Question Help with PMC and Auralic set up for a helpless widow!

Jamjones

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Hi. I was hoping I could get some sound help and advice during a really difficult time and having no one to turn to. I have PMC twenty2's connected to an Auralic Polaris Amp and Dac and Musical Fidelity Amp but I can only get one speaker to work.

Please forgive me if I have any of this wrong, I'm learning as I go but after the passing of my husband it is so important to me that I have them working. Both speakers work as I've tested them with the 'cable' that seems to be OK but I'm lost as to what to try next.

Apart from falling short of changing the whole system which I really do not want to do, I was hoping this amazing community could help.

Thank you
 
If you can post some pictures of the rear of the amps and the speakers with the cabl sattached as you have them then that would give us a better idea to work from.

I am sure this is not insummountable, also worth posting the model numbers of the musical fidelity as you seem to possibly have two integrated amps unless you are using the auralic as a pre and the mf is a power amp.
 
Not sure if this is any good. I took photos of the set up before I moved it and then put it all back exactly as it was, apart from plugging it into a TV instead of a PC
 

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The speaker that isn't working, doesn't have a cable in and in a moment of rash decisions, pure angst to get everything set up I may have taken one of the cables out of the banana clip. So it could be a cable issue, in which case, which one would I use?
 

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Thanks for those.

All very nice and quite high end pieces. From what I can see -

Pmc Twenty 22 stand mount speakers
Musical fidelity m6i integrated amp
Auralic Taurus mk2 headphone amp
Auralic Vega DAC

So, a couple of additional questions. What are you hoping to play throug( it as your source (tv, streamer etc) and are you likely to want to use headphones. I see a usb cable plugged into the dac plus a toslink optical (from the tv) .

So looks like you have two sources, usb and tislink optical, that connect into the Vega, the Vega output go into the inputs on the Taurus, the outputs on the Taurus should then go to one of the inputs on the M6I (can’t see those plugged in) but should be the Balanced inputs as it all looks like a balanced system. Finally the m6i speaker outputs should go to the pmc’s making sure you connect red to red and black to black and leave the connecting bars on the rear of the speakers in place.

Now if all that is in order then the m6i and maybe on/both of the auralic s may have a balance control that has inadvertently been set to left or right, worth a check. Manuals below.




 
That's all really good. I've got it working, I've gone through the balance, but one speaker just doesn't seem to want to work.

If I need to get another cable, which one could I buy that isn't going to cost the earth?! I've googled it but as my husband died a week ago, I can't work it all out. He would either be really proud that I've set it up, or be absolutely fuming I've touched it.
 
Do you have headphones you can plug into the Taurus to see if you are getting stereo at that point. Also what happens if you switch the cables from the left speaker to the right, does the working one switch? Worth trying switch the cables at the back of the speakers first then at the back of the amp.
 
Ahh, yes I like that idea. Yeh I have audeze LCD 2s I will try that tomorrow. The cables are a nightmare to thread into the back of the 22s and I'm so worried I'm going to knacker them up. Good shout on the headphones though. Thank you for your help. It means so much
 
If the headphones are ok then the dac and the input to the Taurus are ok, next would be to switch the cables between the Taurus and the m6i to see if the speaker switches, if it does not the switch the speaker cables on the m6i.

If the headphones are not ok then switch the cables between the Vega and the Taurus to see if the fault also switches.
 
Hello

Just wanted to say sorry for your loss, welcome to the Forums and I'm sure your hubby would be proud of you for trying to set this all up and get it working again.

You've received very detailed advice so far and do have some quality kit there. Assuming nothing's been dropped, it is very likely to be a cable connection issue.

@Ugg10 has linked the various instruction manuals and it's usually just a case of methodically working through the cable connection paths for each component one at a time. Personally, I would recommend that you connect up all the electronics first and make sure they're communicating with each other properly. You can use your headphones to check this. I would connect up the speakers last and these are always a parallel path: Red+ to Red+, Black- to Black-.

