My Soundtream Nightmare

shaheen · Post by **shaheen** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 1:00 pm

ok, I know this is a PG forum , but we all like unique and interesting amps.

So futher to that I present the Da-Vinci Codes.

I bought this amp off another forum and had pics of just the outside (I know I should have asked for board pics) , so payed for the amp and it arrived in the box , my excitment went up and up.

I opened the box and all looked really good (beside some gold rubbed off) . Turned it over to get a peek at the terminal blocks and saw something which looked a bit , well dodgy.

A couple of loose plugs , some missing screws and a blob of gorrilla snot.

Powered up and saw the lights on the top were not working. So opened the top to see where the loose cables go and stuff and could find nothing.

So being the fiddler I am decided to pull the board and insides out.

Just to note the ad did not say repaired anywhere, but then on an 8 year old amp I guess I was expecting too much.

Anyways long story short , seller is willing to pay for the screws and the lights , but nothing else. so I decided to have a go at fixing the amp , finding a missing board which controls the fans and removing the broken cold cathodes.

This is the story of the re-furb of a legend.

Some pics to start with.

Soundstream boys if you have any spares please let me know , I am missing the control board for the fand which I am sure I can use a thermo switch and controller for.

as well as some screws for the speakers.

Repair sticker

Bent casing

replaced burnt resistors

Dodgy soldering

Either a track repair job or upgrade who knows

Repaired ribbon cable

Loose cables going no where

Broken Cathode

More burn cables

more repaired cables

Wires that do not go anywhere

Top cover

Signs that something is not there

So wish me luck , I just bought a bunch of sleeving some decent kit to fix with and cables and stuff.

Sending the top in for a recoat.

All I can say is this is the first time I have been burnt by a seller.

Looks like all the caps have been replaced, all the fets on the amp replaced and a bunch of other repairs.

Price paid $650 for the amp

andy600rr · Post by **andy600rr** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 3:22 pm

Ouch. Best of luck

On a serious note, I'm jealous..... I've always wanted one of those in the cupboard.

Post by **stipud** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 3:35 pm

UUUGH

Why don't people advertise this kind of stuff when they sell gear?

marko · Post by **marko** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 10:58 pm

you think you got stung? did you ever see the post about my continuum

i still have that thing knocking about and started cleaning it up last summer, i may finish it one day

oldskoolmseriesfan · Post by **oldskoolmseriesfan** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 11:35 pm

That sux dude, looks like a fkn nightmare inside. Ive wanted one since the first day they graced the pages of CA&E

MW3 · Post by **MW3** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 3:24 am

Those Davinci's are a disaster, they never work right.

They area are known for problem after problem.

I have seen a few first hand.

shaheen · Post by **shaheen** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 5:42 am

MW3 wrote:Those Davinci's are a disaster, they never work right.

They area are known for problem after problem.

I have seen a few first hand.

Hey dude,

Can you give me as much info as possible, I managed to get the Schematics, but have not had time to sit with them , it looks like the bodge work was to upgrade the board from Reva/B to Rev C from what I can make out.

ANy help is much appriciated

MW3 · Post by **MW3** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 10:10 am

Sorry, wish I could help. I don't any specific electrical knowledge of the issues.

During that period of time customer after customer shelled out big bucks only to have their SS amps never work right. Usually dealers just ate it and swapped them into different amps.

As for their newer stuff, I have no experience. Perhaps it has improved.

MazdaFan · Post by **MazdaFan** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 12:07 am

From a fellow South African, EISH.

That sucks dude. I hope the seller gets what's coming to him.

shaheen · Post by **shaheen** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 4:21 am

Thanks dude, but you know me, I will not let this get me down, I will restore this amp, once the folks leave I have a power supply on order so I can properly test thebits and bob's and fix all this mess up.

Amazingly the previous owner says all he sees are a couple of discouloured cables.

I have approached the other forum admins but have not heard anything .

But it's going to be fun, the DMM has arrived, the soldering iron and the top cover is going in for a replate as soon as I can assertain the amp works.

Post by **Wakeup** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:41 am

Shaheen, wow sorry that you got a lemon. I hope you can fix it w/ ease. Man that really sux. All I can suggest is maybe if you can get a discount....on the $650 that you paid...something is better than nothing...

