Cracking open a Galaxy Audio PA amp

[William Sommerwerck]

Not that clever, really. I was very depressed and suicidal for

most of my life. Recently I have been feeling better, but that's
another subject.

Welcome to the club. I have a very morbid personality. The German Requiem --
especially "All flesh is as grass" -- is my idea of light, frothy music. The
compensation is that I have a terrific sense of humor, which seems to go
with chronic depression -- qv, Brahms and Lincoln.

I would never try to talk someone out of their depression. There's often a
good reason for it, and drugs don't solve the problem.

 

[David Nebenzahl]

I feel stupid for not suggesting removing the nuts on the phone jacks. I've
seen this done sooooo many times.

Oh, so I guess that means I'm *not* a total retard, eh? Thanks for that.

I can't remember the last time I saw a phone jack that *wasn't* soldered to
a circuit card.

Me neither. Now that I've disassembled this it makes perfect sense, as
it allows the amp to be put together in a neat package with no external
wires except for the power cord.

With the 6 front-panel screws and the phone-jack nut removed, it's
actually *very* easy to disassemble. Not a hard nut to crack at all,
like so much other plastic-packaged electronics.

 

[David Nebenzahl]

Thanks for the first and only really helpful reply in this
whole damn thread.

You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. Sure enough,
removing the nut from the phone jack allowed the whole unit
to slip rather easily out of the case (I used a heavy knife
blade betwixt the case and chassis to start it).

WHAT? You did NOT do that when you removed all the screws? I
have not been reading the thread carefully ever since you
ignored my request for a photograph, but DUUH!

The amp appears to be fine; there's either a problem with
the XLR mike input jack, or with the mike cable we were
using. (Can't test because I have no XLR plugs.)

WHERE are you (as in, forest, garage with NO tools, an audio
shop run by Scientologists who believe the e-meter is the only
piece of electronic test equipment anyone needs) ????????

SIGH.

BTW, I have learned over the last 4 decades that it's ALWAYS the
cable (and if it's not, you **still** test any cables FIRST
before you do ANYTHING, including attempting to open an audio
box [when you should let your friends open your canned food for
you] let alone flooding an NG with clueless posts for a week),
and /had/ you posted like a person with a clue, I would have
told you to try another cable - I know you don't have one, BUY
one!

Look, you little **** (and keep in mind that *you* were the first one in
this thread to use profanity): let me explain my situation for your
little pea-brain to understand.

I am not a professional electronics repairperson. I don't maintain a
repair shop, nor solicit repairs. This is why I own no XLR connectors:
normally I have absolutely no need for such things. I have no sound
equipment, microphones, etc. This one just landed in my lap. I used to
be in a band, the leader of which just recently died, and when we tried
to use this amp at a gig, it failed. I offered to diagnose it and
determine what was wrong with it.

I'm 99.99% sure that the problem is outboard of the jack connections on
the amp simply by doing the "touch the input connection and listen for
hum" test. The amp responded admirably well to this test, so I'm certain
it works. The problem, then, is obviously either the jack on the amp or
somewhere in the microphone cable being used. There wasn't enough time
to get another cable and test it.

So if you want to continue to berate me for some perceived slight
against the propriety of this newsgroup, which after all is supposed to
be a source of information for people seeking such, well then, go right
ahead and be my guest.

 

[David Nebenzahl]

OK. Sorry.

Oops! Sorry! %-# !!!

Not that clever, really, I was very depressed and suicidal for
most of my life. Recently I have been feeling better, but that's
another subject.

I'm sorry to hear that (that you're feeling better, that is).

 

[David Nebenzahl]

BTW, I have learned over the last 4 decades that it's ALWAYS the
cable (and if it's not, you **still** test any cables FIRST before
you do ANYTHING, including attempting to open an audio box [when
you should let your friends open your canned food for you] let
alone flooding an NG with clueless posts for a week), and /had/ you
posted like a person with a clue, I would have told you to try
another cable - I know you don't have one, BUY one!

In the world of professional audio, it`s hardly ever the cable!

Just wondering why you decided to inject the adjective "professional"
into this discussion. As the OP, are you suggesting that my application,
or the equipment associated with this amp, are "professional"? Because I
can assure you that we (the band that used to use this amp) are pretty
close to 100% amateurs (of course in the best original meaning of the word).

I'm not sure I would even classify this amp (Galaxy Audio Core PA5X140)
as a "professional" piece of equipment. Though it does appear to be very
well built: I guess you could drop it two or three stories and it still
might work.

 

[David Nebenzahl]

Wot ! You mean there is such a thing ... ? d:-}

Nah, all our humor comes from the UK: Monty Python, Dame Edna, Eddy
Izzard, Tracy Ullman, etc.

