EDIT: Might not be worth reading what's below. I received an email from Gold Note informing me that one of the steps I followed was supposed to (and did) cause the unit to "play dead." (Might have been smart to include that little tidbit in the directions.) I've subsequently run through all of the steps to upgrade the firmware and, viola! It's done. Still have to hook it up and see what happens, but I am OPTIMISTIC! Possible victory, snatched from the jaws of defeat? We'll see.
My Gold Note PH-10 phono preamp is dead! Kaput. Breathless. Pulseless. Nada. Zilch. Fuck!
Over the past week or so I'd been noticing that there seemed to be more sound coming from the left channel than the right when playing records, the kind of thing it's easy to think (and hope!) I'm imaging. But using headphones I was able to verify the problem. Fiddling solved it a few times, but then yesterday, the right channel dropped out completely. I problem-solved as best I could to determine it wasn't the Quad pre-amp or amp, because there wasn't any problem with input sources other than vinyl. Also, the problems with vinyl playback remained when plugging the phono pre into different inputs on the Quad.
Last night I emailed Gold Note directly and received an email suggesting it could be a matter of updating the firmware, which I was excited about because I hadn't thought of it and it seemed like a viable option. Only problem is that the first step of that process is getting the unit to display the current firmware version, and the steps for that process didn't work. Back-and-forth with Gold Note service and it was suggested (based on serial number), eventually, that my unit is "so old" that it probably is missing a "boot loader," which is why it wasn't displaying the firmware version, and also why it wasn't recognized by three computers when connected via USB. ALSO, and this one burns, it was suggested that without a boot loader, the power unit I also had purchased with the PH-10 (the PSU-10) probably wasn't doing anything more than providing power (which I took to mean it wasn't providing the conditioning it was built to provide). Yeah, that hurt$$.
Anyway, after receiving instructions for installing a boot loader, I started the process and noticed the unit was dead. No standby light, no power, nothing. Figured maybe I'd blown the fuse, so went through way more trouble than should have been necessary to find a replacement, and that isn't the problem. What a bummer. Now I have a lovely paper weight, as I wait to hear from Gold Note about next steps.
In the meantime, no vinyl! Which is almost comical given that I have over 10 turntables and almost as many integrated amps, but no other phono pre-amps, and the Quad doesn't have a phono input. I could conceivably set up an integrated that does have a phono pre, but man, that would be a pain in the ass.
Anyway, no place else I can vent about this, so I've tucked it deep in the Technical Difficulties thread.
Woe is me.
List please
