Slightly weird problem, any ideas?

My setup is by some standards, a little weird perhaps.

I have two amps. One a speaker amp - an Onix OA21. The other a headphone amp - an ANT Amber.

I have 2 sources. One a sky box. The other my DAC.

The problem that i have is that I can find no way to get satisfactory results of getting these two sources to play well to both amplifiers at the same time.

Why would I want to do this, you might ask? Well, I have tried the headphone amp to the tape loop of the Onix. Unlike many amps I have owned, the Onix must be turned on to get a sound out of the tape loop, and even when its turned on, the sound gets butchered by the tape out - very noticably worse. Its the only amp i've ever done thats featured such degradation in signal quality through the tape loop.

So instead, I have a strange setup, whereby i have my sources into a maplin source switch box, a setup designed to go between multiple sources and a single amp, where that amp has only a single input.

However, as I have two amps, I am using RCA splitters, to split the signal. This worked ok for a while, but I am sensing that perhaps there is slight quality loss doing that also. Worse than that though, its now cutting out intermittently. Clearly its not designed for this purpose.

Now I am facing the prospect of potentially selling the Onix, something I do not particularly wish to do, as it is a very nice sounding amp otherwise, and fits into the tight space that its currently installed in. Buying a new amp would mean buying a rack as i wouldnt be able to have all my kit where it is now, as i currently have all my gear tightly located within a TV cabinet! Extra expense.

Also, although my DAC has multiple inputs, I have kinda broke one of them (very delicate) and in any case, my Sky box was pretty much unusable with it, as every time a channel was changed, it loses its lock and you have to get up and reset the DAC. Not much use for that. Works fine with the SB3 though.

What I was after, if there is such a thing, is a dedicated, decent quality switch box that can switch between multiple sources and output to more than one amp. Sort of similar to what i have now, but hopefully without the intermittent sound cut outs and probably quality loss of using splitters on a switch box that i have now. Does anyone know of such a product, as i havent seen such a thing. Or will i be resigned to selling a bit of my kit?

 

My guess is that the Onix may be broken. I had a OA21 many, many years ago (I bought it new) and I also had a Sony Walkman Pro which I occasionally used to record Peel and the odd record, I certainly don't recall the tape outs being of poor quality. It might be worth getting it looked at / serviced by someone.

Tony.

 

I'm not sure if the tape out needs the amp to be on or not, but the Cyrus 3 is a great amp and probably about the same cost as the Onix.

I'm tempted to buy it myself only I don't have a system to use it in. But it is such a lovely amp. By far the best Cyrus amp IMO.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CYRUS-3-INTEG...DVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item250056761832

 

Something sounds wrong. My Onix doesn't need to be on for the tape out to work, the tape out drives 10m of interconnect into the next room with no problem, and it sounds absolutely fine. Not sure if anyone can service Onixes nowadays, but it certainly sounds unhealthy.

-- Ian

 

Hi Tony, I have not owned any other amp that had to be switched on for the tape out to function, which led me to believe that the sound was being meddled with. Thing is, because i am using a fairly revealing headphone rig (Sennheiser HD650) its easy to tell that the quality is degraded somewhat from the original. Its just not as crisp, feeling a little hazy, down on detail and power. Perhaps a walkman was not able to resolve it? But maybe the Onix is tired? Who knows. I was given a price of around £100 the last time i asked about it being serviced, and i could probably get £100 for it, i dare say £200 would buy a pretty decent newer amplifier these days.

Tenson, thanks for the suggestion, but arent Cyrus amps a bit bright and lean sounding? If it is it wouldnt fit into my system. The Onix offers a nice warm sound, that i like.

 

Everything after the 3, yes. So the 3i onwards. Thats why the 3 is the best one they have made. It has the most lovely warm and involving, but not overblown sound. You can also upgrade later with a PSX-R. Please buy it so I don't have to keep drooling over it!

 

does the onix cutout with the signal sent directly to it, missing out the switching box and splitter?

 

No. The cutting out is audible on both amps, meaning the problem lies around the switchbox area - probably the flimsy RCA splitters. Not an ideal solution.

Looks to me like i am looking at the prospect of a new amp.

 

Well just a wee update guys, it looks like some of you were right, and my decision has been made for me really, but my Onix has just kicked the preverbial bucket. It has lost one of its channels, after making some strange noises.

R.I.P. Onix OA21