while at high volume, making the output go over some threshold that damaged your speaker driver. Or maybe there is no RF problem but by chance the high power level made some component overheat or go over-voltage or over-current and fail or become degraded. I guess it's even possible that a solder joint or a PCB trace overheated and got a hairline crack.

Or perhaps there's an internal or external connector or conductor that's become intermittent. Vibration or heat could affect that, and both could be present at high output levels. So maybe you should try opening the amp (unplug it first, remove all jewelry etc, and keep one hand in your pocket when working inside, and have someone else there) and seeing if there are any internal connectors that you could unplug and re-seat a few times each. Problems with other conductors and solder joints, etc, would be much more difficult to find, since the problem is intermittent.

Sorry. I'm not being very helpful. Someone smarter than me will probably have some better suggestions.

[Someone7272]

Originally Posted by gootee

Or perhaps there's an internal or external connector or conductor that's become intermittent. Vibration or heat could affect that, and both could be present at high output levels. So maybe you should try opening the amp (unplug it first, remove all jewelry etc, and keep one hand in your pocket when working inside, and have someone else there) and seeing if there are any internal connectors that you could unplug and re-seat a few times each. Problems with other conductors and solder joints, etc, would be much more difficult to find, since the problem is intermittent.

Sorry. I'm not being very helpful. Someone smarter than me will probably have some better suggestions.

Ah yes, the amp is right in front of the speakers. But I don't really have a choice, the room I'm in is not very big and next door want a full blown sound war with me.
If I open this, the warrenty is void right? Still hasn't happened again but the tweeter is still damaged. It does play sound, but it's very low quality sound as opposed to the other speaker's tweeter which sounds much clearer and nicer.

[kevvywevvywoo]

This is a sort of common fault, the pcb screws get tightened so tight that they can crack the pcb to cause the amp to momentarily go into DC and back again. This is worth investigating. If you can bring the fault on by tapping the pcb with something insulated, (best not use your speakers a s a load..use a light bulb or something) then you know it is a crack or possibly dry joint.

[prairiemystic]

Hard to tell what makes it intermittent but you can try:
-Just beat up the amp, tap it a few times to see if it's a loose connection.
-Careful with cordless/cell phones being close to gear, the RF transmissions can get demodulated and make pops/thumps/chirps etc.
-Washing machines and fridges make some nasty powerline spikes
-Otherwise, see if temperature (warmer) aggravates things

[tiefbassuebertr]

It must be this power amplifier:
Skytec Pro 600 Watt Amplifier - The Music Station Swansea
Skytec PRO-600 Stereo Power Amplifier 2 x 300w Black

one of the badest reliability and quality standart on the marked - also known as speaker/tweeter killer. I don't repair such amps in general cause too much efforts for trouble shooting; most parts must be replace through better ones and also a redesign is necessary in most cases.

The same situation you will observe by Hollywood Impact - go to
Hollywood "IMPACT-480" DJ PA 960 Watt Amplifier

If you haven't enough money for new quality amp suited for your application, go on and search for used devices like JBL, Crown, Crest or Dynacord, even if it is 30 or 40 years old stuff - still much more better than China amp like your's and unknown brand name.
Ebay Item Number 110548032624 is an example for an amp for you.