End of an Era

Magnaryder · Post by **Magnaryder** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 8:46 am

Several weeks ago during the first heavy snow and ice storms here in sunny Bucyrus, Ohio I was sitting at the computer reading the forum and the lights flickered in my house. A moment later they steadied then went very bright. Now we have high voltage at our place and voltage swings. It's not unusual. On this day however, when the power went up it NUKED my remaining Lightstar 2.0 and one of my CF amps. The Lightstar sounded like someone had place a pack of firecrackers in it and had lit them off. The CF amp jumped off the stand a bit as 3 power supply caps came off their solder joints.

I ran and pulled plugs but it was too late! The CFamp has no power on the high voltage side of the power transformer and the output transformers have no continuity across them. It ruined all of the power supply caps, no continuity across any of them in the CF amp.

On the bright side, the other CF amp is fine.

My insurance company is working on a settlement.

Bitch of it is I just replaced the processor in my Lightstar pre, it's a doorstop....again....GGRRRRRRRR!

ray

I want to try to buy the pieces for salvage, maybe they can be parted out to save another Lightstar. This SUCKS!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/116199683@ ... 748317895/

Zoot Horn · Post by **Zoot Horn** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 8:48 am

Damn,, bummer Ray--

kingman · Post by **kingman** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 9:26 am

Damn Ray...where did you find a new processor for the pre? I believe I'd invest in a power regulator/surge protector.

Snoop65 · Post by **Snoop65** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 11:36 am

Sorry about your amps Ray.

Magnaryder · Post by **Magnaryder** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 12:22 pm

This afternoon I'll post a link to pictures of the tragedy.

ray

http://www.flickr.com/photos/116199683@ ... 748317895/

angelod307 · Post by **angelod307** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 12:48 pm

I would be interested to see , sorry as i can be.

Chauss · Post by **Chauss** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 2:05 pm

Sorry for your loss Ray......irreplaceable- (is that even a word?)

radioeng2 · Post by **radioeng2** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 2:32 pm

Wow...sad story Ray. Hope some something better turns out with the Lightstar.

Very unusual to have an OT open. Almost never. But with it at least you can get parts and fix it up.

I would guess that a higher voltage line laid over onto another or something. That's when things can get radical. I would be worried for the other sensitive stuff in the house. Like microwaves and washers and so on. Lots of other stuff in a house are more susceptible to electrical issues than our stereo stuff is.

Let us know how the fix up goes.

Mark

frankieD · Post by **frankieD** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 4:13 pm

Ray, I'm so very sorry. I know you really loved that Lightstar.

Don't give up hope. The Bobfather may be able to help at CF14.

Magnaryder · Post by **Magnaryder** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 8:33 pm

Thanks guys! What a mess. Everything but the 3 amplifiers and my new TV were plugged into surge protection. TV wasn't on. I had the Lightstar running from the balanced outs and the CF amps running from the RCAs. Just switching back and forth playing around, listening for differences. Then Bang!!

ray

engtaz · Post by **engtaz** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 4:14 am

So sorry to hear Ray.

Magnaryder · Post by **Magnaryder** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 11:56 pm

Wednesday afternoon my first replacement piece is to arrive. It's a bit of a departure for me. Stay tuned. Pics WILL follow.

ray

fill35U · Post by **fill35U** » Wed Feb 26, 2014 12:35 am

Sorry to hear about your tragedy! I hope the insurance company took care of you.

Magnaryder · Post by **Magnaryder** » Thu Feb 27, 2014 2:18 am

fill35U wrote:Sorry to hear about your tragedy! I hope the insurance company took care of you.

I'm going to document this incident for all of you on this or another thread. It's been a fiasco. My insurance company is clueless about hi-end audio. My issues started well over a month ago, without resolution until this point. This weekend I'm taking the gear to Tom Z at Vintage Hi fi of Pittsburgh so he can evaluate the damage and give them an estimate of damages or cosat of replacement. How do you replace 2 Lightstar pieces? Beg? Borrow. Plead? I dunno. Maybe my insurance company will get it together and send this kind of claim to a reputable repair shop in the first place to streamline their claims process.

on the bright side I found a little solace when this showed up today.

Montgomery Scott on/ "There be tubes here Captain"/Scotty off

http://www.flickr.com/photos/116199683@ ... 587069563/

maybe my luck is turning around

ray

BrianT · Post by **BrianT** » Thu Feb 27, 2014 6:27 am

Ray

Sorry to hear that your insurance is f**king you around, hope it gets worked out real soon.

That EAR looks real nice all those 12AX7 PSvane tubes

Enjoy it Brian

CarverAudio.com

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