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Post by saru on Mar 15, 2017 6:24:21 GMT -5
Yesterday, I got to do some unscheduled telework due to the snowstorm, so I powered up the 2ch office system in the morning to whistle while I worked, as it were. So I'd been playing music at low levels for most of the day... note that my desk is not in the prime listening spot for my speakers, but off to the side and close to the left channel speaker. Not ideal for listening at my desk but it's still sounds great for background listening.
Anyway, my shift ended and I wanted to crank up the tunes for a little bit, so I jumped over to my listening chair -- which IS in the prime listening spot, equidistant from both speakers -- and turned it up. And that's when I noticed that the soundstage was shifted over to the left. I thought I'd fixed this issue earlier, as I mentioned in a previous thread. So I paused the music, put the XSP-1 into standby, brought it back up, and the problem persisted. I also tried switching off the XPA-1Ls (which are now sitting outside my component cabinet), powered the back on after a minute, and the problem still remained. Finally I switched off all three units (including toggling the switch in the rear), brought them back up... and then the soundstage had been restored to its rightful place.
So what's the deal with my shifting soundstage? It definitely seems to be hardware related, since power-cycling was able to fix it.
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Post by Axis on Mar 15, 2017 6:27:29 GMT -5
For best results this may need a call to Emotiva tech support.  |
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Post by brutiarti on Mar 15, 2017 6:54:30 GMT -5
Next time try switching L and R to verify a hardware issue.
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Post by saru on Mar 15, 2017 6:56:25 GMT -5
Probably. I'm just hoping to identify "easy fix" solutions by asking you guys first before I call up the good folks in Franklin.
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Post by saru on Mar 15, 2017 7:00:08 GMT -5
Next time try switching L and R to verify a hardware issue. The thought crossed my mind yesterday, but the issue went away before I had a chance to do the swap. I should do this before I power up the system next time and see if the soundstage moves toward the right. |
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klinemj
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Post by klinemj on Mar 15, 2017 8:46:34 GMT -5
I would first check all cables for obvious damage and loose connections. Then, if a problem persists, start swapping speakers, then amps, then L/R connections from amp to preamp. The issue could be anywhere in the chain.
Mark
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Post by novisnick on Mar 15, 2017 8:48:10 GMT -5
Yesterday, I got to do some unscheduled telework due to the snowstorm, so I powered up the 2ch office system in the morning to whistle while I worked, as it were. So I'd been playing music at low levels for most of the day... note that my desk is not in the prime listening spot for my speakers, but off to the side and close to the left channel speaker. Not ideal for listening at my desk but it's still sounds great for background listening. Anyway, my shift ended and I wanted to crank up the tunes for a little bit, so I jumped over to my listening chair -- which IS in the prime listening spot, equidistant from both speakers -- and turned it up. And that's when I noticed that the soundstage was shifted over to the left. I thought I'd fixed this issue earlier, as I mentioned in a previous thread. So I paused the music, put the XSP-1 into standby, brought it back up, and the problem persisted. I also tried switching off the XPA-1Ls (which are now sitting outside my component cabinet), powered the back on after a minute, and the problem still remained. Finally I switched off all three units (including toggling the switch in the rear), brought them back up... and then the soundstage had been restored to its rightful place. So what's the deal with my shifting soundstage? It definitely seems to be hardware related, since power-cycling was able to fix it. First, im glad you had a good day "at work"! Most likely a cable or speaker wire problem. My desk is in a similar position, Id be sitting directly in front of the right speaker. To solve this unbalanced problem I fire up the C220 preamp and dial the balance over to the left. I love having this feature!! Have a great day.  |
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Lonnie
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admin
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Post by Lonnie on Mar 15, 2017 9:02:30 GMT -5
Neither the XSP or the XPA-1L's should cause this, but stranger things have happened.
The next time it happens, I would take a methodical approach to this and that will determine the root cause.
First, try cycling each unit by putting it in standby and turning it back on again. Do one piece at a time. If the problem remains. Then swap speaker wires and see if the image shifts to the other side. If it doesn't, then the issue is in the speakers. If it does, then put the speaker wires back where they were. Swap the RCAs or XLRs right at the amplifiers. If the image moves, then its not the amps. If the image moves, then put them back the way they were and swap them right at the XSP and see what the result is. If it moves then the cables are fine. Then swap the input cables to the XSP and see what happens. If it moves, then the XSP is fine. Then swap the input cables right at the source. If it moves then those cables are fine and the source is the issue.
Don't skip any of the steps or else your findings are meaningless.
Good luck.
