Emile Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Hi All, Was hoping to get some advise/suggestions. Just got a Crown K1 amp for my KPT-904's. Had it hooked up "directly" (Onkyo RZ-810 "zone-2: direct to RCA / 1/4 inch adapters on the K1). Sound is AWESOME But of course thought I needed a preamp So, my local Record/Vintage stereo store had a Nikko Beta II preamp. Very few reviews, but most were very complimentary. Got it and hooked it up (preamp RCA to K1 1/4 inch) ... Now have a clicking sound (prob about 5 clicks/sec) and some background noise on ONE channel (left). Sound is very good if we "forget" about the clicking . Very strangely, when I turn the preamp "off," the clicking noise goes to the OTHER channel (right). I have NO CLUE Ordered some RCA to XLR cables to see if (pseudo) balanced cables would solve this. Haha; had to order these cables anyhow because (of course) the cheap 1/4 inch connector broke and now the "tip" is stuck inside the Crown K1 - hope that does not cause a problem - or maybe the clicking came from the 1/4 connector going bad. Just tried the Nikko Beta II preamp in my seperate stereo room. Very clean; no noise and no clicking at all. Help Thanks a lot, Emile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shiva Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 If you turn the gain knobs on the Crown while it is on, do you hear any scratchy, staticky sounds? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEH Synergy Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 1 minute ago, Shiva said: If you turn the gain knobs on the Crown while it is on, do you hear any scratchy, staticky sounds? Indicative of a need for deoxit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emile Posted February 3, 2019 Author Share Posted February 3, 2019 4 minutes ago, Shiva said: If you turn the gain knobs on the Crown while it is on, do you hear any scratchy, staticky sounds? Nothing ... clean as a whistle Think it might have been the connector going bad ... had them "stressed" a bit with the RCA cable and one just popped apart last time I took the plug off ... and of course the tip is still "inside" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shiva Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 Just now, Emile said: Nothing ... clean as a whistle Well, that is good to hear, though that was the first and only idea I had. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emile Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 18 hours ago, Emile said: Think it might have been the connector going bad ... had them "stressed" a bit with the RCA cable and one just popped apart last time I took the plug off ... and of course the tip is still "inside" Nah ... would have been on the "other" channel OK; obviously still looking for advise Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave A Posted February 4, 2019 Share Posted February 4, 2019 That clicking noise is the count down to doom clock that comes with all old electronics 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emile Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emile Posted February 9, 2019 Author Share Posted February 9, 2019 Update and maybe some info for whomever Changed to RCA/XLR cables. No more clicking ... no clue, but it seems the problem went away Celebrating with a glass of wine ... it's 5pm in Bermuda 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emile Posted February 10, 2019 Author Share Posted February 10, 2019 Haha; love the K1 so much, just bought an XLS 402 ... 300wps at 8 ohms. Going to try it with a set of Epic CF-3's ... if this darned seller comes through Send him 3 "page size" emails ... all I got sofar by email from him is "walnut; 2.5" ports." Yesterday hooked up my Music Hall TT via a Nikko Beta II preamp to the Crown K1 and my KPT-904's. Never heard my TT that good Cheers, Emile 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Good to hear. So you are in process of helping to debunk that pro amps suck... (limiting my comment to the K series) How are you digging it's FAN NOISE!!!!!???????? WHAT? I can't HEAR you!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emile Posted February 10, 2019 Author Share Posted February 10, 2019 16 minutes ago, Coytee said: How are you digging it's FAN NOISE!!!!!???????? WHAT? I can't HEAR you!! Simple solution Couple of glasses of wine, then turn it up to 100+ dB's ... haha; "what fan noise." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emile Posted February 11, 2019 Author Share Posted February 11, 2019 18 hours ago, Emile said: just bought an XLS 402 ... 300wps at 8 ohms. Going to try it with a set of Epic CF-3's ... if this darned seller comes through Well ???? Yes; bought an XLS 402 from offerup. Haha; just got a message with "seller canceled." Next found out the CF3's I was looking at are "version 3" ... the bad ones in the series Going to start on the wine early today probably at 4pm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEH Synergy Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 2 minutes ago, Emile said: Going to start on the wine early today probably at 4pm Gonna join secretly from a distance. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANT Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 Nikki Beta II is an awesome pre! I have 2 and both have been completely refurbished! The Beta 40 is also very nice if you see one! Had multiple Crown amps and never enjoyed any of them with my various Klipsch... you could check out a Nikki Alpha II but everyone I’ve seen recently needs extensive work... if you really think you need the wattage there is also the 440/450 though the internal wiring on the odd series (230/450) isn’t quite as good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heritage_Head Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 On 2/3/2019 at 3:39 PM, Emile said: Hi All, Was hoping to get some advise/suggestions. Just got a Crown K1 amp for my KPT-904's. Had it hooked up "directly" (Onkyo RZ-810 "zone-2: direct to RCA / 1/4 inch adapters on the K1). Sound is AWESOME But of course thought I needed a preamp So, my local Record/Vintage stereo store had a Nikko Beta II preamp. Very few reviews, but most were very complimentary. Got it and hooked it up (preamp RCA to K1 1/4 inch) ... Now have a clicking sound (prob about 5 clicks/sec) and some background noise on ONE channel (left). Sound is very good if we "forget" about the clicking . Very strangely, when I turn the preamp "off," the clicking noise goes to the OTHER channel (right). I have NO CLUE Ordered some RCA to XLR cables to see if (pseudo) balanced cables would solve this. Haha; had to order these cables anyhow because (of course) the cheap 1/4 inch connector broke and now the "tip" is stuck inside the Crown K1 - hope that does not cause a problem - or maybe the clicking came from the 1/4 connector going bad. Just tried the Nikko Beta II preamp in my seperate stereo room. Very clean; no noise and no clicking at all. Help Thanks a lot, Emile Gonna need my 904s back man. You knew it was just a lease right? 😉 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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