repair quote from MA vsDIY.. what would you do?

413x · 16 Jan 2013 at 01:09

so my sub broke the other week, got a continuous buzz.

after contacting MA they have quoted me

£150 for part only.. i fit

225 for me to ship it and get it repaired.

its quite a price difference..what would you do?

Kei · 16 Jan 2013 at 10:13

I'd diy it any day, but I have a good idea on what I'm doing and I can solder. (That meaning I'd find the fault and fix it with my own parts as it would be even cheaper again)

413x · 16 Jan 2013 at 13:10

Kei said:
I'd diy it any day, but I have a good idea on what I'm doing and I can solder. (That meaning I'd find the fault and fix it with my own parts as it would be even cheaper again)

I can do basic soldering (i haven't had much practice)
the 225 is a bit of a wincing price. I'd love to be able to diagnose myself. What would it involve? Guess there's no harm trying

kidloco · 16 Jan 2013 at 14:12

Be interesting to know what part they are saying it is. My Mission M6AS has had a noticeable constant hum for years. Always put it down to the dodgy electrics where I used to live, but it still does it in the house I recently moved to. Its nothing its connected to as it will make the noise when not connected to anything other then power.

Wont be a problem for much longer. My new Monolith is due to arrive today :cool:

Still would like to fix the Mission so I could sell it on.

413x · 16 Jan 2013 at 14:18

Whole new amp unit so they say

kidloco · 16 Jan 2013 at 14:45

al4x said:
Whole new amp unit so they say

crap, no quick fix then. Easy to swap yourself though mate. Its only a few screw to whip off the old one and replace it.

413x · 16 Jan 2013 at 16:19

kidloco said:
crap, no quick fix then. Easy to swap yourself though mate. Its only a few screw to whip off the old one and replace it.

Sounds good, didn't know if there was any complex soldering.

gitbags · 16 Jan 2013 at 16:35

If the back panel of the sub is all in one just pop it off and have a quick look. You'll soon be able to spot whether or not they've soldered the speaker wire to the board or have just used some form of connector.

Kei · 16 Jan 2013 at 16:45

Buzzing/hum will be a problem associated with the transformer. If the noise is coming from the woofer and gets louder quieter as you adjust the gain, it's being picked up by the amplifier. (more than likely capacitor related) If it's coming from the amp itself, it'll probably be the transformer or the laminations on it vibrating the plate. You can either tighten the bolts holding it in place or apply clear varnish to the laminations. (like they do to fix buzzing/whining gfx cards)

413x · 16 Jan 2013 at 21:43

OK, I just went to turn the sub on to make sure what was wrong was indeed what i had described (been off since December) and it no longer makes the buzz! What gives?

gitbags · 16 Jan 2013 at 23:55

give it time to warm up, see if the problem returns. If it is the transformer like kei suggested, the cold may of caused the laminations to contract stopping the buzz. The mains conditioner at work (1980's vintage) has a similar issue and gets louder as the day goes on.

413x · 17 Jan 2013 at 12:05

gitbags said:
give it time to warm up, see if the problem returns. If it is the transformer like kei suggested, the cold may of caused the laminations to contract stopping the buzz. The mains conditioner at work (1980's vintage) has a similar issue and gets louder as the day goes on.

It was on for 2 hours, no problems. I'll keep an eye on it. Definitely seems fixable if it's something like this