Please Help- B&K Seperates Problems (1 Viewer)

[Tim L]

I bought a new Reference 50 along with the 200.7 Amp back in the spring but have not has the chance to hook it up (moving-selling house etc). So this week I finally hooked and up and I have no sound from the right surround speaker. I did at first but very faint- now its nothing. I doubled check the speaker cables-connections- and also swapped out the cable from the Ref.50 to the amp ( I am using unbalanced connections) still no sound. While I ran the speakers through the test tones I noticed at first the white noise from the right surround was very faint compared to the other speakers- but that lasted about 10 seconds before it went dead. My question is do you think it is the amp or the Ref. 50? Just my luck- I use crappy equpment and they never die- I upgrade to the so-called good stuff and its dead out of the box-go figure. ANyway any help or info would be greatly appreciated- Has anyone dealt with B&K customer service before? seems I may be needing them. thanks
Tim

 

[Jason_Els]

The surest way to know is to feed the right surround output on the Ref50 to one of the other inputs on the amp. If you hear it without a problem, it's the amp. If you don't, it's the Ref50.

B&K has wonderful customer service. I had to send out my AVR 307 for a bad potentiometer in the volume knob. I called them and got someone immediately. There were no hassles and they were more than happy to fix it. They even return-shipped overnight.

And yes, I still love my receiver as much as the day I bought it. Very, very happy with the purchase despite the slight problem.

 

[Tim L]

So I should be able to take the right surround rca cable from the ref50 and plug it into say the center input of the amp and see if I get any kind of sound?
Tim

 

[Donnie Eldridge]

Make sure you didn't accidently push the Balanced button on the back of the amp for that particular channel.

 

[Jason_Els]

Yup. The amp neither knows nor cares where it gets it signal from. Go for it!

 

[Tim L]

Jason- I did what you suggested and took the right surround output from ref. 50 and tried it into another input and I got sound- so its the amp for sure- I called B&K and they said it may be a fuse but couldn't tell-if thats the case maybe I can just try replacing the fuse- because they told me I have to pay for shipping there and back - OUCH! at 80lbs-with Fedex- it can't be cheap.
The balanced button was set properly for unbalanced as well-does this sound like a blown fuse guys? thanks again for the replys
Tim

 

[Thomas P.]

Tim L, It's interesting that when I first got my Sherbourne amp I had a very similat problem. I remember the feelings (fear) well. Particularly the thought of just getting that 115lb. behemoth out of my rack again. Heres' what I did -I unplugged it, waited 5 minutes, and plugged it back in. It rebooted like a computer. I'm fairly certain that you did this or B&K suggested that you do this but I thought I'd mention it anyways.

 

[Tim L]

Thomas- was the problem fixed after you did this?-I'm willing to try anything at this point-and no I'm not looking forward to moving and packing it up and paying to have it shipped far away and then pay to have it shipped back- My luck it still won't be right and then waht- ship it out again! I'm just very dissapointed at this point-you spend so much money on this stuff and this happens- its like buying a a new lexues and it dies when you drive it off the lot-maybe I should stick with the cheap stuff:frowning:
So what caused the problem with your amp- was it a fuse?
Another thing that worries me is that B&K stongly suggests that I have the amp on its own outlet with no other equipment plugged into that outlet- this is not an optin for me- I have a monster 7000 line conditioner plugged into the same outlet as well- I wonder if some sort of strange power drain affected it? what do you guys think? thanks again
Tim

 

[Paul D. K.]

Tim -

I'm assuming you are referring to a Monster HTPS 7000. Why aren't you plugging your B&K equipment into the 7000? I've got an AVR 307 plugged into my HTPS 7000 and have had no trouble. I'm upgrading in the near future to a Ref. 50 and 200.1 monoblocks and am still planning on plugging into the 7000 (two of them due to layout).

I've spoken to B&K on this subject and they stated that for optimum results, but not a requirement, it's best to have the home theater on it's own circuit so as to cut down on noise, interference, etc.

I would also try what Thomas P. suggested. I've had problem with electronics in the past and unplugged them for a while and then plugged them back in and the problem mysteriously disappeared.

