Line 6 Spider 2 not working, suggestions

[jscballer]

My room mate has this amplifier and yesterday, it started acting up.  When you play it plays the note loud, but it dies out right away and it sounds really gross and muddy.  Also it seems as if one of the speakers isn't making any noise.  I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions or places to check first.  Thank you.

[gavnook]

You could check if the headphone out still gives a good signal, you at least know if the problem is in the power amp or not.

[Zappacat]

First off, you should have told us which one it is.  Previous advice about checking the headphone output is correct first step.  There are several Spider II's.  The smaller(lower wattage) ones have the audio amplifier IC screwed directly to the flimsy chassis.  I've seen a lot of them that got over-torqued at the factory.  When they get hot they expand and crack.  Assuming it's the audio amp IC you need to replace it.  There are ways to test this and you need to do it before you try to remove the old one and replace with a new one.  Inspect the audio amp IC and get the number off it.  In some case the writing is so small I can't read it so I take a picture of it with my digital camera in high resolution macro mode so I can see it clearly on the computer monitor.  After you find the audio amp ic number look up the datasheet on google.  You'll see what pins are getting the preamp input/power amp out/power.  Test these to make sure it's the audio amp IC before trying to desolder it and put in a new one.  Local place in Kansas City(electronics supply company) wanted $15 for a replacement audio IC(spider III 15).   I got 5 of them new off ebay for $6 shipped.  And I thought Radio Shack was bad!

The following picture is NOT what your audio amp IC will look like.  This picture was taken of the previously mentioned Spider III 15.  I took this picture of the old one and labeled it.  I ended up breaking the audio amp IC apart with a pair of pliers so I could get to the pins.  This way, when I get the new ICs I can use small alligator clips to test it before i do any small soldering work.