Lonnie
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Post by Axis on Mar 15, 2017 9:26:29 GMT -5
Or Lonnie can give you Emotiva tech support right here. |
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Post by foggy1956 on Mar 15, 2017 9:33:39 GMT -5
Neither the XSP or the XPA-1L's should cause this, but stranger things have happened. The next time it happens, I would take a methodical approach to this and that will determine the root cause. First, try cycling each unit by putting it in standby and turning it back on again. Do one piece at a time. If the problem remains. Then swap speaker wires and see if the image shifts to the other side. If it doesn't, then the issue is in the speakers. If it does, then put the speaker wires back where they were. Swap the RCAs or XLRs right at the amplifiers. If the image moves, then its not the amps. If the image moves, then put them back the way they were and swap them right at the XSP and see what the result is. If it moves then the cables are fine. Then swap the input cables to the XSP and see what happens. If it moves, then the XSP is fine. Then swap the input cables right at the source. If it moves then those cables are fine and the source is the issue. Don't skip any of the steps or else your findings are meaningless. Good luck. Lonnie Lonnie, I have the same symptoms with my xmc-1, however, only with dirac engaged. Have been working with Damon on it. All hardware has been flipped and flopped. Damon said he has seen this behavior but it seems to be a one in a million occurrence. It is stable at the moment, but who knows? |
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Post by saru on Mar 15, 2017 9:57:16 GMT -5
First, im glad you had a good day "at work"! Most likely a cable or speaker wire problem. My desk is in a similar position, Id be sitting directly in front of the right speaker. To solve this unbalanced problem I fire up the C220 preamp and dial the balance over to the left. I love having this feature!! Have a great day. I know that's the common joke, but I actually get more work done at home where I can focus without the typical office distractions. Plus not having to get up at 4:30 in the morning and spend 3 hours in the car goes a long way toward a good work-life balance. |
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Post by saru on Mar 15, 2017 10:00:50 GMT -5
Neither the XSP or the XPA-1L's should cause this, but stranger things have happened. The next time it happens, I would take a methodical approach to this and that will determine the root cause. First, try cycling each unit by putting it in standby and turning it back on again. Do one piece at a time. If the problem remains. Then swap speaker wires and see if the image shifts to the other side. If it doesn't, then the issue is in the speakers. If it does, then put the speaker wires back where they were. Swap the RCAs or XLRs right at the amplifiers. If the image moves, then its not the amps. If the image moves, then put them back the way they were and swap them right at the XSP and see what the result is. If it moves then the cables are fine. Then swap the input cables to the XSP and see what happens. If it moves, then the XSP is fine. Then swap the input cables right at the source. If it moves then those cables are fine and the source is the issue. Don't skip any of the steps or else your findings are meaningless. Good luck. Lonnie I'll definitely go through this checklist next time it happens. My only concern with this process is that a full power-cycle (switching off the units completely) seems to remedy the issue, and I would have to do that in order to swap around the speaker cables and interconnects. Unless it's safe for me to do this swapping while the units are in standby, but I try to avoid doing that. |
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Post by novisnick on Mar 15, 2017 10:37:06 GMT -5
First, im glad you had a good day "at work"! Most likely a cable or speaker wire problem. My desk is in a similar position, Id be sitting directly in front of the right speaker. To solve this unbalanced problem I fire up the C220 preamp and dial the balance over to the left. I love having this feature!! Have a great day. I know that's the common joke, but I actually get more work done at home where I can focus without the typical office distractions. Plus not having to get up at 4:30 in the morning and spend 3 hours in the car goes a long way toward a good work-life balance. I always get twice as much work accomplished without the distractions as well, One of the perks of living in a small town, 12-15 minutes to work, including "traffic jams"!!! LOL |
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Post by saru on Mar 15, 2017 23:59:26 GMT -5
Well, it looks like I am going to be calling up customer service tomorrow to arrange for repair on the XSP-1. When I got home this evening, I was eager to swap the speaker cables between L and R to monitor for image shifting. After reconnecting everything all nice and tight, I tried to power up the preamp from standby and... it put itself right back in standby. Had to push the front panel button and the remote button a couple times before the XSP actually switched on like normal. This had happened once or twice before, but it had always worked properly once it decided to stay on. Not so this time... I tried to play some music and got dead silence from the speakers. Checked all cable connections, made sure the amps were on, power cycled the components, still nothing. Tried switching inputs from Balanced 1 to Balanced 2, but no dice. Tried switching the speaker cables back, nothing. Occasionally when power-cycling the XSP, it would get stuck on that auto-standby loop for a while. Swapped the XLRs from preamp to the XPA-1Ls with a completely different pair, same issue persisted. I even power-cycled the entire rig (including the Mac Mini running Roon Server, microRendu as Roon Endpoint, and Gumby as DAC)... no tunes at all.
