Question for valve amp owners.

[Al ears]

Help needed. Before I talk to Tom Evans tomorrow just wondered if any can help with problem.

Yesterday I noticed a clicking sound, almost static like pops coming from right hand speaker. This continued regardless of input selection and until I powered down the amp.

Seems to start after power amp has warmed up a little and I swapped the speakers over whereupon it comes from the left-hand speaker now.

Question:- If one of the valves is failing would it give this effect?

Just thought this most likely cause and it's the first valve amp I have owned.

 

[plastic penguin]

Help needed. Before I talk to Tom Evans tomorrow just wondered if any can help with problem.

Yesterday I noticed a clicking sound, almost static like pops coming from right hand speaker. This continued regardless of input selection and until I powered down the amp.

Seems to start after power amp has warmed up a little and I swapped the speakers over whereupon it comes from the left-hand speaker now.

Question:- If one of the valves is failing would it give this effect?

Just thought this most likely cause and it's the first valve amp I have owned.

Can't answer the question, but checked on the tinterweb and found this. Look at #6

 

[Al ears]

Help needed. Before I talk to Tom Evans tomorrow just wondered if any can help with problem.

Yesterday I noticed a clicking sound, almost static like pops coming from right hand speaker. This continued regardless of input selection and until I powered down the amp.

Seems to start after power amp has warmed up a little and I swapped the speakers over whereupon it comes from the left-hand speaker now.

Question:- If one of the valves is failing would it give this effect?

Just thought this most likely cause and it's the first valve amp I have owned.

Can't answer the question, but checked on the tinterweb and found this. Look at #6

Thanks PP. I have found similar and specifically relating to hifi amps. As the pops continue for a short time after I power down I am pretty certain it is a valve.

Good job TEAD is just down the valley.

 

[stevebrock]

Sounds more than likely an output valve - I am sure Tom Evans will diagnose the problem.

The joys of owning valves eh !

 

[Infiniteloop]

Might it just as possibly be a capacitor?

 

[Al ears]

Might it just as possibly be a capacitor?

A possibility I suppose,but I am betting on a valve. Should find out tomorrow or next day.

 

[Al ears]

Sounds more than likely an output valve - I am sure Tom Evans will diagnose the problem.

The joys of owning valves eh !

There is a joy indeed with this amp combo.

And, for the record, they are all output valves. It's a power amp. It's got 8 EL84's configured as one big one.

 

[stevebrock]

Ya beauty

 

[Covenanter]

In the old days (1960s) we would tap the top of each valve lightly with the handle of a small screwdriver. If you heard a sound on the speakers it was a pretty good sign that the valve was going.

Chris

 

[Infiniteloop]

In the old days (1960s) we would tap the top of each valve lightly with the handle of a small screwdriver. If you heard a sound on the speakers it was a pretty good sign that the valve was going.

Chris

Ah yes. The Microphony test. - Some of us still do it!

Tube dampers can squeeze a bit more life out of a hard-to-come-by favourite, if it's on its way out.

 

[Al ears]

Thanks guys, it's off to the good Mr.Evans tomorrow for an MOT.

 

[pyrrhon]

Thanks guys, it's off to the good Mr.Evans tomorrow for an MOT.

You should swap the tubes from left to right and see If the noise swaps too.

 

[Al ears]

The problem in going to Tom Evans for repairs ( turns out it was valves after all), is that his boundless enthusiasm and excitement having you listen to his latest Mark2 kit is so overpowering you just know you have to have it.....

He is quite correct though, the very discernible difference in sound quality, cohesion and totally low distortion figures mean it's going to cost me a few hundred to upgrade.

I'm starting with the phono preamp as I am pretty sure this is where most benefit will be seen. However, if he is correct and the upgrade to the Linear A blows a pair of Linear B's out of the water, then I am sure the power amp will be getting the treatment at some point.

Apart from being an amplifier wizard it would appear he is also a very good salesman

 

[Andrewjvt]

is that his boundless enthusiasm and excitement having you listen to his latest Mark2 kit is so overpowering you just know you have to have it.....

He is quite correct though, the very discernible difference in sound quality, cohesion and totally low distortion figures mean it's going to cost me a few hundred to upgrade.

I'm starting with the phono preamp as I am pretty sure this is where most benefit will be seen. However, if he is correct and the upgrade to the Linear A blows a pair of Linear B's out of the water, then I am sure the power amp will be getting the treatment at some point.

Apart from being an amplifier wizard it would appear he is also a very good salesman

Once youve heard it though sounding so good tou have to ha it . I know i would

 

[Vladimir]

The problem in going to Tom Evans is that his boundless enthusiasm and excitement.

Line A blows a pair of Line B's out of the water.

Apart from being a wizard it would appear he is also a very good salesman.

Sounds like a very good upgrade Al!

 

[Al ears]

The problem in going to Tom Evans is that his boundless enthusiasm and excitement.

