adjusting the bias on an amp YBA

if your amp does not have a external biasing adjustment, you will have to open up the amp and adjust the biasing internally, at this point you will be subjecting your self to extreme danger! this is only some thing you should do if you know what you are doing. what you should do is ask how much it would cost to install an external biasing adjustment to your amp. that way you can do it your self when ever you need to (safetly). Joseph.c

Adjusting the bias refers to the operating point of the output transistors. If the transistors aren't always "on" slightly, there will be a discontinuity at the zero transition point which would actually be visible on a scope with a small signal. The audible result would be high distortion with low signals, while loud ones wouldn't be as bad. If the bias is too high, power is wasted doing nothing but heating. The bias is adjusted using an aptly named "trim pot" which has a screw slot. Sometimes they are multi-turn pots, but not in a YBA Integre for some reason. It is user serviceable depending on the user and his equipment of course. Sometimes the trim pot gets dirty and just needs to be moved to clean it. You can adjust it if you know the spec. and have a millivoltmeter, or are good at reading a scope trace.

Thank you very much for the responses. Very interesting stuff (to me anyway).

I have another YBA Integre which is an 8 year old Dual Transform model. I have pretty efficient Cabasse speakers. For some reason that old Single Transform has this magical sound with my speakers that the Dual Transform can't produce. It sounds good but just not the same presentation. I'm not that much into audio anymore but I always thought it was kind of counter-intuitive.

That sounds to me like there is something amiss with your DT. I'd suggest getting it checked out. Everybody else I know that's heard both, including myself, likes the DT better.

The reason it buzzed is that the bias drifted and it was set so high that it made the transformer audibly buzz. This is fairly common. You need a voltmeter, a plastic screwdriver and instructions to adjust the bias (with the case open). There are high-voltages in there, so only attempt this if you are skilled in technicians work.

Other than the buzz (which became distortion), would adjusting the bias affect the overall character of the sound presentation?