My amp is toast


Earlier today while lisening to my system my ML333 went up in smoke. While it is probably repairable but at what price point. It had just been recapped when I bought it and still in the warentee period but that was several years ago. Needless to say I am now considering replacing it. I had looked at Pass Labs prior but could not come up with a reasonable argument for upgrading then. I am considering Pass X-260.8 pair monoblock at the upper limit of my budget or  X-250.8

I run a ARC LS27, PS DirectStream & PS Memory Player, a Magnum Dynalab  MD 809T Internet Radio Tuner and a CR-7a tapedeck with Shahinian Hawks.

I like the mix from tube feeding ss and I am pretty happy with the remaining components and see little reason to do any additional upgrading. Suggestion, comments welcome, possible other avenues worth considerine....
stevea11757
stevea11757
Just get the  ML333 repaired whatever the cost, the only manufacturers that make them like this that can almost double the wattage for each halving of impedance loading down to 2ohms, are amps the likes of Gryphon, D'Aogostino, ect ect.

Cheers George 
i cannot imagine that you can't fix it for a few hundred $$.  Compare that to new amps!
When you say "went up in smoke" can you be a bit more detailed and precise?
To one earlier comment - even if its "only a resistor" the question is "why?" (which is certainly more than a resistor). Something failed or shorted.
It took the breaker on my furman out twice, the first time I was in another room and other than seeing that all the equipment on the power conditioner was out I did not hear or smell anything odd. While looking for a cause I did notice that the amp was slightly warmer than usual as it was on for a short period of time and I was not pushing it, rather it was on as background while I was working on a different project. Locating the popped breaker on the conditioner, I reset it, fired up the equipment a piece at a time and when I turned on the amp and took it out of standby there was a sound coming from it, not a pop of a cap but something else then a fair amount of smoke before it tripped the breaker.

After some research, I am hoping that something in the power end went, maybe a resistor or a power cap and some wire? As soon as I get it over to the shop I will get a better idea. Just put the Bedini in its stead, no where near the power but perfectly acceptable for the time being....