Note: please make sure that everything is switched OFF before unplugging/plugging in cables!

Feel free to keep asking questions until this is sorted, this is what we are here for. And I know this can be maddening, but keep going!
 
Page 17 of the Vega manual shows it has a balance control, worth checking that is set correctly.

The other thing to check is the balance setting on either your pc (usb input) or your tv (optical input) and make sure they are set ok.

Finally all three bits of kit have volume controls so may be worth seeing which are set to control the main volume for the speakers (ideally the m6i as you have it connected now).
 
@Ljiebaby - I've been thinking about this a bit more and there's two methods you can try:

1. Since everything is connected up and in place, using a pair of headphones to establish that you are receiving a stereo signal through the electronics would be the quickest and easiest thing to do. If you are, then it's just a question of connecting up your speakers to the electronics correctly so you can receive stereo through them.

2. You won't like this: if you test using your headphones and you aren't getting a stereo signal (and you've checked all the balance settings), then I would recommend that you unplug everything and start again. Systematically and methodically connect everything up as @Ugg10 has suggested making sure the right inputs go into the right outputs. Then test for a stereo signal using headphones.

I know electronics can be an intimidating jungle of cables back there, but there's usually a clear signal path to follow (In to Out or Out to In).

Connecting up speakers is much more straightforward: a pair of cables, usually already colour coded if using banana plugs, into each speaker from the amp. Looking at your picture in Post #4, it looks like your banana plugs have been cold welded, so it is highly unlikely that you have removed one and just have bare wire left.

Please keep us updated with how you get on and provide any photos if you continue to be stuck. And be patient, don't rush!
 
Morning. I've connected the headphones and I'm getting stereo in all its glory. I've traced everything, swapped over the cable to see if that was an issue and the only problem I can find is the output port isn't working. Its all connected properly, both cables work. That may explain why the sub doesn't work as soon as I plug it in. I'll flick through the manuals later and see if something seems weird. I've gone through the balance and it's all as it should be. It's connected to a TV using a toslink optical cable thing that is on the TV. I've had it plugged into a laptop to see if that changes it and its the same. One speaker does not work!! Can I bypass the mi6?

Also, another question for opinion sake, should I put the set up back with the PC and use the Monitor Audio (radius 225) 5.1 with the TV or will the 22s be OK with a TV. I'm trying to minimise cables but not having nice sound is starting to really irritate me, and I haven't even started on the office set up yet!
 

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Nice bit of detective work, we are slowly getting there.

What happens if you switch the red and black cables to the right speakers from the m6i over with the left ones? If the working speaker swaps over it is an amp problem, if it stays the same it is a speaker problem.

For the system you have you need m6i to power the speakers.

You say you have 5.1 system as well, can you give any more details on that, there should be another receiver/amp somewhere to run the radius’.
 
I've swapped the cables, to each speaker, each port and I can get sound out of each of them using each cable but not using the left port. I've checked the other set ups in the house and I have to move each speak set up with the existing amp. I don't have anything in the house to replace the mi6. I could possibly buy something but with a funeral to pay for, money is tight! He would rather I bought an amp than a funeral but alas, I cannot!

Can I take the mi6 apart and have a look Inside?
 
Did your husband buy the m6i from a local shop or online. If it is within 2 years then you may still be under warranty, if you have a local hifi shop then you could get them to look it over. Unfortunately, opening it up will probably not tell you anything unless you have all of the diagnosis tools and will invalidate any warranty.


Musical fidelity have a service system so may be worth giving them a call to see how much it is but I suspect it will be around the £300 (don’t hold me to that but this is what other manufacturers tend to charge).
 
One other thought, the Vega has unbalanced rca/phono outputs, if you have a phono/rca cable then you could try removing the balanced cable (large three pin plugs) and putting in a phono cable from the Vega to the m6i, connecting it to the cd input. You will need to change the input on the m6i to cd but this would rule out the balanced circuit and those cables.

Just a thought.
 
