Left Channel Issues

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Reece Pruden, Nov 14, 2017.

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  1. Reece Pruden

    Reece Pruden New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Canada
    Greetings!

    I recently upgraded my amp to a Marantz 1070 and my cartridge to an Ortofon 2M Red. The issue I now have is that my left channel is VERY noisy and borders on distorted. I have swapped wires and it stays with whichever of the speakers is plugged into the left channel. I have a hard time blaming the amp as it's in very good shape and was tested the day before I purchased it by the shop. I'd like to blame my speakers as they're pretty bad, but if the issue seems to be rooted in the channel I guess we can rule them out. The left channel will also do something where it very occasionally flares up, and the noise blares and glitches and then either stays or goes away. Wiggling the wires does nothing when this occurs. It seems to have happened less since I replaced my cartridge. Any help would be very appreciated.

    MARANTZ 1070
    ORTOFON 2M RED
    AT-LP1240
    JVC SP-MX55BK
     
  2. Reece Pruden

    Reece Pruden New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Canada
    * EDIT

    I should have mentioned that for about a month after the upgrades, the noise wasn't an issue. The occasional flare up of noise and distortion did happen, but now I'm hearing it constantly. The last day or 2.
     
  3. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Have you tested other inputs?
     
  4. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialistâ„¢

    Location:
    B.C.
    It sounds like it's recheck by the technician time. Purely guessing here, but perhaps the power transformer or a capacitor is on its way out. Lift the lid and take a peek may yield results.
     
  5. KeninDC

    KeninDC Hazy Cosmic Jive

    Location:
    Virginia, USA
    Scratchy sounds? Your fix might be as simple as a Deoxit (D5) spritz on your noisy pots. Every vintage owner needs some Deoxit on hand.

    The vintage nerds on Audiokarma.org can assist. What you basically do is 1) unplug the amp; 2) open it up; and 3) spray the metal pots and work the controls back and forth. I do this once a year with my Marantz 2238.
     
    Manimal likes this.
  6. Reece Pruden

    Reece Pruden New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Canada
    how do you mean?
     
  7. Reece Pruden

    Reece Pruden New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Canada
    it flares up as though the wires were loose. I get this massive wall of excess noise and it glitches.
     
  8. KeninDC

    KeninDC Hazy Cosmic Jive

    Location:
    Virginia, USA
    My best guess is dirty pots. Cleaning your contacts, pots, etc. may fix this. A dirty pot starts as just sorta scratchy and can end up with loud pops/noise, no signal, etc.
     
    Manimal likes this.
  9. Reece Pruden

    Reece Pruden New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Canada
    Now I'm an amateur, is this worth taking to a shop or can I REALLY do it myself?
     
  10. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Did you try plugging your phono preamp into a different input on your Marantz? Or did you try to plug in a CD player to see if you experience the same issue?
     
  11. Carl Swanson

    Carl Swanson Senior Member

    Please, no politics . . . :biglaugh:
     
  12. Bubbamike

    Bubbamike Forum Resident

    Have you a CD player to test if there is the same issue or if it limited to the phono.
    If the issue only shows itself using the phone then it could be the phono amp or the arm wiring or the cartridge. If it also shows up using a CD player or tuner then it is the amp.
     
  13. Reece Pruden

    Reece Pruden New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Canada
    Sorry guys, I have nothing else around to test it on
     
  14. KeninDC

    KeninDC Hazy Cosmic Jive

    Location:
    Virginia, USA
    Yes you can. No electronics experience necessary. But I will say this again - UNPLUG the unit before opening it up. Electricity can kill.

    On your Marantz, you can open up the unit and just spray the pots from the inside, working the knobs from the outside. No need to even remove the knobs.

    Here's a short video that shows what "pots" (potentiometers) look like and how to spray them and work the knobs. Pay attention to how he works the "Kenwood board." You will be doing no more than taking off the Marantz "top" with a screwdriver so you can look at and access the board and pots.

     
  15. Seeing as how the trouble started with the new cartridge, have you tried swapping the turntable's output leads left-to-right at the input plugs at the amp? Any time you use vintage equipment, expect problems.
    I don't know what you upgraded from, but the Marantz 1070 wouldn't be very much of an upgrade. With the slider controls, you are just asking for trouble. It reminds me of the cheap-o Soundesign-type integrated stereos that the bargain stores sold.
    With the vintage amp and one of the channels intermittently having problems, it could be as simple as dirty internal contacts of the controls, bad solder joints or failing internal electronic components.
    Years ago, I had a Quadraflex receiver(exclusive brand of Pacific Stereo owned by CBS Laboratories) and one channel would distort occasionally. Switching the input knob quickly back and forth to other inputs or rapidly moving the volume control knob would stop the distortion until it did it again. I believe one of the power transistors was failing.
     
  16. Reece Pruden

    Reece Pruden New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Canada
    Definite upgrade from the integrated pre-amp in my turntable haha. The ornery old man in the shop said Marantz was a solid brand. Opinions always differ.
     
  17. Reece Pruden

    Reece Pruden New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Canada
    thank you for this. I appreciate it. What do you recommend I spray it with? Something I can get locally would be nice.
     
  18. Manimal

    Manimal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern US
    Dirty pots
     
  19. KeninDC

    KeninDC Hazy Cosmic Jive

    Location:
    Virginia, USA
    Caig Deoxit D5 (5%). Amazon sells it online. Parts Express online. Guitar Center should have it in stores. I see you live in Canada, so I'm not sure where you would find it locally, but many music shops will sell it since it is great for guitar amps.
     
  20. The "ornery" old man wasn't misrepresenting the brand, Marantz made some well-respected tube amps. Ownership changed and production moved to Japan. They made some great integrated receivers in Japan. What you got is an economy "drop-in" amp. I've never used the built-in pre-amp on my AT's, have always run them in the bypass mode. This doesn't seem to affect the sound and I've tried bypassing the circuitry in the TT's with no change in sound. The internal circuitry is good enough to play CD-4 discrete quad records through with a mounted cartridge which has a 10-50khz range.
    Again, I didn't read if you switched the input cables L-R. If the distortion follows the cable switch, then you can be sure that your problem is between the amp and the cartridge.
     
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