My new Tarantula

Post by **Jacampb2** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 1:16 am

Do any of you recall what this one retailed for in the US? I remember dreaming about them back in ?98-99? and thinking I couldn't afford it, even though I owned a Reactor and a MS1KTA in the same general time frame... I thought they were somewhere close to $4k, but my google-fu is lacking, as all I can turn up is pricing for the newer ('05 or so) tarantula mono block that had the gaudy plastic spider on top. That one looks like it was for sale for anywhere from $2-$2.5K.

Later,
Jason

marko · Post by **marko** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 1:53 am

just for a bit of inspiration and motivation to get your fixed here's pics of mine! i sometimes think why do i own this amp and i'll probebly never use it then when i open the box it just sits there gleaming at me and then i realise why... it's just a stunning piece to look at and no other amp i've owned ever did this to me

reallyxxxxxxloud · Post by **reallyxxxxxxloud** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 4:18 am

andy600rr wrote:
reallyxxxxxxloud wrote:
shaheen wrote: There is a company in Australia which specialises in Soundstream repairs but the shipping would kill you.
fix.
Who told you that rubbish... Not having a go at you but "THERE IS NO REPAIR SHOP THAT SPECIALIZES IN SOUNDSTREAM REPAIRS", (other than the Soundstream distributor here in Australia, but he usually just swaps out returned warranties).

Who ever told you that is bullshitting you. There's not enough sold in this country to sustain a specialized repair shop. Repairs done in your local area would be of no less knowledge. Plus from memory only a handful of the original Tarantula and DaVinci were ever sold here.
How about Danny????

http://www.resolutionelectronics.com.au ... stream.htm

Ex AZ Trading employee.....

(other than the Soundstream distributor here in Australia, but he usually just swaps out returned warranties).

I think I knind of mentioned them didn't I and its kind of silly saying the distributor is the number one service agent?

Seriously though yes there would be a lot of the new stuff to repair (cause its C***) but the older stuff, there wasn't much sold here in Australia and he wasn't the distributor of Soundstream then!!!

Marko that is some real eye candy!!!

vingasoline · Post by **vingasoline** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 7:58 am

I have the one with the plastic spider on top.. The internals are the same except for the ones that don't have the made in usa sticker on them.. Those are made in Korea with cheap Korean parts. anyways, I have the schematic from soundstream for that amp if you want it. And if your looking for a replacement top, SS had some with the plastic spiders the last time I talked to them.

shaheen · Post by **shaheen** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 9:48 am

reallyxxxxxxloud wrote:
andy600rr wrote:
reallyxxxxxxloud wrote: Who told you that rubbish... Not having a go at you but "THERE IS NO REPAIR SHOP THAT SPECIALIZES IN SOUNDSTREAM REPAIRS", (other than the Soundstream distributor here in Australia, but he usually just swaps out returned warranties).

Who ever told you that is bullshitting you. There's not enough sold in this country to sustain a specialized repair shop. Repairs done in your local area would be of no less knowledge. Plus from memory only a handful of the original Tarantula and DaVinci were ever sold here.
How about Danny????

http://www.resolutionelectronics.com.au ... stream.htm

Ex AZ Trading employee.....
(other than the Soundstream distributor here in Australia, but he usually just swaps out returned warranties).

I think I knind of mentioned them didn't I and its kind of silly saying the distributor is the number one service agent?

Seriously though yes there would be a lot of the new stuff to repair (cause its C***) but the older stuff, there wasn't much sold here in Australia and he wasn't the distributor of Soundstream then!!!

Marko that is some real eye candy!!!

Thats the guy I was refering to, he is a bit slow with replies and the rest , but other then that a very helpful guy. and YES he does specialise in SS repairs. (apologies accepted in terms of Paypal)

reallyxxxxxxloud · Post by **reallyxxxxxxloud** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 10:04 am

No you don't get it... How can you say you specialize when your the distributor... It is your brand, most amps just get swapped out as they aren't worth fixing. I know because I was the service manager for another crap brand "Fusion"...

shaheen · Post by **shaheen** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 10:45 am

reallyxxxxxxloud wrote:No you don't get it... How can you say you specialize when your the distributor... It is your brand, most amps just get swapped out as they aren't worth fixing. I know because I was the service manager for another crap brand "Fusion"...

Ok , I was not aware that he was the distributor , when I spoke to Danny he did not mention anything of the sort. Just that he did repairs on them and had some parts I was looking for.....in the end I sorted it myself.

andy600rr · Post by **andy600rr** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 4:15 pm

^^Ditto, I did'nt know that Danny was the distributor now???

