MACCA350
Registered: 04/12/10
Posts: 93
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Posted 09/28/11
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#1
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Thought I'd move these posts from the Spark Debut thread:
Quote: Had a bit of an 'oh crap' moment earlier tonight......one of my sparks were playing at very low volumes 
I spent about an hour swapping preamp inputs, cables, power cycling, toggling program and mute buttons and fiddling with the gain to see where the problem was.........definitely was the Spark and nothing else. The output level with gain at 0dB and playing preamp test tones was probably only around 40dB at 2 meters.
So I switched it off and left it for about an hour while I scratched my head and drafted an email to Mark. I decided to test the levels with my analyzer to give Mark as much info as I could. Switched it on and hit the preamp test tones.......voila, back in business baby 
I have no idea what the heck caused it to play up in that way or what fixed it, but it's perfectly fine now.
Any ideas Mark? Is it something that needs looking at or just chalk it up to a ghost in the house 
Cheers
Quote: Hmm, my Spark problem is back. I'm going to keep it unplugged for an hour and see if it fixes itself.
Any suggestions Mark?
Cheers
Ok the problem won't go away, I've powered it off for a couple hours and no good. Powered off for 5 hours and still no good. Just checked with an SPL meter and when it should be playing at 75dB as calibrated it is playing at 55dB so it's dropped 20dB of gain.
Increasing the preamp level trim from -1dB up to +10dB and the output does increase but becomes increasingly distorted.
Any possible fix or have I missed something?
I'm leaving it powered on for a while to see if it goes away, other than that I'm out of ideas.
Cheers
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ISF
THX® Certified Professional Home Theater 1
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chayut
Registered: 07/10/11
Posts: 63
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Posted 09/28/11
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#2
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I hope you can fix it soon
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Mark_Seaton
Moderator
Registered: 05/29/07
Posts: 1,490
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Posted 09/28/11
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#3
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Quote: Originally Posted by MACCA350Thought I'd move these posts from the Spark Debut thread: Quote: Hmm, my Spark problem is back. I'm going to keep it unplugged for an hour and see if it fixes itself.
Any suggestions Mark?
Cheers Ok the problem won't go away, I've powered it off for a couple hours and no good. Powered off for 5 hours and still no good. Just checked with an SPL meter and when it should be playing at 75dB as calibrated it is playing at 55dB so it's dropped 20dB of gain. Increasing the preamp level trim from -1dB up to +10dB and the output does increase but becomes increasingly distorted. Any possible fix or have I missed something? I'm leaving it powered on for a while to see if it goes away, other than that I'm out of ideas. Cheers
Hi MACCA,
Sounds like an intermittent internal connection that we'll fix. I believe I have your contact info correct from your profile, but please shoot me quick e-mail to confirm at support@seatonsound.net .
Thanks,
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Mark Seaton
Seaton Sound, Inc.
sales@seatonsound.net
773-290-8436
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MACCA350
Registered: 04/12/10
Posts: 93
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Posted 09/28/11
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#4
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Thanks Mark,
I was hoping it was just a glitch but I can't get it to go away now.
I sent an email through to the address used last time we spoke, not sure if you still use it so I'll send a copy through to the support email.
Cheers
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MACCA350
Registered: 04/12/10
Posts: 93
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Posted 09/29/11
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#5
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Have to say, support email response time of 8min with resolution would have to be a world record
With the amp module removed in readiness for the replacement you really get a chance to see how much effort and quality Mark has put into his products, I think these will become a family heirloom 
cheers
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Mark_Seaton
Moderator
Registered: 05/29/07
Posts: 1,490
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Posted 09/29/11
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#6
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Thanks Mark,
I wish I could claim all cases are handled so quickly, but timing was good with your e-mail and the problem with this one being rather simple. We'll sort the rest out by e-mail.
