Trace Elliot Problem – Help Needed

[paganskins]

So may [url="http://bristol.gumtree.com/bristol/20/46253420.html"]stupidly cheap Trace head[/url] lasted all of half a song at it's first rehersal.

Without warning it just cut out, power and sound. Prior to this it had sounded fine both at the rehersal and at low levels in the house. The sound didn't deteriorate prior to the cutout.

However even with a very quiet drummer I had the master on 9 through a 4 x 10 and I wouldn't have expected to need to be over 5 based on trace's reputation for understimating wattage.

I thought £60 was too good to be true but does anyone have any similar experiences or suggestions to the cause?

It's in with the local PA/audio repair guy for a look over, how much would be reasonable to spend on the repair and at what point should i cut my losses cost wise?

Thanks in advance

[stingrayfan]

Sorry to hear about the dead head - we've all been there!

Does defo sound like there's something wrong with it. These heads are worth around £150, so you need to do the sums to make it worthwhile, I guess.

Stupid question - but you had the gain wound up high, yes? Almost clipping? That will have a big effect on output.

[ahpook]

they're lovely heads, so if you could get an amp tech to look at it, it may be worth it.

it's had an overhaul recently...maybe some of the work done wasn't up to spec ?

but stingrayfan has a point...it's about diminishing returns.

Edited November 25, 2009 by ahpook

[paganskins]

I've just heard back from the tech.

Apologies if I get this wrong in the retelling: It's blown the output transistor(s) and some other transistors too, I'd be looking at £120-150 to sort it and he's not too confident that there isn't an underlying problem which might go again.

Also it seems it had been modded with a variable speed on the fan (apparently for studio use) so that may have been contributory. My home made speaker lead also is under suspicion (whoops).

So I think repair isn't an option.

So far I'm out £30 on the inspection but he has offered me £50 for it as parts, is that reasonable or should I take it back and look to sell it on spares or repair for a bit more?