Any way to reduce pre-amp noise floor?


I have had my CJ ET3-SE tubed pre-amp for about a year now. When my system (McCormack DNA 500 amp, Esoteric X-05 CD, Aerial 10T speakers) is on and the CJ is set to "0" volume there is dead silence. However once I move the volume to to any level above zero ( no music playing, of course!) I hear a very soft but audible white noise. When I return the volume to zero the noise vanishes. This concerns me because I suspect that once the music begins to play, this noise floor becomes part of the overall sound.

This is my first "separates" system so I'm not sure if this is just a standard preamp phenomanon or if it is perhaps a sonic signature of CJ or if there is some real issue that needs to be fixed or can be tweaked. Any comments/suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
shoff

Showing 2 responses by sdp6716

I also have a et3se and have the same problem with the hiss. It is loud enough to hear clearly from the listening position. Where do you get NOS 1960 Amprex 7308 tube?
Thank you all for the info. I spoke with CJ directly and bought a new EH6922.

At the same time I asked about tube rolling with a 7308. They advised against. They said ok to swap but stick with 6922. I thought the 7308 was the same tube. Is this not the case? I definitely don't want to risk damaging my new - in warranty pre-amp.

I also am wondering about how quickly the last tube developed the hiss. It's only 200 hrs old. I've read about the high gain in the ET3. Is it going to go through an expensive vintage tube that quickly??