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Mark Seaton
Seaton Sound, Inc.
sales@seatonsound.net
773-290-8436
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MACCA350
Registered: 04/12/10
Posts: 93
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Posted 04/26/12
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#7
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Hey Mark,
I've been having a similar issue with my center Catalyst, it's actually been happening for ages before the problem with the Spark, but it's been so sporadic that I couldn't diagnose properly.
What's happening Is the volume drops very low on the center Catalyst and turning up the preamp volume increases output but the sound is distorted(worked this out after the Spark issue). This would last for about 20min but removing the XLR input would fix the problem most of the time(power cycling the Cat or preamp did nothing) so swapping inputs with another channel wouldn't discount the possibility of a preamp issue. Also it would happen so rarely, about once every couple months or so, that it was impossible to work out the cause.
Fast forward and the last week or so the issue has increased in frequency to maybe once a day and then a couple days ago it happened about four times in the morning. Now because disconnecting/reconnecting the input fixed the issue 90% of the time I decided to manually swap the center and right Catalyst hoping that the next time it happened I could be certain where the problem lay.......if it stayed at the center then it was preamp/input cable, if it moved to the right then it was the Catalyst.
Well guess what, the issue hasn't happened since! And until it does I won't know for sure what is to blame. But given the similarities with the Spark issue I'm leaning towards the Catalyst.
Anyway, I'll let you know if/when it pops up again. I would have mentioned it sooner(I did post it in the AVS D2v thread as I thought it was the preamp causing it initially) but until recently it was so rare that I couldn't even be sure if the Catalyst was at fault.......and I'm still not certain.
Cheers
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Mark_Seaton
Moderator
Registered: 05/29/07
Posts: 1,490
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Posted 04/26/12
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#8
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Quote: Originally Posted by MACCA350
Hey Mark,
I've been having a similar issue with my center Catalyst, it's actually been happening for ages before the problem with the Spark, but it's been so sporadic that I couldn't diagnose properly.
What's happening Is the volume drops very low on the center Catalyst and turning up the preamp volume increases output but the sound is distorted(worked this out after the Spark issue). This would last for about 20min but removing the XLR input would fix the problem most of the time(power cycling the Cat or preamp did nothing) so swapping inputs with another channel wouldn't discount the possibility of a preamp issue. Also it would happen so rarely, about once every couple months or so, that it was impossible to work out the cause.
Fast forward and the last week or so the issue has increased in frequency to maybe once a day and then a couple days ago it happened about four times in the morning. Now because disconnecting/reconnecting the input fixed the issue 90% of the time I decided to manually swap the left and right Catalyst hoping that the next time it happened I could be certain where the problem lay.......if it stayed at the center then it was preamp/input cable, if it moved to the right then it was the Catalyst.
Well guess what, the issue hasn't happened since! And until it does I won't know for sure what is to blame. But given the similarities with the Spark issue I'm leaning towards the Catalyst.
Anyway, I'll let you know if/when it pops up again. I would have mentioned it sooner(I did post it in the AVS D2v thread as I thought it was the preamp causing it initially) but until recently it was so rare that I couldn't even be sure if the Catalyst was at fault.......and I'm still not certain.
Cheers
Hi Mark,
Just as with previous/other cases, e-mailing us is much more productive toward solving issues. We haven't had any issues with received e-mail from Australia since we switched all e-mails noted on the website holding page and in my signature here to @seatonsound.net . I'll often see e-mail at all hours, but might miss a day or two here or on other forums, and I am not the only one monitoring the e-mails, making it a much better mode of communication/troubleshooting.
It sounds like an intermittent connection in some component. These can be difficult to diagnose as some firm handling or even FedEx shipping can appear to resolve the issue for a while. E-mail me and I'll give you some quick check points for when/if the problem arises again.
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Seaton Sound, Inc.
sales@seatonsound.net
773-290-8436
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MACCA350
Registered: 04/12/10
Posts: 93
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Posted 04/26/12
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#9
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Email sent.
I suppose I posted in here because I'm not sure yet where the fault lies.
Cheers
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