Strange and scary amp/cab incident..

[rednebb]

I have two Matrix Q12A's, but I've had some problems with one of them mysteriously switching itself on and off unexceptedly, so I bought an Ehx 44 Magnum for backup. I tried it for the first time with my AX8 and Matrix Q12A (bypassing the power amp, using the speaker input only) for a band rehearsal yesterday, and it did a very decent job. However, when hooking it up, a strange and scary thing happened:
I must have messed up the order of the cables somehow, and when plugging in the 44, there was a little "poof", and some smoke and a bad smell of something burning, emerged from the back of the speaker.. I instantly unplugged the cables and the power supply of course, and was afraid I had destroyed/"fried" the Q12A and/or the 44 (or even worse; the AX8..) I'm not actually sure what I had done wrong either, but after calming down for a few minutes, I tried to plug it in again, ensuring I did everything right this time, and to my pleasant surprise everything worked just fine, and did so for the almost 4 hour long rehearsal. I was very happy about this of course, but I'm a bit baffled also, since I thought the combination of these three things; a "poof", smoke, and a burning smell, most certainly would indicate that something was being "fried"/damaged severely..?

 

[chris]

these three things; a "poof", smoke, and a burning smell, most certainly would indicate that something was being "fried"/damaged severely..?

that is typical of something being fed too much power, usually the wrong power adapter on a digital type device. you probably killed the Q12A power amp power. the passive speaker would still work.

 

[Lightningboy]

I have two Matrix Q12A's, but I've had some problems with one of them mysteriously switching itself on and off unexceptedly,

Contact Matrix support when you can and book the GM unit in for repair. It's a simple fix for the switching on/off problem or we can talk your local tech through the process. Obviously if the connection of the .44 has damaged something else, it may be a bit more involved but generally we've not come across something unrepairable yet!

 

[rednebb]

that is typical of something being fed too much power, usually the wrong power adapter on a digital type device. you probably killed the Q12A power amp power. the passive speaker would still work.

No, the Q12A was not "killed" in the process, I tested it afterwards, and it worked fine . When I tried it with the Magnum 44 the power was of course switched off as it's supposed to be when using it in passive mode (at least I got that right..) And there were no wrong power adapters involved, I used the Magnum 44 with the original power adapter (and it also worked fine afterwards).

 

[rednebb]

Contact Matrix support when you can and book the GM unit in for repair. It's a simple fix for the switching on/off problem or we can talk your local tech through the process. Obviously if the connection of the .44 has damaged something else, it may be a bit more involved but generally we've not come across something unrepairable yet!

Do you work for Matrix? Anyway, I contacted Matrix earlier about this, but we agreed that shipping the unit to them for service/repair wasn't a very economical option, since I live in Norway.. They also sent me instructions for how to maybe fix it myself (if the problem actually was what they suspected it might be..), but it just seemed like an easier option to just buy an EHX 44 Magnum; which I had been thinking of trying out anyway. With the Magnum I also have the convenience of being able to easily adjust the volume, which is much more inconvenient with the Q12A; trying to find the tiny knob on the back of the cabinet on a dark stage..