Tube Life

HBombToo
HBombToo Posts: 5,256
edited November 2004 in 2 Channel Audio
my preamp has been turned on for 2 weeks.

I hear no distortion yet. I'll report back in 14 days:p

I believe I know where to get a replacement for every tube. Should make for an intersting finding.

h:rolleyes:
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Post edited by HBombToo on

Comments

  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited November 2004
    Is that the big **** pre you got from Russ? Is it safe to leave tube pre amps on all the time?

    Maurice
  • HBombToo
    HBombToo Posts: 5,256
    edited November 2004
    Yes and wow does it sing. Fortunatly the company sells tubes. I see no issue with leaving tube gear on thats why I'm doing this. We'll see how long.

    HBomb
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited November 2004
    My tube pre with 4 6922's has been on for almost 3 years. I've turned it off a couple times but it takes about 3 days warmup time before it sounds right again.
    madmax
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
  • HBombToo
    HBombToo Posts: 5,256
    edited November 2004
    Originally posted by madmax
    My tube pre with 4 6922's has been on for almost 3 years. I've turned it off a couple times but it takes about 3 days warmup time before it sounds right again.
    madmax

    Is that your AIM3A Max? I love the sound of my AIM!
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited November 2004
    That is the one. It sounds pretty sorry before warmup but afterwards it is great. Although I hear the phono preamp is really good I don't think mine is doing any justice for my particular cartridge. I would look for a different pre but don't have the funds right now.
    madmax
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
  • HBombToo
    HBombToo Posts: 5,256
    edited November 2004
    Originally posted by HBombToo
    I see no issue with leaving tube gear on thats why I'm doing this. We'll see how long.

    HBomb

    that time ended. Funny story and I'll try not to get long winded.

    Sherry made me get out of bed just before dawn due to a sound loud enough to sound like a crash or break in. I jumped out of bed, pulled the jeans on quick, left the lights off and tip toed down the hall. There was dead silence in the house as I hit the top flight of stairs and my heart stopped pounding. I listened for what seemed an eternity and the silence persisted. I flipped the lights thinking if it was a break in they would use the light to get out quick but the silence never broke. I found nothing wrong from inside or out so I went back to bed. While drinking my coffee in the theater the following morning, the crashing sound occured again but now was more distinct. It sounded just like the top shelf of cupbaord coming down. I checked all shelves and anything hanging from walls. Nothing was found but led me to the cave.
    Later on I finished moving furniture around in the cave and began firing up the computer when it happened again. It was a 2 part popping from the SDA's. KAAAA - BAMMMM but the low freq was very defined and I heard the echo through the house. I shut the Quicksilver and allowed it to cool. In a couple hours I fired it back up and put in a disk and the sound has never resurfaced.

    I believe static build up on the grid circuit is the probable cause. With as low power as a preamp is I figure it is safe to leave it on while shutting off my solid state amp which requires little to no warmup time. This helps is protecting my SDA's while I'm not in the cave.:D So an issue was found and I stand corrected; however, a solution was found to safely leave the preamp on.;)

    Sorry for quoting myself but justed wanted to make clear its all about living and learning.

    HBomb
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  • HBombToo
    HBombToo Posts: 5,256
    edited November 2004
    BTW, I hope all has enjoyed the Holiday.

    Henry
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  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited November 2004
    Sorry to hear about that. Is the pre ok? Maybe it was just the tube that went bad.

    I experienced the same loud 'explosions' you did when I had my ASL pre connected to my NAD SS amp. I didn't know you were suppose to turn off the ss amp before the tube pre. I turned off the ASL while the NAD was still powered up and KAAAABOOOOM!!!. It was so violent that it sent the NAD into protect mode.

    Hope everything turns out ok with your pre. Do you have spare tubes you can swap?

    Maurice
  • HBombToo
    HBombToo Posts: 5,256
    edited November 2004
    The pre is just fine and there is no apparent damage to anything. I'm not really sure why the popping was happening and all I can do is speculate. My fix is simple by shutting down the ss amp.

    Funny thing is that I had the tunes on for the majority of Saturday and Sunday after I power cycled the pre and the popping never happened again. The Quicksilver is just a great preamp IMHO.

    HBomb
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