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New-ish to me amp dilemma


mprowland

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I recently purchased a used Outlaw 7500 off a popular used gear site that appeared to be in great shape. The previous owner said the amp was in perfect working order and was dead silent. Long story short, the "Left" and "Right" channels are far from silent and there is no going back to the original owner I can easily hear floor noise from 13 ft. away(the other 3 channels can only be heard from 1 ft. away) Shipping for 92lbs. from Michigan to Outlaw and back is around $300-400, plus at least $250 to fix the amp. I don't know if it's worth an additional $650 ON TOP of what I already paid. I love the sound of the amp, just can't handle the floor noise. Would this money be better used buying the lesser 5000X even at less power? The amp is driving Klipsch RF-7ii, RC-64ii and RS-3 surrounds. On paper, I know I don't need the extra power but I can hear a difference when it is there. Does anyone know of a place that can repair this in the Midwest? Also, does anyone know where I can get Outlaw/ATI schematics? I'm fairly handy with electronics and can probably fix this myself. Thanks again for your help...

 

 

 

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I'm using a Denon AVR x-3300w.  I've swapped cables every which way.  The 2 channels are loud with nothing in the inputs.  They're still loud even with the input RCAs shorted.  The other 3 are quiet.  The video probably shows it better than what I can describe.

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So just the amp connected to your speakers causes the hiss, L and R channels only on a 5 channel amp?  Sounds like some service is needed on that amp. Definitely need to find someone close enough to deliver it, shipping it might have caused the problem. You close to Detroit?

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After listening to your video I agree, the noise is way too loud.  Unacceptable.

 

I'm not the expert in such things but it doesn't sound like a high ground noise which I usually think of as hiss.  It sounds like static.

 

Is there an Outlaw Users Group somewhere?  I doubt you're the first one to have this problem, so maybe someone out there has a fix or a solution.

+++

The owner's manual address hum and noise:

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/116495/Outlaw-7500.html?page=9

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When you say "floor noise,"  are you talking hum or a hiss?   The amp could also just be more susceptible to ground noise.  Try putting a cheater plug on the power cord and see if it goes away, to test that possibility.  Just realized you posted a vid. Hiss it is.

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I did a quick search for "Outlaw 7500 noise problems."  Most users don't describe the noise as the more typical hum or hiss, but as a buzz.  This seems to be characteristic of the 7500 and 7700,  I didn't see a solution except to sell the amp.

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27 minutes ago, Ceptorman said:

Does it increase with volume?

He posted a short video just upstream ^^^.  You might have missed it.

 

As a test he by-passed the pre/pro and plugged the speakers directly into the amp and turned it on.  I think it sounds like static but I don't know what that means, and I don't know if that noise is typical for this amp. It might be.

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Thanks for all the replies!  I've tried a cheater plug, didn't make a difference.  I have no doubt that the problem only lies in these two channels.  The other 3 are almost silent.  I've swapped cables every which way to rule out or confirm the problem channels.  The amp sounds great,  the hiss does not get louder....only at zero volume do I hear it.  I just have a hard time listening to that "hiss".  My dilemma now is...do I spend roughly $600 to get this fixed and I'll have a nice 200wpc amp to drive my RF-7iis, or do I spend around $850 for a new with warranty 5000x amp at 120wpc?  If I buy the new amp, I'm still stuck with a 80lb brick that may be hard to sell.  I wouldn't be able to consciously sell this amp as a "good working amp".  I would take a HUGE loss selling as is.  Thanks again...

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57 minutes ago, mprowland said:

Thanks for all the replies!  I've tried a cheater plug, didn't make a difference.  I have no doubt that the problem only lies in these two channels.  The other 3 are almost silent.  I've swapped cables every which way to rule out or confirm the problem channels.  The amp sounds great,  the hiss does not get louder....only at zero volume do I hear it.  I just have a hard time listening to that "hiss".  My dilemma now is...do I spend roughly $600 to get this fixed and I'll have a nice 200wpc amp to drive my RF-7iis, or do I spend around $850 for a new with warranty 5000x amp at 120wpc?  If I buy the new amp, I'm still stuck with a 80lb brick that may be hard to sell.  I wouldn't be able to consciously sell this amp as a "good working amp".  I would take a HUGE loss selling as is.  Thanks again...

A couple of things you could try first.  If the original seller stated in his ad that the amp was dead silent, then I would first fire off an email to the guy, stating that you feel misled and see how he replies.  If he values good feedback and also being thought of an an honest seller, he may either take it back or offer you a partial refund.  If not,  put it back up for sale, stating that you hear a hiss on your speakers, otherwise sounds great and drop the price a hundred bucks or so from what you paid.     A thing worth noting is that your speakers are very efficient.  That hiss might be much less pronounced on a lesser efficient pair.  See if anyone bites and go from there.    

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51 minutes ago, mprowland said:

I have no doubt that the problem only lies in these two channels.  The other 3 are almost silent. 

Absolutely an issue in the amp.  I'd contact the seller as well.

 

 

On a long shot, if those 2 channels are fused you might pull them and clean the ends to see if that helps.

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18 minutes ago, Shiva said:

A couple of things you could try first.  If the original seller stated in his ad that the amp was dead silent, then I would first fire off an email to the guy, stating that you feel misled and see how he replies.  If he values good feedback and also being thought of an an honest seller, he may either take it back or offer you a partial refund.  If not,  put it back up for sale, stating that you hear a hiss on your speakers, otherwise sounds great and drop the price a hundred bucks or so from what you paid.     A thing worth noting is that your speakers are very efficient.  That hiss might be much less pronounced on a lesser efficient pair.  See if anyone bites and go from there.    

I went down this road.  His speakers sounded clean because they have a sensitivity of 86 db.  We went round and round, ultimately I'm stuck with it.  I'll hook it up to some other non efficient speakers I have have lying around.  If they sound decent with them, I'll probably just relist the amp.  If not, the question becomes, do I fix or do I take a loss and buy new?  We shall see?  Thanks for your input!!!

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14 minutes ago, CECAA850 said:

Absolutely an issue in the amp.  I'd contact the seller as well.

 

 

On a long shot, if those 2 channels are fused you might pull them and clean the ends to see if that helps.

I contacted Outlaw.  They seem to think the bias has been degraded on the input transistors.  They believe it's from swapping RCA/XLR cables without powering down the unit.  They won't tell me which transistors though, I'd like to swap them out myself.

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3 hours ago, wvu80 said:

He posted a short video just upstream ^^^.  You might have missed it.

 

As a test he by-passed the pre/pro and plugged the speakers directly into the amp and turned it on.  I think it sounds like static but I don't know what that means, and I don't know if that noise is typical for this amp. It might be.

Yes I watched it a couple times, but it wasn't hooked up to any source, so no input or volume control. That's why I asked if the noise increased with volume. I'm sure he had it connected to a pre at some point.

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