Line A blows a pair of Line B's out of the water.

Apart from being a wizard it would appear he is also a very good salesman.

Sounds like a very good upgrade Al!

Well edited. Say hello to my liddle friend.....

P.S.: no relation to the man in the video, honest.

 

[Vladimir]

The problem in going to Tom Evans is that his boundless enthusiasm and excitement.

Line A blows a pair of Line B's out of the water.

Apart from being a wizard it would appear he is also a very good salesman.

Sounds like a very good upgrade Al!

Well edited. Say hello to my liddle friend.....

P.S.: no relation to the man in the video, honest.

I was exactly like that guy in the video when I heard my first decent valve amp through a pair of old EV PA boxes, playing Muddy Waters Folk Singer. *wacko*

 

[Al ears]

The problem in going to Tom Evans is that his boundless enthusiasm and excitement.

Line A blows a pair of Line B's out of the water.

Apart from being a wizard it would appear he is also a very good salesman.

Sounds like a very good upgrade Al!

Well edited. Say hello to my liddle friend.....

P.S.: no relation to the man in the video, honest.

I was exactly like that guy in the video when I heard my first decent valve amp through a pair of old EV PA boxes, playing Muddy Waters Folk Singer. *wacko*

If you were exactly like the guy you should have been rich enough to buy it, and that classic LP.

P.S.. to be technically correct the Linear A is a hybrid.

 

[Vladimir]

It was a Yamamoto DIY clone. If you want it, you have to build it. Plus it had maybe 8W or 10W, so very efficient speakers are a must. Ideally those would be a DIY kit since high efficiency is rare.
I have yet to try that direction in audio.

 

[Al ears]

It was a Yamamoto DIY clone. If you want it, you have to build it. Plus it had maybe 8W or 10W, so very efficient speakers are a must. Ideally those would be a DIY kit since high efficiency is rare. I have yet to try that direction in audio.

I know what you mean. My amp is, theoretically, only 25 spec but with the beefiest power supplies I have seen and one of the best, sort of affordable, amps I have ever heard. It also weighs 25 kg as I found out today when trying to lug it back upstairs.

Although I have looked into building efficiency speakers from the likes of Wilmslow Audio I have never actually got round to doing so.

As I have found it easily drives my current floorstanders to sufficient levels I am even less likely to go down that route now. Just how he has managed to improve on original design with the new Mark2 version is simply amazing. For the money the power amp upgrade is on the cards after I get the phono preamp similarly sorted.

It had long been my intention to get a full suite of Tom Evans Audio Design amplification and, as soon as I do, he goes and produces a Mark 2 version of everything........ that's life for you.

Just for any forumees that may read this and have never heard of him I suggest they Google him and read the series of 6moons audio reviews, and those are for the original products.

 

[Vladimir]

Holy cow! That certanly wasn't made to entertain middle aged men in the dark with christmassy glowing bulbs. Placing the electronics inside separate metal shells to prevent microphonics. This is serious kit.

 

[Al ears]

Holy cow! That certanly wasn't made to entertain middle aged men in the dark with christmassy glowing bulbs. Placing the electronics inside separate metal shells to prevent microphonics. This is serious kit.

That's correct, however all but the power amps, i.e. anything that doesn't have valves in are in acrylic boxes.

4 x EL84's per side configured as one big one.

This guy really does know his stuff.

 

[Covenanter]

It always amuses me when people speak glowingly about valve amplifiers. I was probably a member of one of the last cohorts to undertake a "valve" course at university. They are the simplest thing in the world to design and a clear case of "less is more". Don't get me wrong, I like valve amps but they just aren't hard to design. Actually solid state amps are much harder to design, especially Class A.

Chris

 

[Al ears]

It always amuses me when people speak glowingly about valve amplifiers. I was probably a member of one of the last cohorts to undertake a "valve" course at university. They are the simplest thing in the world to design and a clear case of "less is more". Don't get me wrong, I like valve amps but they just aren't hard to design. Actually solid state amps are much harder to design, especially Class A.

Chris

Harder to get right not necessarily to design.

The power amp in question is actually a hybrid, which is even harder to design, with noise levels that would shame many solid states.

My personal opinion only you understand. The preamp is all solid state.

 

[Covenanter]

It always amuses me when people speak glowingly about valve amplifiers. I was probably a member of one of the last cohorts to undertake a "valve" course at university. They are the simplest thing in the world to design and a clear case of "less is more". Don't get me wrong, I like valve amps but they just aren't hard to design. Actually solid state amps are much harder to design, especially Class A.

Chris

Harder to get right not necessarily to design.

The power amp in question is actually a hybrid, which is even harder to design, with noise levels that would shame many solid states.

My personal opinion only you understand. The preamp is all solid state.

Not at all hard to get right. Any first year electronics student can design and build a valve amp as good as any that can be made. It's all smoke in the eyes of "audiophiles".

Chris