REL Strata III - faint crackle/pop sounds

the popping sound may be just the turning on of the rocker switch but I doubt very much if the crackle is. You could turn off the unit and plug it into a multi outlet strip then turn on the strip and see.

I have several RELS, and they make noise turning on. I don't think I would describe it as a crackle. A thumpycrackly sort of noise... My STrata rocker switch light has been flickering for years... Come to think of it, these make a bit of noise shutting down as well. So, how does the thing sound when playing music? See where I'm going with this?

My unit has always made a pop/hum sound when first powering on, but the issue I'm having is after the unit has been switched on. There's a faint crackle sound, kind of like what an old, dusty record sounds like.

Frankly, I haven't tried to play much through it since I've started hearing the crackling sound - I don't want to aggravate any issue the unit might already be having. And plus, since I've heard the crackling, I know that's the only thing I would hear anyway.

My Strata switch light burned out a long time ago. =)

I had a similar problem with my Stentor 111. Not sure if it what you have but there were crackles on turn on and during play at times as well and I used to keep my unit on all the time. It turned out the be the protection circuit and the problem was with the traces in the board itself and a whole new board was needed. This was available via the REL distributor for around $200. No problem since it was replaced. It was very frustrating so I hope this helps.

To follow up on this thread... I finally ended up calling Sumiko Audio because I happen to live nearby in Northern California. I worked with Kendra in customer service and she was very helpful in arranging for diagnosis and eventual refurbished replacement of the amplifier board ($100).