Paul

 

[Tim L]

I guess I could plug it into the 7000-I'm new at owning this pricey (for me) equipment. I guess I could try pluging it back in- (even though this was the first time I did have it plugged in at all). I'll have to hook up the connections again though- why would an amp play fine after unplugging it?- just curious. thanks
Tim

 

[Paul D. K.]

Tim -

I know it doesn't make sense but I had issues with my 7000 as well as with my Pioneer Elite DVD player when I first plugged them in (at separate times). When I plugged them back in after leaving them unplugged for 12-24 hrs. they both began working properly. Don't know why, but they did.

I bought the equipment from different high-end stereo shops and the sales people at both told me to do the same thing.

I want to make a comment about another one of your responses, if I may. Why are you sending the equipment back to B&K instead of their dealer in your area? My local dealer handles all of the warranty repair and return and I don't have to deal with the issues/cost. If you are new to the area, find your high-end local dealer that sells B&K and explain to them that you just moved there, that you would like them, as the authorized dealer, to handle this at no charge to you. You may also want to let them know that you will frequent their store now that you have moved to the area.

Hope this helps.

Paul

 

[Tim L]

You guys were dead on!
I unplugged it and turned it on tonight and I now get sound from the right surround-unbelievable-scared the hell out of me for a while. Paul your right I should have gone through the dealer- I was going to try the route tomorrow- but now it seems I may not have to- I guess I should test out the right and left back surrounds while I'm at it(not using them at the moment). Everyone thanks for all your help-now if someone could teach me how to use the dam thing! The unit and remote are a little more complicated then I'm used to-the manuals don't seem to help that much-but at least its working (keeping fingers crossed)- thanks again guys-appreciate it.
Tim

 

[Paul D. K.]

Tim - I haven't seen it yet (I'm waiting for my Ref. 50) but I understand the Ref. 50 is supposed to come with software so that you can set the system up on a computer and transfer to the Ref. 50. Here again, your local dealer should be able to help you.

Good luck. I'm glad things worked out.

Paul

 

[Donnie Eldridge]

I think all Ref. 50 users say that. Just take your time and ask us questions. Your going to be tweaking for a long time, but that's a good thing.

 

[Dean Arizona]

I went through the same learning curve with my Ref 50. The manual is not that helpful when explaining steps and procedures to a new owner. Part of the fun in owning the 50 is exploring the different set ups through a process of trial and error. Let us know how long it takes you to figure out how to set up your FM presets.

 

[Tim L]

I'm sure its going to take a while to get used to everything- I'm sure a new model will be out by the time I figure it out!
As far as using the computer- doesn't the ref 50 have to be hooked up to the computer or something to program it? Is this procedure easier than doing by the regualr menus?-I don't remember seeing it mentioned in the manusl- might have missed it I guess. Any tips- let me know-I can use them. I will dig deeper into the labryinth of menus-thanks again
Tim

 

[Jerry Klawiter]

Tim,
Download the software suite from B&K if you don't find the CD packed with the remote.
I think they now have all the software on the single cd.
http://www.bkcomp.com/support_software.asp
The B&K comes with a db9-rj45 Ethernet converter, packed with the power cord.
It must be used with the serial port of a computer.
If you have a pda that has some sort of sync software, you may need to disable that if you plan to use the same serial port.
The software has an emulation mode.
(No need to own or connect a B&K product)
Just start the program, after it searches the serial ports it will report back that it could not find a B&K product.
Hint, to save time just click cancel while it does this search. Now click the last option,
Select product for operation without a connected device.
This will let you pick a supported B&K product.
Now be sure to maximize you window on the screen.
Now click the icon top left Advanced full setup.
With the window maximized you will see three additional buttons near the bottom.
System-preset-favorite.
Now just explore and play within these settings.
This software gives you access to view the menu without many layers to page though as if you tried to do it from the ref50 display or on-screen.
The software will help to minimize the learning curve.

 

[Tim L]

Jerry thanks alot for the info- great stuff. Curious how did you find all that out-not from the manual I'm sure-website? Can't wait to tinker around witht he gear-now if work could let me just stay home for a week and play!
thanks again-appreciate the help.
Tim