Problem with Temple Audio Bantam Gold amp

[dave2010]

I recently moved most of my kit to another room for demo purposes.

More recently I moved the kit back to the original room. Before finally putting the speakers back into position I thought I'd check it's still working.
The configuration should be: Marantz CD player -> Beresford Caiman -> Temple Audio Bantam Gold-> loudspeakers.

The system had been working fine in the room it was moved from.

I tried to listen to a CD, but after a minute or so it cut out. I started looking at the CD player, but it seemed to still be working. I tried it with headphones plugged direct into the CD player, and that seems to be working. I tried switching the CDs - but that didn't make any difference.

Then I tried the analogue output of the CD player direct to the Bantam. Again it cuts out after a while.

I tried the digital output of the CD player to the Caiman, and listened to the Caiman on headphones (my model has a headphone output) - and that seems to be working OK. This seems to exonerate the CD player and the Caiman.

It seems that the Bantam Gold amp is now cutting out after about a minute once it starts to play. I'm inclined to check the wiring a bit more, but is this a fault type which is known about? Normally I expect kit to either work - or not, but this is not that type of fault.

At least I'm hoping that I really didn't need to shake the CD player (I didn't!) which would have been one option if I'd thought the CD or player was the source of the problem.

Suggestions?

[mossy]

I have a Bantam and a Caiman......I also have a cutting out problem but I suspect the Caiman, cycling between sources makes it work again for a short while.

[dave2010]

I think I'm going to have to test the set up with different speakers and speaker wire. I thought the problem might be due to a possible short at one of the speaker terminations, though I'm not sure that has been the case. It does seem odd that the amp will work for about a minute, then cut out.

I have other amps too, so I may have to swap them in. This is getting a bit tedious - all I wanted was to listen to one or two CDs, but now I've got a fault checking project instead! Perhaps I'll be a while.

[dave2010]

Curious. I put my old Rotel amp back in for a while, and initially it didn't seem to be working too well, then suddently the RH channel leapt back into life. After that I tried the Bantam again, and it is now working. I think there is some odd wiring, which has been disturbed by the movements of the kit. Part of the problem is that there is a length of wire which goes behind a couple of bookcases, and in order to move stuff a cable break has been inserted, and this is reconnected to other cable when the speakers are moved, and when the speakers come back the cable is rejoined. There may still be a potential problem, but it's working now and amps and DACs have now been moved off the living room floor to cosmetically neater locations.

[walpurgis]

Be very careful with suspect speaker wiring. If you have a short anywhere it could fry the amp.

[dave2010]

Be very careful with suspect speaker wiring. If you have a short anywhere it could fry the amp.Thanks, though hopefully it hasn't, and won't. I can't remember which types of amps have this as an issue - aren't some protected, and some may not like open circuits? It may depend on the design. I could be wrong, though. Maybe all are susceptible to damage under the circumstances you mention.

[walpurgis]

There are a few amps that tolerate a short circuit, but it's best to avoid having it happen.

[Puffin]

If the Temple uses the Tripath TA2024 chip they "release the magic smoke that makes all electronics work" if you touch the speaker connections together when they are on. Bye Bye Amp.

[danilo]

Ahhh thank you. was wondering what a "temple" amp was.
UK seems as the nursery for Cottage Audio gear.
Ditto on the Tripath chip fragility.
I've killed a ta2020 chip as well by tripping over it's speaker wire .. Grrrr.
Shame as it was an Amp 6 one too.. surprisingly good for a 50$ amp. Not found a TA chip equal since.
In my searchings.. I had a couple as DOA.. right out of their packagings, while two others 'lost' a channel within the hour.
None had even remotely similar sounds to the Genuine TA chip in the Amp 6.
Not surprising as Tripath closed it's doors in '06 and ALL Tripath chips .. ten years later..are cheap ass badly made clones.

[dave2010]

Here is the Temple web site - http://www.templeaudio.net/

The Bantam Gold is a pretty good amp, IMO - though there may well be others which are better - but perhaps at much higher prices.

For domestic use it probably goes loud enough for most people. There are two modes - the lower volume mode has less distortaion, but many may find even the higher volume mode acceptable. Switching between modes is effected by holding the on-off button for an extended period. There is no indication which mode it is in, so there is a small trial and error process to set it up and/or change volume modes.

Where it seems to score is in the smoothness of the treble and upper ranges. Some people might prefer amplifiers with more bass, though a lot would depend which speakers are connected. This might not be the best amp if high volumes are required in very large rooms or open spaces, but it's not really meant for such environments. Doubling up, for example using the mono blocks could give greater power, but real power freaks might want to look elsewhere.

According to this page - http://www.templeaudio.net/bantam.html - the Bantam uses the TA2024c chip.

It doesn't seem that I fried or smoked out my amp, and I enjoyed the CDs I played yesterday. However, I will watch out for wiring problems, and hope that I don't ruin the amp accidentally in the future.