Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions New ADA 1500 problem

Hi all I have a problem with my new amp buzzing. I installed my 3 channel ADA1500 today. First off the amp buzzes by itself and when I attach the speakers it carries over to the speakers. I did not have this buzzing before (no ground loop problem).

I must mention that the amp is situated under the Pioneer Plasma as there was no room for it in the rack so I used some long RCA component cables I had to run from the NAD AVR to the amp. They are good quality cables from Blue Jeans. But I am wondering if this could be the problem as the buzzing is isolated to the front 3 speakers and not in any of the surrounds that are fed by the NAD AVR.

I have never used a dedicated amp before, do they usually make their own buzz with nothing else turned on? Also the speaker levels seem lower then they were prior but I have yet to re-calibrate.

Just wanted to get some insight before I call the Axiom Boys and maybe find a cause. I have done all the usual ground loop remedies and diagnoses.
Any help would be appreciated.

I would just call tech support. No, it's not normal to hear any buzzing as you describe. Something might have banged loose in shipping.

Could be, the outside box was pretty banged up ..the inside protected part looked OK but that does not mean it did not get dropped off the end of the truck along it way to WA State.

I noticed just few minutes go that even when you put the surround mode in stereo the center speaker continues to buzz? Well I will speak to the tech guys. Thanks Mark

I would guess a ground loop... my house has one and all of my outboard amps make a humming sound without groundloop isolators... This is one of the possible issues with outboard amps. Axiom has ground isolators for around 50$, and theirs are the ones i use at my house.

Yes, it can be a somewhat common priblem....

If the amp "buzzes by itself" with no speakers connected, that would indicate that it's defective. A ground loop or cable problem wouldn't cause that. Yes, call Axiom.

Hey John, Yes the amp has a buzz as soon as you turn the power on you can hear it coming right out of the unit. The speakers are attached but nothing else is powered up.I will call in the morning ...wait it is morning 1:19AM! !

I tried to watch a movie tonight and the buzz was way too annoying so I dismantled the unit from my system trucked it into another room where I have an older NAD receiver and some M80s that I got in 2004. Hooked it all in and ...no buzz from speakers and only a slight hum from amp. I have a DirecTV DVR in both rooms and that has been my focus of what the problem might be. So I trucked it back to the HT and hooked it in and hear we go loud buzzing again...not to draw this out any longer just for the hell of it I pulled the power cord on the back of the Oppo 95 which was not even turn on and the buzz quieted down 90% the amp itself still hums but this is not that noticeable.

At this point I feel a victory of some sort but now I have figure out whats going on with the Oppo. But its late I'm tired and so will still call Axiom techs tomorrow see if they have any answers as to why.

I'm guessing some sort of Nisqually curse.

Good luck.

It is very possible any amp with a toroidal transformer will have a little buzz, it depends on how close your ears are when you hear it.

You should not hear it from your couch that is for sure though. I vote for calling axiom as well.

In my old house I had to use an axiom ground isolator on my cable feed. You mention direct tv but I thought ground loops from cable were more likely than dish? I guess this doesn't matter though as John's expert advice has indicated that is likely not the problem.


Also, when you get everything up and running post back with your impressions of the amp!

I have an update on my amp. Yesterday morning I completely isolated the amp from the house wiring by running a lead from my detached garage which is on separate power from the main lug. It still demonstrated the same problem. After disconnecting that and hooking back up I was going to start other diagnoses and I guess it up lost its voice as I had no sound at all coming from the speakers. I took it to my second system in another room and no sound there also.

I called Axiom and Brent and I discussed the issue and on my stating that the carton it arrived in was pretty banged up with rips and large holes he thinks it was grossly mishandled in shipping. He thinks it was badly jarred at some point. It was sent back today. Brent asked for and I emailed some pictures of the box damage. Hopefully he can get some reimbursement from UPS. I am sure it must have been insured. I patched the thing the best I could and took it to the UPS store and the guy there shook his head in disbelief at seeing the condition of the carton.

Axiom is sending another ADA1500 to me....too bad they don't use Fedex I have had better luck with them as far as not having damaged goods arriving.

They've been using FedEx Ground for me for a long time now. They used to use Purolator/DHL. I'm not sure if they try to stick with one carrier and they've switched to UPS or not, but after DHL was being less than impressive with the handling of the packages, it resulted in me getting stuff via FedEx Ground.

