I should have followed up—I had my THIRD amp module blow about 4 months back. As before they were quick to swap it out for me but this time the blown one was definitely last year’s replacement; the “reconditioned one with improved wiring”. Like everyone I love my T2’s but this is sad business.Sometimes I wonder if I should stock up an an extra amp or 2 for the “if and when”, particularly as no one can guarantee how long they will be available for.

FWIW this one appeared new and not scuffed up like last year’s replacement was, however the wiring was shorter and I had a bear of a time making the final connection. I did give them feedback on that.

Hi Everybody,

It has been a long time since I posted here, but I've been watching the comments with interest.

I have a pair of TRefs, and I did have an amp failure a few years ago and replaced it (kind of like doing brain surgery on your first born, stressful but doable). GE was very supportive, and I appreciate that.

But here's something different. A couple of months ago I noticed that the bass seems to be one sided, mostly left channel, which is where the replacement amp is. Hmm. I checked the sub amp level controls, and both were set to 12 o'clock. Then I got out my trusty sound pressure meter and put on a 31.5 Hz warble test tone from one of the Stereophile test CDs. I turned up the level a bit to get it above the background noise level of my room. I was careful to keep the level high enough to measure but low enought to not overtax the speakers. I put the meter next to the left speaker near the middle of the inside passive radiator, about an inch away, and took a reading. I repeated the measurement on the inside radiator of the right speaker.

The levels were very different, with the right speaker (original amp) far below the left (replacement amp). That explained the off balance bass I had been hearing. So I turned up the level of the right amp until the measurements agreed. While adjusting the right speaker amp, I could hear a clear sudden jump in level at one position. So it looks like something is wrong on that side.

After getting the sound pressures to agree, I listened to some music for a couple of days and decided that I had too much bass. So I played the 31.5 Hz warble tone again and adjusted both amps to a lower level, making sure the left and right radiator levels agreed.

This may be a new problem, but maybe not. I had always assumed that the sub amps had the same output level, but I had never actually measured them. I'm sure they use the same component values, so they should be the same. You'd think.

Based on what I learned, I suggest that you use a meter to confirm that the sub levels are the same. My relatively cheap meter cost around $30 or so at Amazon a few years ago, but you don't need a really accurate meter to do this simple test. I picked 31.5 Hz because that's below what I understand is the 80 Hz crossover frequency. I wanted most of the energy to be coming from the bass and radiator drivers.

Charlie

I pray every day I never have any audio related issue.

There is simply no reason for all these amps that GoldenEar uses to fail like they do - over and over, multiple times.

I still have my Infinity Interludes - two pairs - all with built-in subs and amps.

Probably one of the last best speakers Infinity made before they started making the cheap ones.

I have had them for over 20 years - use them often - and have NEVER had any problems with the amps.

charliehatch wrote:

Hi Everybody,

It has been a long time since I posted here, but I've been watching the comments with interest.

I have a pair of TRefs, and I did have an amp failure a few years ago and replaced it (kind of like doing brain surgery on your first born, stressful but doable). GE was very supportive, and I appreciate that.

But here's something different. A couple of months ago I noticed that the bass seems to be one sided, mostly left channel, which is where the replacement amp is. Hmm. I checked the sub amp level controls, and both were set to 12 o'clock. Then I got out my trusty sound pressure meter and put on a 31.5 Hz warble test tone from one of the Stereophile test CDs. I turned up the level a bit to get it above the background noise level of my room. I was careful to keep the level high enough to measure but low enought to not overtax the speakers. I put the meter next to the left speaker near the middle of the inside passive radiator, about an inch away, and took a reading. I repeated the measurement on the inside radiator of the right speaker.

The levels were very different, with the right speaker (original amp) far below the left (replacement amp). That explained the off balance bass I had been hearing. So I turned up the level of the right amp until the measurements agreed. While adjusting the right speaker amp, I could hear a clear sudden jump in level at one position. So it looks like something is wrong on that side.

After getting the sound pressures to agree, I listened to some music for a couple of days and decided that I had too much bass. So I played the 31.5 Hz warble tone again and adjusted both amps to a lower level, making sure the left and right radiator levels agreed.

This may be a new problem, but maybe not. I had always assumed that the sub amps had the same output level, but I had never actually measured them. I'm sure they use the same component values, so they should be the same. You'd think.

Based on what I learned, I suggest that you use a meter to confirm that the sub levels are the same. My relatively cheap meter cost around $30 or so at Amazon a few years ago, but you don't need a really accurate meter to do this simple test. I picked 31.5 Hz because that's below what I understand is the 80 Hz crossover frequency. I wanted most of the energy to be coming from the bass and radiator drivers.

Charlie

I too have a strong discrepancy between the bass on my fronts but as my cedar ceiling slopes from left to right from 9’-12’ I always assumed it was likely due to that. Changing cables or swapping sides doesn’t change it so I know it must be the room acoustics. When I use my Marantz’s microphone for audio setup (Audessey 32XT or something?) it sets that sub down 9.5 dB relative to the other. If I override and put them both at zero the bass becomes overwhelming. Very likely a totally different issue than what you’re facing but still unnerves me a bit.

Well, if you swapped your speakers, then, barring some other asymmetry in your system, it must be the room.

My room is symmetric where my speakers are, so that's not an issue. The measurement technique (reasonable volume on my system and being close to the radiator) prevents room acoustics from influencing things. That way I know it's the sub amp. I should mention that even when the sub gains were mismatched, the midrange and treble were right on, with a dead center image. So it's not my streamer/DAC/monoblocks.

The nice thing about having separate sub controls is that you can set them independently for room problems. Your DSP is doing that for you. Still, that's quite a large difference!

Charlie