Carver System goes into Cardiac Arrest

Good Day,
I am new to the forum and looking to solve a problem that has cropped up in my stereo system, and maybe you can lecture me on how to hook-up or trouble shoot systems.

I have owned a Carver M-400 since the mid-80's (does not have the polarized plug). For financial reasons I did not by a Carver pre-amp until recently. The M-400 has worked flawlessly since I bought it. I purchased the adapter that converted normal receiver signals to a pre-amp signal allowing me to control the M-400 through a normal receiver. And this is the way the system has been operated for years.

I recently purchased a used Carver C-11 pre-amp. I have hooked the entire system up but it periodically starts popping, with the amplifier LEDs jumping around. I have always shut the system down quickly and looked at my connections.

FYI, I have a Sony 300 disk player, a Philips CD recorder, Nakamichi Bx-100 cassette deck, and Infinity Rx-1 (?) speakers connected to the system.

While investigating this I found that the M-400 chassis, when connected to a ground, is carrying a lot of electrical current. This is probably not normal.

Has anyone here ran into this problem and what did they do about it? I suspect I will have to send the amplifier in for repair but am confused as to why the problem cropped up when I added the C-11 pre-amplifier.

I do not have the owners manual for the C-11, though it has been ordered, maybe it will tell me what I need to know.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike Thornburg

Try running the amp with nothing into it. See if problem is there or only happens when the preamp is hooked up. It can be that the popping is coming out of the preamp driver section which will not be atenuated. Or set the system up like you has it before and see if problem returns. Most likely in the preamp.

Thanks for the response.

I continue to disconnect parts of the system trying to track down the problem. I am now convinced it only occurs when the preamp output is connect to the Philips CD recorder input (who knows what I'll blame tomorrow). Since the Carver preamp does not have a CD ouput for recording I have attached my CD recorder through the tape2 input/output. I have tried several patch cords and will go out this weekend and purchase new ones and try it again.
When everything is connected, sometimes the system will perform wonderfully all night, at other times it immediately starts popping.
The problem with the fugitive electric current seems to have gone away, or I could not reproduce it. I need to test the CD recorder for this but haven't had the time yet.

Thanks again,
M. Thornburg