They have always used Fed Ex for me to Iowa, once they sent me a replacement EP500 amp that was in a boxed crate when it left Axiom, however, I got it in a cardboard box. Inside was splinters of a wooden box. I think the Fed Ex plane ran over the box and the amp was ruined.

How considerate of them to re-package the remains for you!

I am also not a fan of UPS. I talked with Brent a week or so ago about an order I have in. I usually have my FedEx shipments held at a local FedEx location... During our conversation Brent told me about the switch to UPS.

I'm sure axiom has a corporate agreement with UPS for damaged product during shipment..

My new in wall M22's and VP100 were shipped UPS and all 3 boxes arrived with barely a smudge on them; no dented corners, tears, or holes.

This is not always the case with UPS, which I usually pronounce as OOPS!
ymmv

I heard Fed Ex and UPS are merging! The new name is FED UP!!

Like!

Where do I start? Last time I posted Axiom was going to send me another 3 channel ADA 1500 amp and 10/12 days later the UPS dude showed up and I watched him almost dropped it taking out of his truck! I rushed out and took it from him..."damn that's heavy" he said....looking at the condition of the box I thought you weren't the only one I bet who said that.

If you can believe it the condition of the box was in worse shape then the original one! I took pictures of it to send to Brent before it was opened just in case the amp was damaged I got it all hooked into my system and promptly threw a CD into the Oppo 95 and it sounded great but I quickly put in some multichannel material and wtf! No center channel

I emailed Brent with all the pictures of the box it arrived in. His response was "unbelievable" To make a long story shorter as instructed I ended up taking the top plate off shooting some pics of only 2 blue LEDs lighting up. I explained that the distance this amp has to travel over land is not cutting it and I would gladly pay the extra to have it 2 day'ed to me via flying machine.

Brent agreed that going by wagon train that distance was not working and agreed to do 2 day shipping on the 3rd amp...no extra charge to me!!! Axiom is the greatest!

The 2 day thing worked as far as the very little harm done to the packaging. It took 2 days to get from Dwight On CA to Portland Ore. but 3 days to do the last 150 miles to my home...way to go UPS! But what really matters is it in working order, all 3 channels sing. I still have to run a calibration and then do some critical listening but from just doing an out of the box teaser it felt like the first time you fire up an engine that you just installed a super charger on. (old gear-head here) This baby wants run with the big dogs!
Again many thanks to Brent and crew for their assistance and upgraded shipping.

I think there was a time where Axiom shipped stuff quicker than ground, but my memory is getting foggy after all these years. Ground sucks.

A retired co-worker friend of mine just quit his part time job with UPS that he was supplementing his pension with. He often commented that he didn't enjoy watching the disrespect given to parcels at his depot but the last straw was when he phoned in sick last week, something that he has only done twice throughout his entire working career, they demanded he come in and do a shuttle run instead of his regular route.

Nice UPS... Really nice!

I have been in a couple of the large distribution centers for both FedEx and UPS and if you saw the way some of these tens of thousands of parcels and boxes are handled you would cringe and at the same time, wonder how more goods aren't damaged. We are usually talking overnight loading and unloading and I think some of these guys doing the work are half asleep. There also could be two or three loading and unloading cycles before it even gets on the truck to be delivered to the buyer's home and that further increases the chance for damage.

The trouble is there is unfortunately, only a handful of companies that can do this kind of high volume international shipping so we are stuck with them and hope for the best when our shipment arrives.

I know it's a crap shoot with these companies. I have bought 2 sets of M80s systems(2004 and 2010) and they arrived in great shape. Not to give an excuse but maybe a reason but they were much larger heavier boxes (harder to throw maybe) and a different time of year. The holidays must increase their volume 10 fold!

When tracking the delivery I see the driver loaded his truck for delivery to my house 20 miles away at 2:51 AM and it arrived that evening at 7 PM....long day indeed.

Since I am and old retired goat I am going to spend the rest of the day getting familiar with the 1500 and have some listening fun.

I just wonder.. got my 100's delivered the other day to my home, nobody was there so the ups driver just left them in plain view in front of my garage!!! you could see on the box > high performace loadspeaker.. happy they were still there when I got home!!

That's how I discovered my LFR's. Sitting on my front porch.