New Member and Newly purchased PRS Archon 100 questions

[Lyric]

Update,,, So I spoke with PRS and showed them two videos I made using my phone of the nonstop buzzing hum. They stated it appeared to be malfunctioning or something was definitely not right. They said they’d gladly repair it but stated it could take up to two weeks and that was totally understandable but they stated it’s be much faster to request a brand new replacement through the store I purchased it from. Plus they stated they would rather me have one working perfectly out of the box brand new than to have to go through the hassle of one that will possibly need work and service.

So I contacted the store who totally understood and no issues. The store is sending me a return label and as soon as the defective amp is in UPS’s hands then the store will send me another brand new with next day shipping.

I agree with everything PRS recommended going through the store since I have a 45 day window, plus they (PRS) would rather me have a brand new out of the box amp with no issues and it would be much faster. They were completely friendly, apologetic and more.

So let’s hope this second one is great and I’m sure it will be without a doubt. This was my first PRS product which wasn’t 100% great in functioning wise but things happen sometimes and they (PRS) were very helpful.

 

[dmatthews]

That's exactly the story we all expected to hear.
Cool beans.

 

[László]

Update,,, So I spoke with PRS and showed them two videos I made using my phone of the nonstop buzzing hum. They stated it appeared to be malfunctioning or something was definitely not right. They said they’d gladly repair it but stated it could take up to two weeks and that was totally understandable but they stated it’s be much faster to request a brand new replacement through the store I purchased it from. Plus they stated they would rather me have one working perfectly out of the box brand new than to have to go through the hassle of one that will possibly need work and service.

So I contacted the store who totally understood and no issues. The store is sending me a return label and as soon as the defective amp is in UPS’s hands then the store will send me another brand new with next day shipping.

I agree with everything PRS recommended going through the store since I have a 45 day window, plus they (PRS) would rather me have a brand new out of the box amp with no issues and it would be much faster. They were completely friendly, apologetic and more.

So let’s hope this second one is great and I’m sure it will be without a doubt. This was my first PRS product which wasn’t 100% great in functioning wise but things happen sometimes and they (PRS) were very helpful.

PRS is a great company to work with. Best of the best.

 

[Lyric]

That's exactly the story we all expected to hear.
Cool beans.

PRS is a great company to work with. Best of the best.

I agree 110%

They were very understanding and easy to work with.

Gonna get the defective amp head boxed up and ready to ship out tonight. Still waiting on the shipping label which they said could take the returns department 1 to 2 days which is no problem.

Let’s just hope and pray the next one is perfect I’ll reply back once the new one comes in

 

[dmatthews]

Based on the feedback everyone's had here on the Archon, I bet you get and keep a gem!

 

[Lyric]

Based on the feedback everyone's had here on the Archon, I bet you get and keep a gem!

 

[elvis]

Sorry you had problems, but good luck with the replacement. I love me my Archon, I hope you do as well.

 

[Lyric]

Sorry you had problems, but good luck with the replacement. I love me my Archon, I hope you do as well.

Thank you

Well it wasn’t what I was expecting or hoping for a first time PRS owner -but- it’s all worth it in the end because the Archon sounds soooo beautiful

Currently waiting on the new one to come in via FedEx, excited to begin playing the Archon again

 

[Lyric]

Got the new Archon 100 replacement in today. Just got home from work so I haven’t unboxed it just yet.

 

[elvis]

Good luck! Let us know.

 

[Lyric]

Ok so here we go. I’ve been playing for nearly an hour now and I’ve gotta say it’s a night and day difference. I’m kind of freaked out to say the least - honestly. Something must have been wrong with the other head whether it be a tube or something internally because this things sounds sooooooo much richer, fuller and beautiful. It’s like it’s not even the same amp head. Makes me wonder how the other one passed quality control but it’s possible I would guess that something went bad during transport or whatever because it’s honestly like a totally different sounding amp and that’s a beautiful thing. The only noise I get when switched from Standby to On is a typical 60 cycle hum which I totally can live with lol.

So things I’ve noticed that are still a little blah:

The effects loops works a little bit better but still noisy but that’s mainly when using my Earthquaker Devices modulation pedals. No issues when running MXR modulation pedals so obviously it just doesn’t jive right with the Earthquaker Pedals in the Effects Loop but that’s ok because I ran everything through the front and it sounds beautiful.