Ackshooly, I've been saying for years that there are two types of
Americans distinguishable by their taste for Brit humor. One one side we
have the PBS-type humor, exemplified by "Are You Being Served?" (which I
despise); on the other are those who like Benny Hill. I'm in the latter
camp myself. (Hey, what's better than total slapstick? Worked for
Chaplin ...)

 

[Jamie]

Wot ! You mean there is such a thing ... ? d:-}

Arfa

Sure, look who get elected as our leaders

 

[David Nebenzahl]

Perhaps it will.....Have you used sufficient force?

More force is definitely not the answer (despite the many jokes here
about dynamite, angle grinders, etc.)

The key was removing the nut around a phone jack on the back of the
case, which you'd know if you read through the rest of the thread.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

Even if you were to crack the plastic, cracked plastic

is a fairly easy thing to fix, and/or live with.

True, but cracking the case will sometimes crack the PC board. This happened
to me with an irreplaceable Toshiba remote.

 

[thanatoid]

On 9/16/2010 8:15 AM thanatoid spake thus:

WHAT? You did NOT do that when you removed all the screws?
I have not been reading the thread carefully ever since
you ignored my request for a photograph, but DUUH!

The amp appears to be fine; there's either a problem with
the XLR mike input jack, or with the mike cable we were
using. (Can't test because I have no XLR plugs.)

WHERE are you (as in, forest, garage with NO tools, an
audio shop run by Scientologists who believe the e-meter
is the only piece of electronic test equipment anyone
needs) ????????

SIGH.

BTW, I have learned over the last 4 decades that it's
ALWAYS the cable (and if it's not, you **still** test any
cables FIRST before you do ANYTHING, including attempting
to open an audio box [when you should let your friends
open your canned food for you] let alone flooding an NG
with clueless posts for a week), and /had/ you posted like
a person with a clue, I would have told you to try another
cable - I know you don't have one, BUY one!

Look, you little ****

Is that the BEST you can do? C'mon! Work with me here!

(and keep in mind that *you* were the
first one in this thread to use profanity)

OMG! Profanity on the Usenet! My transgression is
unforgivable! Please have the motherfucking pigs come and
arrest me STAT!

let me explain my situation for your little pea-brain to
understand.

I have a HUGE head, I can never find a hat to fit me. And I
have an IQ of 134. Not THAT high, but odds /are/ it's higher
than yours. OTOH, head and brain size have nothing to do with
intelligence.

I am not a professional electronics repairperson.

Neither am I.

I don't
maintain a repair shop, nor solicit repairs.

Neither do I.

This is why I
own no XLR connectors: normally I have absolutely no need
for such things. I have no sound equipment, microphones,
etc.

I used to sing (using the term loosely) and play guitar
(etc.) in bands, so I have a ton of XLR (and other)
connectors and cables, etc. I understand not everyone has
such items on site.

This one just landed in my lap. I used to be in a
band, the leader of which just recently died, and when we
tried to use this amp at a gig, it failed.

It's not a bad idea to test other people's
instruments/equipment before using them, let alone WHEN DOING
A GIG.

And there were NO other cables on the stage at the time, huh?

I offered to diagnose it and determine what was wrong with
it.

Hmm. So you ALSO used to be in a band, and you don't have a
single XLR cable in the house?

Hmm. What kind of band?

I'm 99.99% sure that the problem is outboard of the jack
connections on the amp simply by doing the "touch the input
connection and listen for hum" test. The amp responded
admirably well to this test, so I'm certain it works.The
problem, then, is obviously either the jack on the amp
or somewhere in the microphone cable being used. There
wasn't enough time to get another cable and test it.

No, of course not.

So if you want to continue to berate me for some perceived
slight against the propriety of this newsgroup, which after
all is supposed to be a source of information for people
seeking such, well then, go right ahead and be my guest.

I am not berating you, I understand why you posted your
question here, but you or someone you know DO have a digital
camera, you DO know how to use the internet, and you SHOULD
HAVE CHECKED THE CABLE before spending a week trying to open
a box you are not qualified to look inside of!

WHAT were you expecting to find, a soldered cable connection
/inside a sealed enclosure/ which just /decided/ to come
undone for no reason whatsoever?

And, BTW - an e-meter (q.v.) CAN be used to test cables, as I
realized after posting. But I waited, hoping for an
entertaining reply - and I was NOT disappointed! ;-)

 

[thanatoid]

On 9/16/2010 8:06 AM thanatoid spake thus:


I'm sorry to hear that (that you're feeling better, that
is).

In a way, so am I, BION.

(For one thing, I /may/ have to think of another nick, although
something tells me you - and dozens of other friends I have made
on the Usenet over the years - might like to help me out with
that daunting task... 'Fuckbrain' is probably already taken, but
please feel free to suggest other suitable nicks!)

Anyway, it's not worth explaining depression to someone who
probably has little understanding of the ways of the human
brain, let alone of the mystifying intricacies of audio cable
construction.

