[ryanhayn]

i just noticed how small the jacks (correct name?) are on my portaphile. they're only held on by three small dot sized solder points. this worries me. it seems like they're just waiting to snap off. my penguin cmoy's jacks are screwed to the tin...so i know they're secure. am i making a big deal of nothing? is it okay to put some kind of rubber cement/shoe goe type thing on the inside of the portaphile to help reinforce the jacks? it would make me feel better.

 

[Pete7]

Yeah, you probably should be worried...I'm going to have to contact Cesar about sending in my Portaphile v2^2 for repair. Of guess what? You guessed it- the output jack. I can't get any kind of secure connection from a source anymore. It started out pretty minor, the sound would cut in and out if the cable moved at all, so I taped the cable in place to the amp so it wouldn't move. That worked for a couple weeks and no longer does. It's like the jack itself no longer functions. Luckily it's not my only amp.

 

[ryanhayn]

how did you break the jack? what headphone/adaptor were you using?

 

[Pete7]

I was using a Cardas 6" mini to mini cable and I didn't "break" it. The connection in the jack just degraded over time to the point where the amp does not function anymore. I've had it since December. Apparently, those solder points you were talking about are a little too delicate, but it's not the jack actually falling off you have to worry about.

 

[Big G]

I doubt its the Solder joints, more likely to be the tabs inside the jack itself losing tension over time, due to Cable tension, movement.

I had the same thing happen with my first Grado 6.5mm to 3.5mm adaptor, the prongs had little tension on them and any movement of the cable would cut the signal to one chanel.

Unless its a cold solder joint, i doubt you could break the jack from the board even by force...with the amp assembled and with reasonable use I really doubt this would happen.

To reduce strain on the jack I suggest using a flexible interconnect, Ive just received my Audiolineout4ipod dock / cable, very elegant solution, and sounds better than the Kimber Kable mini to mini I was using.

Contact Cesar if you have an issue, he will take care of it immediately.

He stands by his work.