Other thing I noticed is that the Lead channel is super quiet when I crank it at 12 o’clock on the Lead Channel volume and use the Master Volume to adjust overall volume but it’s only super quiet if I have no pedals plugged in. If I use my pedal board (with no pedals turned on) then the Lead Channel is a little bit of hum but once I start to play you obviously cannot hear the hum. But I do find it strange that with the same settings and no pedalboard plugged up and I’m just directly hooked via guitar to amp the Lead Channel can be cranked to 12 or more and its quiet. Otherwise if running through my pedalboard with no pedals engaged then the Lead Channel hums a bit more when engaged. I’m using a Voodoo Power Plus 2 for my power supply. Any ideas about the lead channel having a bit of more hum when only running through the pedalboard even when not using any pedals?

Thanks everyone

 

[Deleted member 5962]

That’s more like it! You’re going to LOVE this amp!!!

You may have a ground loop between the amp and Voodoo.

 

[Lyric]

Thanks

Yeah I’m gonna try switching cables up to see about it possibly being a ground loop issue.

 

[László]

Any ideas about the lead channel having a bit of more hum when only running through the pedalboard even when not using any pedals?

I’m guessing it’s a ground loop of some kind, but it’s possible that extra cabling is picking up noise, or something is up with a pedal or the power supply. Cables can pick up noise from all kinds of sources, like wall-warts, being too close to power cords, etc.

If it doesn’t hum when you bypass the pedalboard, it’s definitely not the amplifier.

On rare occasions there can be hum if the pedalboard and amp are connected to two or more different wall outlets.

If the pedalboard is connected to two or more amps at once, you’ll have a ground loop unless the signal ground to one of the amps is isolated.

 

[elvis]

It's a bit of an art form to get rid of ground loops and make an FX loop really quiet. This is true for any amp. And some boxes just don't play well together. If you get to the end of your rope, I've found an isolation transformer like the HE-2 can be a help.

 

[Lyric]

So here is a new video showing the sound I’m getting when going from Standby to On. It’s a short video but I wanna see if this sounds better. I still think myself that it’s a little annoyingly at times.

In the video I have nothing running through the effects loop. I start off with no guitar plugged into the input. I switch back and forth with nothing plugged into the input. The guitar I’m using when I plug into the input is 10 feet away and the volume on the guitar is turned all the way down. Guitar is loaded with humbuckers as well. Just giving what I’m using in case anyone is wondering. But again with nothing plugged into the input how does it sound? I’ve played the video back after recording and exactly what comes across the video is what I’m hearing myself from 10 feet away in the room. Thoughts?

Btw sorry for the dark or not much light. I was trying to capture the video with nothing that would interfere so lights were off.

 

[elvis]

Doesn't seem terribly unusual. Is it the same on clean and gain channels?

For me, the reference is always noise level vs. guitar level, so it would really help to hear the guitar relative to the noise level. If you have the amp turned way low so that this noise is just a bit quieter than the guitar level when the guitar is turned all the way up, that may be a problem. If you then turn the guitar up and it is super loud, then you are just finding that tube amps don't have great signal to noise level.

Also, there is a base noise level that will not change relative to that amp level, such that if you are running the master down at nothing and have a very low output level, you may have a lot of noise relative to the guitar level, but if you turn up the amp, the noise stays relatively constant while the guitar signal get much louder. Remember, this is a 100 Watt amp. So if the noise is not objectionable with the guitar at gig level, that's pretty much what you want. Lots of stuff can get a little wonky at very low volume.

I would finally add that it's not terribly helpful to look at no guitar plugged in. The impedance at the input is completely different with and without a guitar, so I would generally expect more noise and unusual stuff with no guitar plugged in. Some amps have a switch jack at the guitar input so that they shut the amp signal down when there is no cable plugged in for this reason.

In my experience, noise comes from:
Ground hum from poor AC power sources. Power conditioners can help, but are really more for protecting from surges. If the outlet you're on runs through the kitchen, it may have the refrigerator on the same line. If the ground is not present inside the AC outlet, or not well-connected, it's not terrible effective.
Ground loops
Guitar too near amp (the amp gives off electromagnetic interference)
Amp too near TV monitors, computers (this is a very common problem when recording), AC motors (Air cond, refrigerator, etc).
Running the amp at very low volume.

 

[Lyric]

Doesn't seem terribly unusual. Is it the same on clean and gain channels?

For me, the reference is always noise level vs. guitar level, so it would really help to hear the guitar relative to the noise level. If you have the amp turned way low so that this noise is just a bit quieter than the guitar level when the guitar is turned all the way up, that may be a problem. If you then turn the guitar up and it is super loud, then you are just finding that tube amps don't have great signal to noise level.