@Ugg10 everything you just sent went over my head. I'm going to ring a local (ish) shop and see if they can have a look. It's not under warranty. He's had it for about 5 years I think. He's a member of this forum and I've looked through his old posts to get an insight and it was a few years ago he sampled the set up and then bought it all. We've got a spare Yamaha Amp he didn't want to get rid of that I may be able to use for the 225s just so I have something set up.
Thank you both for your amazing input and support.
 
Am I right in thinking that the moment the headphone amp is also acting as a pre-amp for the M6i via the balanced inputs. You could cut the pre-amp stage and wire in the headphone amp differently. Connect the headphone amp to the M6i's record output with RCA cutting out completely the pre-amp side of the headphone amp.

The wiring would then be source to the DAC. DAC to the M6i. M6i to the headphone amp via RCA. Just a thought.
 
I've contacted the Musical Fidelity distributor in Oxford and they're happy to trace the serial number and I will look into sending it off for a repair. Oxford isn't too far so could be worth a nice little day out. @gibbsy none of what you said many any sense, but thank you for your help. I've run out of brain power now!
 
I've contacted the Musical Fidelity distributor in Oxford and they're happy to trace the serial number and I will look into sending it off for a repair. Oxford isn't too far so could be worth a nice little day out. @gibbsy none of what you said many any sense, but thank you for your help. I've run out of brain power now!
It's how I have my headphone amp connected to my stereo amp even though it has pre-amp ability. Having it checked out by an expert would be better. Ask if you can take all the kit with you to be checked through.
 
@Ugg10 everything you just sent went over my head. I'm going to ring a local (ish) shop and see if they can have a look. It's not under warranty. He's had it for about 5 years I think. He's a member of this forum and I've looked through his old posts to get an insight and it was a few years ago he sampled the set up and then bought it all. We've got a spare Yamaha Amp he didn't want to get rid of that I may be able to use for the 225s just so I have something set up.
Thank you both for your amazing input and support.

The trouble with online advice is that it's usually coming from people to whom it is second nature, but to a novice is all gobbledygook!

What the guys are saying is that the MF amp supports both balanced and unbalanced connections (I think). You currently use the balanced connections and state that an Output port isn't working which is why, you think, you're not getting stereo through your speakers.

What has been suggested as an alternative is to use the unbalanced connections (RCA leads, one red and one white). It may not sound as good as balanced but at least it should work. They usually look like this:


It's up to you what you do, but I would recommend that you try my advice in Post #12 and/or get hold of some RCA leads. It would certainly be a lot cheaper than getting it checked out, but if you can afford it then it's a good option. As @gibbsy says, see if you can take all your kit in with you so they can connect everything up and see where the problem is along the signal path.

Keep us informed! :)
 
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Maybe I shouldn't suggest this, but where abouts are you? I'm sure someone on here local would be happy to help in a hands on way
 
Hi all. Been using some brain power and as I'm a little desperate to have things set up I'm thinking of moving the Auralic into the office so I can use the LCD 2s (would that work?) and then use a different amp to power some other speakers we have and keep the 22s safe until I'm in a better position to sort it all out! What do you think?

From the bottom of my heart I cannot thank you enough for your input and ideas. This community is amazing! I've got a few things I need to start selling and christ knows how I'm going to find out what it all is!
 
On behalf of all of us (taking a liberty but...) we are all happy to help. Maybe you could list all of what you have (make and model if possible) and between us we can try and come up with a system that works best for you.

The kit you have, thanks to you late husband, is pretty top notch and worth getting working. I am sure if you took it into a friendly shop they could quickly tell you if it does or doesn’t work.

There maybe even someone local on here that can meet you at the shop for moral support / techie speak translator. I would happily do so but am just too far away unfortunately.

I’ll try and get a diagram of connection for you in the next day or so and some suggestions of things to try, hopefully that may pinpoint the problem, but the kit you have deserves to be used and listened to and should be very good indeed.
 

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