Thats crazy.

shaheen · Post by **shaheen** » Fri Jan 02, 2009 1:50 pm

Hey Wake,

I wish I could the guy is being adament that he will not refund anything except for the lights (approx $15) and the missing screws ($20)

ahh well, I will leave feedback for him and once the amp is done will post pics of before and after

reaper68 · Post by **reaper68** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:24 pm

Hey I have the full schematic for that amp if you want it

reaper68 · Post by **reaper68** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:28 pm

crap I see you found a copy, you wouldn't happen to have found mine from termpro? Anyways I have one that's put together right if you need pics etc. Now I just need to fix my dam tarantula

gkitching · Post by **gkitching** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 6:33 am

Damn Shaheen ... you should get a prize for determination!

I can honestly say the only one of those I've ever seen working was one that had a different amp inside the Davinci case.

The guys' install was built around the amp so after unending problems, had the shop pull the guts of the amp to make room for brand X's amp inside the davinci case and was able to keep the rest of the install.

marko · Post by **marko** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 8:29 am

that particular one has the early blue blue board same as referance of that period, later runs had the red rubicon boards slightly differant layout, maybe they we're more reliable...dunno

my tarantula has a red board in it and it's the original run that matches the da-vinci, looks a million dollars

denim · Post by **denim** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:13 am

Oh no, this is heart breaking.

Post by **kg1961** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:17 am

I never new the Soundstream had some many problems with there high end amps???
I ways throught they were like Pg build wise?
I always want the first syle Human Reign
but now that dream is dead....

marko · Post by **marko** » Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:23 am

soundstream are no where near the build of pg, sound wise yes, i've a soft spot for soundstream but got bitten badly with my continuum...

http://phoenixphorum.com/caveat-emptor- ... =continuum

shaheen · Post by **shaheen** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:36 pm

Hey hey hey

so some updates on the Da vinchi codes.

Managed to get some time off from work to work on this bugger, and it took me the whole freaking day. Partly becuase I had to set up the test bench , and mosty because my bloddy soldering iron was rubbish. It heats up fine but refuses to hold solder on the tip , so everything I wanted to solder required a lot of pressure and lots of time. also could not use the tip so it made it a nightmare.

I have to say I admire the guys who use that nylon sleeving kits, they are not the easiest to work with and to try to get the damn thing not to fry is a headache.

Powered the beast up and tested every segment before I went into final melt down stage , made sure the fans kick in and everything was happy. The only bit which was missing was the power pack for the lights, but in all honesty I am not using the tubes again, going to find a set of LED strips and wire them up , much easier and a lot less complicated.

So first things first, took a hammer to the case and got it nice ans straight , then took a strong pair of grips to the stands to get them straight too.

Then cleaned up the wiring, including all the cross the board bits and bobs and took all the extra stuff out. Cut the Gorrila snot so it doe not llook like a botch job and sleeved EVERYTHING I could.

Put it back together and it all works, all thats left is to find the led's for the illumination. I still need to send the top in for a refub, this will happen in the next few weeks.

So onto the pics.

Post by **stipud** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:42 pm

Did you replace all of the ribbon cables, or just sheathe them up with the patch wires? How about all those burnt resistor marks on the board? Are they cleaned up?

Already looks a billion times better.

shaheen · Post by **shaheen** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:49 pm

tried to clean the board up as best I could , the board itself is burnt so short of replacing it there is very little I can do.

I tried to replace all the ribbon cables but could not find the right fitments for all of them so 2 got replaced the rest got sleeved.

If my soldering iron was working a lot better I would have replaced all the resistors. But it would take me forever.

Post by **stipud** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:52 pm

Oh well, at least it works now. Would love to see some completed case pics once you've got it all back together.

shaheen · Post by **shaheen** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:56 pm

Trust me they will come.Thanks for the compliemtns, like you said at least it works and does not look rubbish with wires all over the show

marko · Post by **marko** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 2:22 pm

i bought some cold cathodes like you get for computers for my tarantula, they come with they're own little power pack and all you do is hook them up to 12v

My Soundtream Nightmare

My Soundtream Nightmare

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