Post by **Jacampb2** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 4:55 pm

Marko, that's dead sexy. Some real inspiration. Thank you for the pictures!

vingasoline wrote:I have the schematic from soundstream for that amp if you want it. And if your looking for a replacement top, SS had some with the plastic spiders the last time I talked to them.

Vin, you've got a PM. I'll take you up on your offer. Thank you! I appreciate it.

Later,
Jason

MW3 · Post by **MW3** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 9:56 am

Interesting post, curious to see if you can get her working.

Every original Tarauntaula and Davinci, I have come across were nightmare's to deal with as they never worked correctly, especially right out of the box. Customer's loved shelling out big dough for those amps only to find out they didn't work, yikes.

Be interested to see power output if it does actually work.

PureDynamics · Post by **PureDynamics** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 10:15 am

shaheen wrote:Case is not so bad

Have a look at my refurb that I did on my Da Vin, some tips in there on how to sort the lighting out, also some pics on how I cleaned it up too, you have a red board so REV C at least, thats the good boards.

I say replate it , strip off whats there and get a good plater to redo the top , thats what I did.

Where is this I'd like to read up on this. Search didn't come up with it. I have a Tarantula as well that needs work. Damm thing pulls 300+amps on startup. no sound, just a small tick.

shaheen · Post by **shaheen** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 10:30 am

@pure

Search my soundstream nightmare in the car audio section

http://phoenixphorum.com/my-soundtream- ... +nightmare

Post by **Jacampb2** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 11:46 am

PureDynamics, that much current draw is likely to be a bank of blown PS fets, and most likely some shorted outputs as well. I pitty the sould who has to swap outputs. The BJT outputs in this amp sell for about $5 each, and there are 32 of them...

Later,
Jason

Post by **Jacampb2** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 11:49 am

MW3 wrote:Interesting post, curious to see if you can get her working.

Every original Tarauntaula and Davinci, I have come across were nightmare's to deal with as they never worked correctly, especially right out of the box. Customer's loved shelling out big dough for those amps only to find out they didn't work, yikes.

Be interested to see power output if it does actually work.

MW3, do you car to elaborate on the problems you have seen? I am curious to know if it was something to do with the somewhat complex power supply regulation scheme, or if it were just dead spiders out of the box... This is one of the few amps I have seen with a PIC or other microprocessor running the power supply regulation... It would be interesting to get a hold of the code on the PIC and see what exactly they did...

Later,
Jason

bogart · Post by **bogart** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 12:28 pm

This is all very impressive and informative. I have just loved the amps since I was just a wee lad runnin some 6*9s in my first datson 610...no shocks...in the weeds and primered blackish hanging out at car tunes in salem day dreaming about this stuff.

I almost bought a divinci off ebay a few years ago and seeing all this has me envisioning all of my ex wives " I told you so's" all over the house!!! I would be interested in seeing a pdf copy of the schematics on that myself just out of curiosity. thanks

Post by **ttocs** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 2:55 pm

are you sure you are not confusing the limited edition series with the tarantula series?

MW3 · Post by **MW3** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 4:01 pm

Jacampb2 wrote:
MW3, do you car to elaborate on the problems you have seen? I am curious to know if it was something to do with the somewhat complex power supply regulation scheme, or if it were just dead spiders out of the box... This is one of the few amps I have seen with a PIC or other microprocessor running the power supply regulation... It would be interesting to get a hold of the code on the PIC and see what exactly they did...

Later,
Jason

Sorry, I never got really specific info. I have just worked enough tent sales and visited dealers to hear and see complaints from dealers.

The more expensive the amp, the bigger the customer service problem.

Post by **Jacampb2** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 12:35 pm

The parts for the Tarantula came today. I decided to devote a few minutes to putting them in and seeing what happens. First of all, I got the complete schematics from Vingasoline, Many thanks to him! The blown components were mostly part of the 18V supply. The blown jfet op amp was part of the impedance measurement circuit.

All replaced, and powered up, the control panel is totally dead. The amp however is not. It powers up even though there is no indication on the CP. The rails are nice and steady at +/- 62Vdc, is its middle power level. I hooked up the input card to see if it had output, and nothing. It looks like the 18V supply blew because the PO hooked up the CP with it's connectors reversed-- I am not 100% sure of this, as maybe I have them reversed now, but I am going out on a limb and assuming that pin one on the CP headers goes to pin one on the main board header. God only knows why SS didn't use a shielded, keyed pin header??? I am hesitant to flip the plugs, as if I am correct, it grounds the 18V supply.

So, do any of you tarantula owners want to take the lid off and tell me for sure which header on the CP goes to which header on the board, and if pin 1 is the same for both headers?

