Dear diyaudio-community, I am, or to be more precise a friend who hasn't got an account on here, is in need of your help!
He told me few days ago heartbroken that his beloved Creek Destiny 2 integrated amp shut's off every time he turns it on.
Sadly I am not much help when it comes to Creek amps since there is too much going on inside of there for me, or to phrase it differently: I would at least be able to take a closer look at it if I could find a schematic or service manual for the amp...
While talking to him I found out the following: 1) the amp is arround 9 years old 2) it never had any problems despite a bit of very quiet hum, but he thinks it's his dirty mains 3) the amp is faulty since he turned it on one day and it automatically shut off
While skyping with him I also told him to just unscrew the top without touching anything and only show me how the amp looks inside and as far as I can tell there are no visibly damaged parts which I find curious but it could be that a transistor, mosfet or sth else is damaged but just not visibly...or maybe it's just the amp being too sensitive/protective since there's more protection circuitry in there than I have ever seen in an amp. Has someone maybe got an idea how the protection circuitry can be "reset", if that is even possible since leaving the amp unplugged for some hours and than turning it on didn't help.
The amp now behaves like follows:
When he turns it on the standby-light flashes as normal, than the speaker B-light also starts to flash and finally the flashing of both lights stops and the red error-indicator light, turns on and stays lit.
-Just as a side note he also already tried turning the amp on with just the mains-cable and the speaker-wires hooked up. Again no success, but at least other components can be ruled out now.
Please help him and tell me if there's something I would be able to check or if he should send the amp straight to Creek for repair.
Maybe there's DC on the output or the bias is somehow too high, but I won't touch anything in there without a schematic but identified to pots per channel which are probably for setting bias and dc-offset, but again I'm not certain which pot is for what.
Help in any shape or form and guesses what the issue may be are greatly appreciated!
If you know someone I could contact regarding the issue or schematic, please ask them or tell me how I can get in touch.
Much love,
Brzzl
He told me few days ago heartbroken that his beloved Creek Destiny 2 integrated amp shut's off every time he turns it on.
Sadly I am not much help when it comes to Creek amps since there is too much going on inside of there for me, or to phrase it differently: I would at least be able to take a closer look at it if I could find a schematic or service manual for the amp...
While talking to him I found out the following: 1) the amp is arround 9 years old 2) it never had any problems despite a bit of very quiet hum, but he thinks it's his dirty mains 3) the amp is faulty since he turned it on one day and it automatically shut off
While skyping with him I also told him to just unscrew the top without touching anything and only show me how the amp looks inside and as far as I can tell there are no visibly damaged parts which I find curious but it could be that a transistor, mosfet or sth else is damaged but just not visibly...or maybe it's just the amp being too sensitive/protective since there's more protection circuitry in there than I have ever seen in an amp. Has someone maybe got an idea how the protection circuitry can be "reset", if that is even possible since leaving the amp unplugged for some hours and than turning it on didn't help.
The amp now behaves like follows:
When he turns it on the standby-light flashes as normal, than the speaker B-light also starts to flash and finally the flashing of both lights stops and the red error-indicator light, turns on and stays lit.
-Just as a side note he also already tried turning the amp on with just the mains-cable and the speaker-wires hooked up. Again no success, but at least other components can be ruled out now.
Please help him and tell me if there's something I would be able to check or if he should send the amp straight to Creek for repair.
Maybe there's DC on the output or the bias is somehow too high, but I won't touch anything in there without a schematic but identified to pots per channel which are probably for setting bias and dc-offset, but again I'm not certain which pot is for what.
Help in any shape or form and guesses what the issue may be are greatly appreciated!
If you know someone I could contact regarding the issue or schematic, please ask them or tell me how I can get in touch.
Much love,
Brzzl
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If he really loves this amp - then he should get it repaired.
Straight off - it’s not the bias, as that shouldn’t change enough to alter the operation (unless something failed)
Most likely it is DC on the outputs, which is putting the amp into protection.
Since it sounds like neither of you are comfortable fixing the amp without a schematic and would likely entail replacing one or more output Mosfets and one or more driver transistors and possibly a few resistors, I would encourage you to pay a professional.
If he wants to fix it and do it himself and okay with making it worse - then we can offer assistance. Which always starts with verifying all the proper voltages are present on the power supply and then figuring out if it’s the power supply (issue is the same on both channels), pre amp section or specific amp channel. When you figure that out you can be strategic to test specific components and find the reason for the issue and repair.