 

[David Nebenzahl]

Neither am I.


Neither do I.


I used to sing (using the term loosely) and play guitar
(etc.) in bands, so I have a ton of XLR (and other)
connectors and cables, etc. I understand not everyone has
such items on site.

Good. Sound reinforcement was never my responsibility even when I was in
this band.

It's not a bad idea to test other people's
instruments/equipment before using them, let alone WHEN DOING
A GIG.

The amp was not essential to the gig; we just wanted to use it to make
announcements during the performance, as it was also a memorial to the
founder of the band who had just died a week before. Since we were
playing in a relatively small room, we make do without.

And there were NO other cables on the stage at the time, huh?

Nope. We're an acoustic band, generally play without any sound
reinforcement at all.

Hmm. So you ALSO used to be in a band, and you don't have a
single XLR cable in the house?

Nope. You see a problem with that?

Hmm. What kind of band?

Eastern European and Balkan folk and popular (from a previous century)
music. Mostly totally obsolete music that most people haven't heard and
don't care about.

 

[A. Baum]

Is that the BEST you can do? C'mon! Work with me here!

Yep that's the best that the Nebenzahl troll-bot imbecile can do. What
did you expect from someone who let a simple 1/4 jack nut defeat him for
days LMAO!

 

[Meat Plow]

Oh, so I guess that means I'm *not* a total retard, eh? Thanks for that.

To those not willing to kiss ass, yes you still are a total retard


What a stupid ****..

 

[thanatoid]

Good. Sound reinforcement was never my responsibility even
when I was in this band.
OK.


The amp was not essential to the gig; we just wanted to use
it to make announcements during the performance, as it was
also a memorial to the founder of the band who had just
died a week before. Since we were playing in a relatively
small room, we make do without.

OK. Still, next time, test something before you try to use it.

Nope. We're an acoustic band, generally play without any
sound reinforcement at all.

OK. I sort of thought this may be the case. I suppose when you
played a larger venue, you would just use their PA system so did
not need to know anything about sound reinforcement at all.

Nope. You see a problem with that?

Slight. IMO, it is always good to know /a little/ about things
which, however occasionally, enter you field of vision.

Eastern European and Balkan folk and popular (from a
previous century) music. Mostly totally obsolete music that
most people haven't heard and don't care about.

Don't assume anything. I like medieval folk music as much as I
like The Sex Pistols /and/ The Carpenters. I do NOT care for
acoustic-guitar-based "folk songs" played by Californians, but a
lot of European folk music, Irish especially, is really cool.
/And/ Eastern-Eur.

 

[thanatoid]

Yep that's the best that the Nebenzahl troll-bot imbecile
can do. What did you expect from someone who let a simple
1/4 jack nut defeat him for days LMAO!

You did make me laugh, but go easy on the guy. He seems OK. Not
everyone knows everything, especially people who post for help
in groups like this.

 

[A. Baum]

You did make me laugh, but go easy on the guy. He seems OK. Not everyone
knows everything, especially people who post for help in groups like
this.

He posts his know-it-all shit in other groups yet can't figure out that
you really need to remove every last visible nut/screw/bolt/fastener
before giving up. Sorry but I find him an idiot and not just someone who
knows less than someone else.

 

[David Nebenzahl]

OK. I sort of thought this may be the case. I suppose when you
played a larger venue, you would just use their PA system so did
not need to know anything about sound reinforcement at all.

Exactly. Which is the way we prefer it; we worry about our set lists and
the music. They get to worry about the sound system so that we don't
have to.

Slight. IMO, it is always good to know /a little/ about things
which, however occasionally, enter you field of vision.

Oh, I *know* all about XLR and other connectors. I just don't happen to
*have* any around, since I don't need them.

 

[thanatoid]

He posts his know-it-all shit in other groups yet can't
figure out that you really need to remove every last
visible nut/screw/bolt/fastener before giving up. Sorry but
I find him an idiot and not just someone who knows less
than someone else.

I am new to these groups and I have not seen the other posts you
refer to.

I will withhold further comments besides stating that he does
not /appear/ to be "an idiot", which of course does not mean he
is /not/ one. But the same goes for everyone else, myself and
yourself included.

 

[David Nebenzahl]

You really shouldn't dis 'Are You Being Served ?' It was an absolute
classic up there with the likes of Fawlty Towers ... The double entendre
with things like Mrs Slocombe's pussy, were really quite risque for British
TV at the time. Although I used to really enjoy Benny Hill for its pure
slapstick, the humour was much cruder than that of AYBS.

Well, not to belabor the point *too* much, but Fawlty Towers was
absolutely sublime compared to either one of those other two shows.

And I have to hand it to your Brits: there has never been *anything* on
television to equal "The Prisoner", and I doubt there will be in my
lifetime.