Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Audio URGENT!! I THINK I F'D UP MY McINTOSH AMP!!!

I swapped my Peerless midbass drivers for some Morel's I have,,,and i am playing music w/o much drama, when all of a sudden, sound cuts out, and smell of smoke,,,,I open the trunk and there was a puff of smoke, and the Powerguard light was on!!

Isnt the powerguard supposed to prevent things from going in smoke? The gain is set half way,,

The sucker was very hot to the touch...

Now,,,should I let it cool and try to see if it starts up, or should I just disconnect and send to McIntosh or my local repairman (who is quite good and will fix it for free)

What could have happened to this amp? i wasnt going very loud...!!!

DARN IT!!!!!!!

Send it in, if there was smoke something burned up! What kind of load are you running on each channel impeadence wise?

Wow White, I just looked at your pics of your system. Are you mounting your amps upside down? Shame on you!

Something must have been wired improperly, did you wire it or have a shop do it? A Mac should not just blow up like that. Have you run it before this applicaton or was it the first time you've used it? This is a terrible thing!

Hang a board from your rear dash amd mount the amps on it too.

well,,,on each channel it was running a 4 ohm vifa tweeter and a 4 ohm morel midbass.

It is upside down, and I told the guy who installed it that that is highly debated to be an amp killer...He said that in all his years, he has never seen an amp fail that he had installed that way. I told him that if something fails,,I will be back. They are cool and I hope they will pay to replace. I should have never allowed that install to stay as it was. I think I will turn that shelve around, and used thread rods to mount everything right side up next time. But everything was running fine till today.

Also,,the unit has a 30 day warranty from Audio Classics, LTD.

These guys have been doing quality installs for years, and I trusted their judgement,,,I should have followed my own,,damn it!

Ditto.

Some amps fry from upside down mounting, some don't.

It depends on how the amp is set up internally for heat dissipation, how much heat the amp produces (some much, much more than others), and your load (lower impedence load = more heat produced).

Sorry to hear 'bout your "loss", though. Luckily, you've got some ways to get it replaced.

Oh yeah, you've also got 3X the heat buildup up in the top of your trunk than with just a single amp. Even with mounting them right-side-up, I'd seriously consider some auxillery cooling (like a few 12V fans).

Cooler = less distortion = better sound

Man,,,I am one pissed off tennis pro..people were getting out of my way at Home Depot. I got so annoyed, I went and bought three MDF shelves 13" x12", 4 threaded rods (5/16"), hacksaw to chope'em, 3M adhesive spray, and carpeting for the shelves, plus washers and nuts.

BUT, I think that guy owes me building the 3 shelve rack with at least my materials. I cant believe i let this happen. I hope the McIntosh dealer comes thru. Or should I give it to my friend electronic tech...because its faster...I hate to not have it for too long..

Man,,,I am one pissed off tennis pro..people were getting out of my way at Home Depot. I got so annoyed, I went and bought three MDF shelves 13" x12", 4 threaded rods (5/16"), hacksaw to chope'em, 3M adhesive spray, and carpeting for the shelves, plus washers and nuts.

BUT, I think that guy owes me building the 3 shelve rack with at least my materials. I cant believe i let this happen. I hope the McIntosh dealer comes thru. Or should I give it to my friend electronic tech...because its faster...I hate to not have it for too long..

sounds like a heat problem. take it back to the installer. if they assured you it was not going to blow, and it did, then they pay for it.