Straight off - it’s not the bias, as that shouldn’t change enough to alter the operation (unless something failed)
Most likely it is DC on the outputs, which is putting the amp into protection.
Since it sounds like neither of you are comfortable fixing the amp without a schematic and would likely entail replacing one or more output Mosfets and one or more driver transistors and possibly a few resistors, I would encourage you to pay a professional.
If he wants to fix it and do it himself and okay with making it worse - then we can offer assistance. Which always starts with verifying all the proper voltages are present on the power supply and then figuring out if it’s the power supply (issue is the same on both channels), pre amp section or specific amp channel. When you figure that out you can be strategic to test specific components and find the reason for the issue and repair.
Thanks for the quick answer!
Already expected it to be dc on the output that's causing the problem and that the hum he heared was maybe not noise on the mains but already a foretaste of what was to come. Always fascinates me when a well-treated amp suddenly stops working for no apparent reason and it can't simply be the age of the amp because components way over the age of 9 years of the amp are still as good as new today...
And yes, I think he'll go the route of getting a professionall to do the job since he himself surely isn't comfortable fixing the amp and I don't like working on more complicated amp desings without a schematic at hand even if I might have a clue on what to try and do.
My Destiny 2 also run into protection for one of the channels, however, measuring dc offset seems ok, still can't figure out what is happening.😡
Schematic is attached, do make a check on U703 sense lines.
Schematic is attached, do make a check on U703 sense lines.
Thanks Peter, for posting the schematics. These have been hard to find on the internet, presumably for the usual reasons, like protecting their repair agents' businesses and making it harder to copy or tinker with the product.
As you refer, the OP is the Destiny 2 though. Is the schematic for the later model? The original model is somewhat outdated now and probably lacks full parts support, so a lack of schematics becomes a hindrance to the second or third owner or repairer and all a bit tedious now.
As you refer, the OP is the Destiny 2 though. Is the schematic for the later model? The original model is somewhat outdated now and probably lacks full parts support, so a lack of schematics becomes a hindrance to the second or third owner or repairer and all a bit tedious now.
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No, he hasn't...should he and is that a safe thing to do?
I always make sure that speakers or some sort of load is connected to the output of any amp before I power it on as a good practice
Not certain if it's safe (would need to read manual) but they need to eliminate whether the cables/speakers are causing the fault condition.
General rule of thumb - never start an unknown condition amp with a load. You are only asking for things to smoke and pop (usually your speakers). There are exceptions, but those designs are very old and highly uncommon 30+ years later and the load should never be a speaker.
Better option, is to show your friend how to construct a Dim Bulb Tester and plug the amp into that before powering on without any input or load. If that lamp stays dim - no shorts. If it lights up and doesn't dim significantly within 2-3 seconds, you have a short.
Also, with the DBT in line with the amp, he can probe for voltages (Power supply, DC on output, bias, etc.) and if there is a slight "slip" of the test leads it will guard against causing additional damage.
Remember - electricity is dangerous, let's make sure we respect it and treat it as such.
Better option, is to show your friend how to construct a Dim Bulb Tester and plug the amp into that before powering on without any input or load. If that lamp stays dim - no shorts. If it lights up and doesn't dim significantly within 2-3 seconds, you have a short.
Also, with the DBT in line with the amp, he can probe for voltages (Power supply, DC on output, bias, etc.) and if there is a slight "slip" of the test leads it will guard against causing additional damage.
Remember - electricity is dangerous, let's make sure we respect it and treat it as such.
Thanks for the reply and good reminder that electricity can be dangerous but I am well aware of that as a diy'er with a good amount of experience over the years and my friend won't do more than unscrewing the cover of the amp and having a look inside.
Would have done that if I were him, but he already is in contact with Creek and therefore won't mess with the amp in any way. But he wouldn't be able to meassure much anyhow since the amp's protection circuit immediately kicks in as stated before.
I would however still be interested in a schematic of the amp since someone was kind enough to send me the complete schematics of the Destiny 1 and after having a look at them I must say that there's way too much going on in that amp for my taste (completely aggainst the kiss principle I try to keep to with audio circuits) and I would like to know what makes the Destiny 2 different and if it too is a design with one flaw or another (in my eyes of course)...still a very fine sounding amp even if I might not like some choices of Creek regarding the circuit🙂