If I am correct, and the plugs being flipped is the cause of the original issue, then there is no telling what damage it did on the daughter board...

Anyhow, I didn't have a lot of time to devote to it today, but I will get back at it hopefully this evening. I just wanted to give you all a brief update.

Thanks guys for all the help and support so far.

Later,
Jason

Post by **Jacampb2** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 1:15 pm

N/m on anyone looking in their amp. I found what I needed in the schematic. Had some time while watching my daughter-- Turns out I have it hooked up correctly.

I now need to check the CP thoroughly, and the 5v regulator on the main board. It looks like there is a high probability that hooking them up backwards can screw up the PIC microprocessor. Good for me, I have the developers kit for the PIC in question, and can burn a new one--if, and it is a big if, I can get the code off the old one, or, get SS to send me the code. Unfortunately, PIC's can be copy protected, and the only way to check is to pull it from the board and try to read it. If I have to go that far, I am going to have to brush up on my short lived PIC interest... Evidently there are ways to crack the copy protection, but I will probably have to spend a year learning. Here's crossing my fingers in the hope that it won't come to that

Later,
Jason

Post by **Jacampb2** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 6:18 pm

It's not looking good. It looks like the PIC is shot. Most of the feedback loops to the PIC should be up around 2-5Vdc and with the PIC in circuit, there is significant voltage drop at the inputs. With it removed, all the feedback looks like it is in range. Since the PIC should have very high input impedance, for all intents and purposes, it should look like a open circuit to the rest of the amp. I am showing a voltage drop from 3Vdc down to .7Vdc or less with the micro in circuit.

I am seriously hoping that SS still has old stock of the micros, or that they will give me the code to burn my own. I will be sending an email to them tonight. Hopefully I hear something back. I have managed to get everything up and running except for what is driven by the PIC... This sucks, hopefully I can get the info.

Thanks,
Jason

marko · Post by **marko** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 9:38 pm

what are the odds that jandrelctronics have one? worth a try...

this PIC business is a bit over my head so i can't really help you out there

vingasoline · Post by **vingasoline** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 4:35 am

Jacampb2 wrote:PureDynamics, that much current draw is likely to be a bank of blown PS fets, and most likely some shorted outputs as well. I pitty the sould who has to swap outputs. The BJT outputs in this amp sell for about $5 each, and there are 32 of them...

Later,
Jason

actually it's not so bad, the OE stuff is obsolete, the new replacements are about 1.15 each. For the PS, OE replacements are about the same.

Post by **stipud** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 6:45 am

I hope you can get a new PIC! If not I guess you will just have to wave your magic wand, and fab one up out of your CNC

Post by **Jacampb2** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 4:56 pm

Well, I have good news. The Tarantula is up and working. I still don't have the PIC thing sorted out, but, I have the no output problem solved. It turns out I am a dumb ass. I have no idea how long it has been working, probably since I rebuilt the 18V supply and had the rails come up. Turns out I was hooking my test speakers up to both - terminals. They are grouped two to a side on the amp, and I just assumed they were paired +/-, but they aren't. I had an epiphany during my pre-midnight shift nap today, I woke up and though, hell, I better make sure that isn't wired wrong. Went down to the lair and looked at the case, and sure enough, I'm an idiot...

So, the amp powers up, it plays just fine, idle current is right around 3.8Adc after I reset the output bias. Initially someone had cranked the bias pots, and they were really frigging hot. Amp drew about 10Adc at idle, and got hot pretty fast w/ no sink. The emitter voltage drop was somewhere north of 30mVdc...

So, the remaining problems are the things the PIC drives. The PIC handles thermal related PS roll back, as well as the impedance measurement and auto calibration. It also handles switching the illumination, and fans and fan speed control. The PIC also handles the different status displays and the power led. So, in short, the PIC controls most of the advance power supply features and a lot of drudge work switching things on and off. Most of the stuff could be worked around, but I would rather get it back to stock condition.

Now the really interesting thing I found by accident today is that the PIC does not seem to be totally dead. If I remove the control board, and pull the PIC pin for impedance calibration to ground, then the PIC goes through the calibration routine, same thing for turning on the illumination. The switches on the control panel are good, and do pull the pins to ground, but the PIC does nothing. Obviously, I have a long road ahead of me yet. Hopefully I will get it figured out one way or another. If SS comes back with word that they have replacement micros, I will probably still get one, just to have a spair even if it turns out this one is still 100% okay...

Later,
Jason

Post by **ttocs** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 5:21 pm

don't ya love

and hate

that stupid little shit like that?! It is great when you discover it

, annoying when you realize that YOU messed it up and wasted all that time

, and happy that you will never ever ever make that mistake again(until the next time)

.