Also, there is a base noise level that will not change relative to that amp level, such that if you are running the master down at nothing and have a very low output level, you may have a lot of noise relative to the guitar level, but if you turn up the amp, the noise stays relatively constant while the guitar signal get much louder. Remember, this is a 100 Watt amp. So if the noise is not objectionable with the guitar at gig level, that's pretty much what you want. Lots of stuff can get a little wonky at very low volume.

I would finally add that it's not terribly helpful to look at no guitar plugged in. The impedance at the input is completely different with and without a guitar, so I would generally expect more noise and unusual stuff with no guitar plugged in. Some amps have a switch jack at the guitar input so that they shut the amp signal down when there is no cable plugged in for this reason.

In my experience, noise comes from:
Ground hum from poor AC power sources. Power conditioners can help, but are really more for protecting from surges. If the outlet you're on runs through the kitchen, it may have the refrigerator on the same line. If the ground is not present inside the AC outlet, or not well-connected, it's not terrible effective.
Ground loops
Guitar too near amp (the amp gives off electromagnetic interference)
Amp too near TV monitors, computers (this is a very common problem when recording), AC motors (Air cond, refrigerator, etc).
Running the amp at very low volume.

On the Clean channel I have the Clean Channel Volume at 8 o’clock and the Clean Master Volume set at 12 o’clock.

The Lead Channel I have the Lead Channel Volume set at 12 o’clock and the Lead Master Volume set at about 8 o’clock.

When I engage the Lead Channel the hum is a lot more apparent or what not but I assume this is mainly due to being that it’s a Lead Channel and being driven. If I go past 12 o’clock on the Lead Channel Volume the hum is pretty apparent and not great to play over lol. But the hum is louder than the Clean Channel. Of course once I start playing on the Lead Channel I cannot hear the hum over the sound.

When playing on the Clean Channel I can hear the hum slightly under my playing coming through. If I turn the Clean Channel Volume up higher the hum does get louder.

I will say the hum is in no way as obvious as with the previous head but it’s still slightly there.

I’ll try some more fiddling around to see what I might get.

 

[elvis]

I would recommend running clean channel volume higher and master lower. The reason is that each amp stage adds noise. Amplifying the guitar signal earlier vs. the noise generally gives less overall noise than attenuating guitar and amplifying guitar plus noise later.

If you play the guitar lever relatively loud (gig-ish level), with the clean volume up to at least 10:00, what is the noise relative to the guitar volume? It's not unusual at bedroom volume to have noticeable noise relative to guitar volume, but at a bit too loud for home use volumes, noise should be much less than guitar volume.

I would try other AC outlets in other rooms just for comparison.

I would also try another guitar cable. Guitar cables can get very noisy.

 

[Lyric]

I would recommend running clean channel volume higher and master lower. The reason is that each amp stage adds noise. Amplifying the guitar signal earlier vs. the noise generally gives less overall noise than attenuating guitar and amplifying guitar plus noise later.

If you play the guitar lever relatively loud (gig-ish level), with the clean volume up to at least 10:00, what is the noise relative to the guitar volume? It's not unusual at bedroom volume to have noticeable noise relative to guitar volume, but at a bit too loud for home use volumes, noise should be much less than guitar volume.

I would try other AC outlets in other rooms just for comparison.

I would also try another guitar cable. Guitar cables can get very noisy.

Ok so I’ve spent the last 3 hours trying to figure this all about and I believe I have come to a good area.

I pulled the amp with cab a little further from the wall but it didn’t make much of a difference. Next I started testing each pedal individually. I’ve noticed that the Earthquaker pedals in the chain do add a bit of a small hiss or hum, nothing to bad but yeah. Most of my pedals are powered by my Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2 but I had a couple pedals that I didn’t have room for that I used 1 Spot power supply adapters but I didn’t daisy chain - I only ever used just the adapter to the peda by itself but still even though I didn’t daisy chain and just used two of the 1 Spot power adapters single wise I noticed if I didn’t use these adapters period it cut out some hum as well. Next I used all new patch cables and this seemed to have cut a bit of hum as well. The last two things I noticed is if I place the Voodoo Labs Power Plus 2 further away then it helped with hum and lastly if I face certain directions then the amp is pretty much dead quiet except for the typical silent sound of the amps power.

So in all l I feel like I’ve come to a good area. I might end up selling the couple of Earthquaker pedals because I find myself not so much in love with them like I once did. I have two Electro Harmonix pedals that I’ve been eyeing for some time now that could replace 4 of the Earthquaker pedals on my board.

But I think I’m all good now and very happy with my results I’ve come to find. I was able to get both the Clean Channel and Lead Channels both pretty silent except for just the most faint amp power sound.