Fearing the worst, I grabbed the Audeze Deckard amp from my desktop PC and hooked it up to the stereo rig, bypassing the Gumby and XSP in the chain so that I was working with microRendu -> Deckard as DAC/preamp via USB -> XPA-1Ls via RCA -> Speakers. The result? Sweet, beautiful music! It would probably be biased for me to say this was the best I've heard the Olympicas sound, on account of my sheer elation that the speakers were NOT rendered inoperable after a mere month of ownership. But even with the nasty RCA hiss, the music driven by the Deckard was VERY nice, with none of the imaging problems I'd been experiencing with the XSP-1 lately. Which is not to say that the Deckard trumps the XSP, but it makes me wonder how long my XSP had been on a decline for the difference in SQ to be that noticeable between the two preamps.
In my haste to ensure the speakers and amps were okay with my slap-dash Deckard fix, I did make a troubleshooting error by removing the Gumby from the chain as well -- I did that mainly out of convenience. But in the pursuit of due diligence, I'm planning to take the Gumby downstairs later to plug it into the XMC-1 and make sure that it is also working fine. However, given the power-on troubles that the preamp has displayed, I'm strongly inclined to believe some hardware malfunction has befallen the XSP-1.
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klinemj
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Post by klinemj on Mar 16, 2017 5:53:30 GMT -5
Sounds like it..sorry to hear the news. The folks at Emotiva will get you fixed up though!
Mark
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andyo
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Post by andyo on Mar 16, 2017 11:48:01 GMT -5
Yesterday, I got to do some unscheduled telework due to the snowstorm, so I powered up the 2ch office system in the morning to whistle while I worked, as it were. So I'd been playing music at low levels for most of the day... note that my desk is not in the prime listening spot for my speakers, but off to the side and close to the left channel speaker. Not ideal for listening at my desk but it's still sounds great for background listening. Anyway, my shift ended and I wanted to crank up the tunes for a little bit, so I jumped over to my listening chair -- which IS in the prime listening spot, equidistant from both speakers -- and turned it up. And that's when I noticed that the soundstage was shifted over to the left. I thought I'd fixed this issue earlier, as I mentioned in a previous thread. So I paused the music, put the XSP-1 into standby, brought it back up, and the problem persisted. I also tried switching off the XPA-1Ls (which are now sitting outside my component cabinet), powered the back on after a minute, and the problem still remained. Finally I switched off all three units (including toggling the switch in the rear), brought them back up... and then the soundstage had been restored to its rightful place. So what's the deal with my shifting soundstage? It definitely seems to be hardware related, since power-cycling was able to fix it. My friend had a similar problem but his preamp is XMC-1. At that time he used Emotiva balanced cables from XMC-1 to 1L's. When we swapped the cables, the sound shifted to the other side. He bought different cables and this fixed the problem. |
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Post by saru on Mar 17, 2017 12:21:20 GMT -5
Well, my XSP-1 is on its way to Emotiva for service. The tech I spoke with seemed to know exactly what the problem was when I described the problem (the details of which went by too fast for me to catch completely -- something about a component failure leading to the unit not receiving enough voltage), so I'm hoping for a quick and easy turnaround. In the meantime, I've got the microRendu and Gumby down in the theater with the XMC-1, which was something I'd been wanting to try for a while. So, I guess that's a silver lining to having to deal with this malfunction, lol...
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Post by audiobill on Mar 17, 2017 18:36:40 GMT -5
Please expand on the component failure, this piece is too young for that.......and some diss tubes...!
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Post by saru on Apr 7, 2017 8:46:23 GMT -5
Looks like the XSP-1 has been repaired and is on its way back from Franklin. Tech support said in email that they replaced the circuit board for the power supply. I can't wait to get it back into my 2ch rig... the Deckard has been showing its limitations as my stand-in preamp, and listening down in the theater on the Motion 60XT's has not been as lively an experience as I am used to getting from the Olympicas.
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Post by saru on Apr 13, 2017 14:50:59 GMT -5
The XSP-1 is back in business! The repaired unit arrived home on Tuesday, and I managed to get it hooked back up in my office (along with all the gear that I "loaned out" to the theater system). I play-tested just enough to ensure that the preamp was functional, but largely left it alone until today. I've been playing music all day long, and the image has remained smack in the middle the whole time... no more migrating soundstage! The only issue was that the XSP did go into auto-standby the first time I tried to bring it out of standby this morning, so hopefully that's just a one-time thing and not a sign that the issue wasn't fully repaired. SQ leaves a little something to be desired, but I've only had the Gumby turned on for 48 hours since bringing it up from the theater system, so I know it needs a few more days yet to bake |
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