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Elicit-R cutting out

R

regavegas

pfm Member
Greetings from Las Vegas,
Last night I was enjoying my Elicit-R when it cut out briefly; never had this happen before. The unit did not shut off, just no sound briefly.

I was playing a CD; the Rega was at roughly the "noon" position on the volume control. It was driving 4ohm Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Baby Grand SEs.

Possibilities:
-thermal issue? The Rega has plenty of airflow around it; unit was quite warm, but it's done that before. It is well-ventilated. It's summer in Vegas; my AC keeps the house at 80F, within the Rega's operating parameters.

-CDP issue? It's an Arcam Alpha 9. Older, but well-maintained. CD was new, no issues.

Sound came back after 30 or so seconds; it happened again when I started the CD from the beginning: a brief cut out.


I have another CDP in the system; I'll troubleshoot and try that tonight.

My main concern: just want to make sure there's no damage to the Elicit-R.

Any thoughts are welcome, especially if any Rega folks would like to join in.
Thanks,
Jeff
 
Hi Regavegas,

The Elicit R has a thermal cut out which operates when the temperature of the output devices / PCB reaches a certain level and would not, under normal operating conditions, kick in unless the amp was driving a particularly difficult load at loud volumes.

Around 12 / midday on CD would be pretty loud I would imagine, if necessary the amp can be adjusted to give more headroom before the protection circuits are enabled if required and the circumstances dictate.

Paul Darwin
Rega Research
 
My Elicit R is driven quite hard on a daily basis, I would say noon on volume pot for cd/dac is quite loud, however vinyl is normally this level, I occasionally push it too 1 o clock on some vinyl and my amp does get quite warm - not hot though.

Had no problems with it cutting out though
 
In retrospect, I believe I pushed it a bit too hard last night. I'll back off.
Have never had a problem and just hope I did not do any damage.
Everyone, thanks for your input.
Jeff
 
I have mine at about 2pm usually and I've not experienced thermal cut out but it does sound like that's what being experienced. I wouldn't expect it to damage anything providing your leaving it to cool before trying again - do the heat sinks feel hot when it happens?
 
Sibbers said:
I have mine at about 2pm usually and I've not experienced thermal cut out but it does sound like that's what being experienced. I wouldn't expect it to damage anything providing your leaving it to cool before trying again - do the heat sinks feel hot when it happens?
Click to expand...

Last night the heat sinks were quite warm - don't know if I'd call them hot...but quite warm. I didn't realize what had happened; this happened twice last night.

Lesson learned. When I play vinyl the volume is usually between 1-2pm; I'll back off on CDs.
J
 
A good rule of thumb :)D), (thanks TdP) is that if you can't bear to keep your finger on the heatsink for 10 seconds then it's too hot!
 
My heat sinks are very warm but not hot - remember your speakers are harder to drive than most, so the amp was doing its job of protecting itself !
If I've been playing music for a few hours then keep the amp on but idle the heatsinks don't cool down - I presume this is normal?
 
Your speakers, whilst good, are quite a difficult load. Altough quoted at 91dB they've been measured at 86.5db, which is quite low. Perhaps having more of an impact is that the impedance drops as low as 2.3 ohms at 90Hz. Overall they are potentially a difficult load for the Elicit-R (or indeed many amplifiers), especially if you like to play loud.

The Elecit-R is obviously working properly. Indeed, there's probably more danger of potentially damaging your speakers had it not cut out.
 
My speakers are low sensitivity and a difficult load. I get about 75 to 80db out of mine at 2 o'clock and it's never even broke a sweat. I've not noticed it getting particularly hot and it's never cut out. I'm a little surprised your getting a thermal cut out with air condition keeping your room at 80F.
 
simon g said:
Your speakers, whilst good, are quite a difficult load. Altough quoted at 91dB they've been measured at 86.5db, which is quite low. Perhaps having more of an impact is that the impedance drops as low as 2.3 ohms at 90Hz. Overall they are potentially a difficult load for the Elicit-R (or indeed many amplifiers), especially if you like to play loud.

The Elecit-R is obviously working properly. Indeed, there's probably more danger of potentially damaging your speakers had it not cut out.
Click to expand...

I looked up the Stereophile review of the Viennas and I see what you're talking about. Besides my concern over the amp, let's hope I didn't do any damage to the speakers. I remember when I bought them last December my dealer assured me they would pair well with the Elicit.

J
 
http://www.stereophile.com/content/...and-symphony-edition-loudspeaker-measurements
My estimate was significantly lower, at 86.5dB(B)/2.83V/m.
Click to expand...
Estimated. I didn't see where the reviewer told us exactly where the microphone was placed, nor the frequency(/ies) that the figures apply to, so pinch of salt needed - for manufacturers' claims and reviewers' statements in general. Specifications, as always, need to be appropriately specific else they are not much use.


Ed: the manufacturer's website states 90dB.
 
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