Damaged Krell Showcase 7 getting repaired now :)

Talley said:

Been awhile but I've been swamped. Enjoying lots of movies though. For those that remember I had issues with the channels going out in my Showcase 7 amp where distortion was taking place. I went to Indiana to enjoy some family time and took the amp with me and dropped it off with my uncle who is an audiophile nutcase and has connections.

Well the capacitors on the main board that feed the channels of somesort is what the guy just told me over the phone and he said the 45microfarad caps need replacing so he's gonna do that and verify everything else and total bill is $115 plus return shipping (I drove the amp to my uncle).

Just to think Krell quoted me 6-800.

Looks like I'll have to decide krell vs Emotiva once again

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When you buy a exotic car the repairs are always much more than an economy car...luckily you had a way to get it repaired properly other than going to Krell. :T

Talley wrote:

Looks like I'll have to decide krell vs Emotiva once again

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Boy that's tough! I feel your pain. How will you ever decide. :smile: Maybe use the Krell for the front stage & the Emotive for the rest.

Talley said:

Been awhile but I've been swamped. Enjoying lots of movies though. For those that remember I had issues with the channels going out in my Showcase 7 amp where distortion was taking place. I went to Indiana to enjoy some family time and took the amp with me and dropped it off with my uncle who is an audiophile nutcase and has connections.

(I drove the amp to my uncle) ...

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So... this uncle of yours does really exist ! Humm !:blink: (hihi, just kidding)

Nice that your dad knew somebody in the business. Reads like it needed that repair & is now preforming back to specs. So how do you think it got heat damaged. I assume you will have to improve its airflow to prevent it from happening again. Makes me wonder about my rack!

Good to hear from you Talley!

Tonto said:

Nice that your dad knew somebody in the business. Reads like it needed that repair & is now preforming back to specs. So how do you think it got heat damaged. I assume you will have to improve its airflow to prevent it from happening again. Makes me wonder about my rack!

Good to hear from you Talley!

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The Krell showcase is a different design than most multichannel amps. The krell has a class A input, pre-driver, and driver stages so that area operates hotter. Much hotter. The Emotiva does get warm but to my infared onto the sinks is only in the 125f range. The krell runs into the 165f range.

This is about all I know. It's one hot running amp. The tech told me this is the only common problem with the Showcase amps... it's the heat... because when you turn the amp off it just mutes the channels output to my understanding but the amp is still ON and since it's pre driver circuits are class A they are running full speed ahead non stop. His recommendation was for me to physically unplug from the wall when not in use.

anyone looking for a XPA-7?

Are you considering an external fan to help with cooling? I could see a small squirrel cage with some 4" flex tubing blowing right into that beast. That would do it I bet.

couple of small fans should work good. and unplugging the unit from the wall during non use. My uncle says amp should last 20+ years doing this.