Hi again,
So I finished my Steremour, but a few questions remain. I thought I'd turn to this group to figure out if everything is OK.
1) Connecting it to my Orcas (not yet the Dungeonness -- I'm still waiting on that cable...), there's a funny thing going on when I turn the amp on. I would normally turn on my amp with volume at zero, but in order to figure out what's going on, I turn on the audio source first (in this case a Sonos Connect going into an Arcam rDAC, given that I haven't finished my Reduction yet). With the volume at twelve o'clock, I turn the amp on. The right channel comes up nicely from quiet to full volume in perhaps 5 seconds. The left channel, on the other hand, has a very audible low hum with no music coming through. Then, about the time the right channel comes in, the hum stops, as if a switch were being thrown, and the music starts. This does not appear to affect listening once warmed up, but it does not seem right, and I like to have things right...
2) I assumed things would be a bit louder. Sitting with my Orcas on my desk in near-field mode (about 36" away from my Orcas, which are separated by about 48"), I have the volume at 12:00 or 1:00, listening to "radio" on my Sonos or MP3s via the DAC. I did switch to the Alps Blue Velvet 100K audio taper pot...). Does it seem about right to have the pot at 12:00 sitting so close to the amp? Maybe I'm trying to hear more, which the sub would bring out...
3) The voltage checks were all within 5%-10%, reading high if anything. The resistance checks were all good, although terminals 2 and 14, which "may settle around 486K ohms," were up in the 13M ohm range and moving very, very slowly, so I did not "let them settle" -- does this seem right?
4) The input selector switch makes an audible click when switching with the volume up. Normal?
5) When only one channel is connected to an audio source, and that audio source is active, I can hear it faintly when moving the selector switch to another source, with volume at 12:00. Is a bit of cross-talk normal?
I was super careful with all my solder joints, and I've re-inspected everything. I use a Weller soldering station set to 675 degrees. On the PCBs, I re-touched each joint to make sure contacts were good. I can always check again, but I think I'm good in terms of solder joints.
Thanks for any help!
Derek