That annoying "pop" on my Anthem amp (1 Viewer)

[JurgenV]

There's this annoying "pop" that I get on my speakers everytime I turn on my Anthem MCA 2 series II amp. I've had the amp for almost two years now and it's ALWAYS been happening. It seems to be pretty random, sometimes it's only in the left speaker, sometimes only in the right, sometimes both, sometimes it's fairly loud, other times it's quite faint. It even happens when I have my receiver disconnected from it, so I know it's the amp.

I've always thought it was normal, it being my first and only amp, but I've been reading here and there and it seems this "pop" is NOT normal...

Are there any other Anthem MCA owners who experience pops? How did you resolve the issue?

 

[ericLee]

What kind of source are you using? does the pop happen on startup/shutdown only? I've read that this is normal for certain amps that do not have a relay disigned into them. You mention reciver, the poping is said to be more commen with recivers, because of the digital dropoff they opton have. Also if you have anyother devices like lites in the same line/cercut this ofen can cause pops.

 

[Mike Fassler]

turn the volume down lower when you start up your system

 

[ericLee]

I don't think changing voulumn would do anything. It dosn't for my system.

 

[PaulWY]

I've had a pop on my amp as well. Maybe email Anthem and see what they have to say.

 

[Mike Veroukis]

Just pointing out the obvious, but Jurgen stated he experiences this even with his receiver DISCONNECTED! So it's unlikely that the digitalness of the receiver or the volume would have anything to do with this.

- Mike

 

[Ryan Tsang]

i have the MCA3 version 1. I use the 5V DC out trigger from my Acurus ACT3 to start it up. No pops. When I manually turn the amp on/off, there's no pop either.
Sorry to hear about yours though.

 

[JurgenV]

Thanks for the responses guys.

Mike is absolutely right, the pop occurs even when I have NOTHING but the speakers attached to the amp, so it's not a volume or even a receiver thing.

I did send that email to Anthem, the response I got was that it was normal. The tech did provide a technical explaination, but if it's really normal, I find it odd there aren't more people with this problem. Sounds more like an "acceptable flaw" in my unit.

Ryan, what's the sensitivity of your speakers? I wonder if my speakers are just too sensitive, thus making the pop more noticeable.

For now I will leave it be since it doesn't seem to be harmful to the speakers, but I'll look to sell the MCA down the road and pick up an amp that doesn't pop... maybe even one of the new digital amps out there that've been getting decent reviews lately.

 

[Claude M]

I'm using an MCA3 Series1 as well with no pop. I have the signal sense option turning the amp on. My Soundcraftsmen M5002 pops (since 1982!). My Velodyne Sub has the pop on power up too. What concerns me about your case is the fact that it's random and that only one speaker sometimes does it. It has to be the amp I would think. Ask Anthem, but make sure to tell them it's random.

 

[JackS]

One question- Does the pop occur even if you power up your receiver or pre first? If it doesn't, any devise that would provide a slight delay may work. You might try posing this same question to the amp maker or a trusted dealer for any recommendation.

 

[JohnSer]

Many amps make a start-up noise, when powered on. This is primarily caused by the PS caps charging and the amp not having an output relay delay turn-on, like what most receivers have. The noise also changes with speaker types. Sometimes you just see cone movement and no audible noise. I have seen different power-up behavior, with my adcom 545IIs. One will move the woofer cone in one direction, and then recenter, no popping noise. The other produces just a slight back and forth movement of the cone, with just the slightest pop. As the tech said, its normal, not to worry about it.