Playmaker goes dead, (due to Beolab issue?)

9 replies
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gkotur (archived2)
Bronze
223 posts
Posted September 3, 2019 at 15:48 GMT
#2127439

 

Hi,

In January I bought a pair of white BL12-3s which I´m very happy with. For ease of use I also found a used Playmaker MK2 and bought that too. It turned out to be exactly what I needed. Very happy with the option to switch track and also adjust speaker balance from the Beo4.

Some two weeks ago the sound suddenly disappeared from the right channel. The Beolab still turned green when on and red when turned off. Of course I tried adjusting balance, factory resetting the playmaker and switching the “speaker role” to left for the right one and right for the left one. When also this indicated that the issue followed the playmaker I connected it to a pair of Beolab4000 with other cables and also via line in on the playmaker to rule out airplay transmission as the issue.


After this I concluded that the playmaker was dead (on the right channell). I was then super happy to find a playmaker listed and sold locally for 50€, so I picked it up the next day. It all worked well even with long distance to the router and the 2nd playmaker being a MK1. 

However now after little use during a bit more than a week I have the same issue with the new one. Only difference is that the sound level is now also very low on the left channel, and again dead on the right channel. Same test procedure gave the same result, the playmaker is damaged.

 

Now to my question.

-has anyone else had the same experience with the playmaker?

-has anyone had the experience with any sound master that a Beolab speaker “kills it”?

 

Thanks in advance

//Goran

 

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gkotur (archived2)
Bronze
223 posts
Posted September 6, 2019 at 14:45 GMT
#2127440

any suggestions welcome, as currently I don´t dare to try yet another player via Powerlink

BR  //Goran

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BeoMegaMan (archived2)
Bronze
596 posts
Posted September 6, 2019 at 18:07 GMT
#2127441
Out of curiosity are you daisy chaining the speakers?
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gkotur (archived2)
Bronze
223 posts
Posted September 6, 2019 at 18:56 GMT
#2127442

Nope, connected to the playmaker with one of those

https://soundsheavenly.com/bang-olufsen/27-313-rj45-powerlink-compatible-splitter-new-powerlink-to-two-8-pin-din-powerlink-compatible-sockets.html#/20-length-02m

Also tested with cat6 cable directly to speaker after the issue occurred

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BeoMegaMan (archived2)
Bronze
596 posts
Posted September 6, 2019 at 20:06 GMT
#2127443
Switch the speaker switch to the right side on the speaker in question. If it plays for a prolonged period you most likely isolated the problem to the speaker itself and probably down to the input or amp. Hope it helps.
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gkotur (archived2)
Bronze
223 posts
Posted September 6, 2019 at 22:26 GMT
#2127444

Hi BeoMegaMan, thanks for taking your time.

Not quite sure I follow. If I switch speaker role to right channel it goes quiet.

 

Do you suggest switching it to the still working side (i.e. left) of the playmaker, and letting it play to see if also that channel of the playmaker is than damaged. And that would in turn indicate that it is the speaker that is the root cause?

 

Isn't the LED on the speaker supposed to turn orange in case of an error, or are there errors in the speaker that aren't caught by the self diagnosis?

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BeoMegaMan (archived2)
Bronze
596 posts
Posted September 7, 2019 at 13:21 GMT
#2127445
Apologies for It not being clearer. On the back of each speaker itself there is right and left channel selector toggle. Switch the speaker that is cutting out to the opposite selection of the toggle. Then let it play.

Not all errors will throw light codes. Especially if it’s input related.
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gkotur (archived2)
Bronze
223 posts
Posted September 16, 2019 at 16:22 GMT
#2127446

That was clear BeoMegaMan, as I mentioned that was the way I started troubleshooting, switching the toggle.

I have now disconnected the left speaker and set the toggle of the right speaker to "left" and connected it to the original MK2 playmaker. it has played like that for a week now without issues.

My question was if you are at all suggesting that a Beolab speaker can somehow give a current/voltage back on any of the Powerlink pins and by that “kill” the player?

Thanks for taking your time

//Goran

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gkotur (archived2)
Bronze
223 posts
Posted October 26, 2019 at 18:36 GMT
#2127447

Hi,

So now some 6 weeks later the playmaker and one Beolab12 is still paying, without issues. Can it really be that I had that much bad luck to get two Playmakers that got faulty within weeks?

1) Has anyone got any ide if a power amplifier as the one in a Beolab can by a fault give a pulse of some kind that “kills” the pre-amp as the one in a Beosound or Playmaker? Or should I just try to find yet another Playmaker and hope for the best.

2) Has anyone experienced or heard that Playmakers are sensitive to lightning strikes? I vaguely recall that there were funder storms during the period that the playmakers were damaged. But that it would in both cases only affect the right channel is again a bit of a mystery.

Thankful for any advice or insight

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