Have you tried connecting the tuner, CD or MP3 direct into the amp? That would test whether the pre-amp is the problem. Then connect something else to the speakers, another amp or whatever, and drive them to the same volume level. That would tell you if its the speakers. You have a lot of stuff going on any or all of which it could be, kind of need to narrow it down some.
Budget system for building retro look console
Hello Audiogon,
I brand new to audiophilia. I got into restoring tube radios recently and had some success; and just loved the analog (tube) sound, which then sparked my interest in consoles. I priced vintage consoles and found them to be cost prohibitive so because I am pretty handy at building cabinets i figured I'd build one myself and utilize vintage hi-fi components. So far I assembled the separates (Hafler DH-100 pre, Speakercraft BB275 amp, Phillips 777 TT, Denon DCM-340 CD changer, and a Yamaha TX-900 tuner). I got everything used from ebay for $50 or less, except the pre-amp , which i paid a bit more for. I also built some kit speakers (Tritrix MTMs). I re-capped and replaces the ICs in the Hafler DH-100 from kits I got on ebay. After being reworked, the pre-amp has a lot of (too much?) bass response that is muddy (not crisp/clean). Both channels and all input modes have this problem; my guess is that there is a power supply problem. How bad this problem is really depends on the source, some music and recordings sound okay (like jazz or acoustic music), while rock and soul and busy (fuller) types of music generally sound pretty muddy. My ears aren't what they once were so I not sure if I'm just pumping too much base into the 5" woofers or if I have a bit of distortion on the lower bass frequencies. I can play my MP3 player directly through the amp and speakers and the bass is at a normal level and sounds cleaner, although the overall sound is very thin from the MP3 (as you would expect). I don't pretend that I'm good at soldering so I'm wondering if bad solder joints could cause this type of problem. Also, I noted that the positive power and negative power are not balanced (14.85, -15.15); pretty close but? I've checked ohms and voltages all around and did not find any balance issues other than that. My next step is to replace the JFETs (again) and put sockets on them so I can pull the JFET leads and bypass the muting circuit, which I read could be problematic. Any suggestions on what else I can do to diagnose this issue?
Thanks
I brand new to audiophilia. I got into restoring tube radios recently and had some success; and just loved the analog (tube) sound, which then sparked my interest in consoles. I priced vintage consoles and found them to be cost prohibitive so because I am pretty handy at building cabinets i figured I'd build one myself and utilize vintage hi-fi components. So far I assembled the separates (Hafler DH-100 pre, Speakercraft BB275 amp, Phillips 777 TT, Denon DCM-340 CD changer, and a Yamaha TX-900 tuner). I got everything used from ebay for $50 or less, except the pre-amp , which i paid a bit more for. I also built some kit speakers (Tritrix MTMs). I re-capped and replaces the ICs in the Hafler DH-100 from kits I got on ebay. After being reworked, the pre-amp has a lot of (too much?) bass response that is muddy (not crisp/clean). Both channels and all input modes have this problem; my guess is that there is a power supply problem. How bad this problem is really depends on the source, some music and recordings sound okay (like jazz or acoustic music), while rock and soul and busy (fuller) types of music generally sound pretty muddy. My ears aren't what they once were so I not sure if I'm just pumping too much base into the 5" woofers or if I have a bit of distortion on the lower bass frequencies. I can play my MP3 player directly through the amp and speakers and the bass is at a normal level and sounds cleaner, although the overall sound is very thin from the MP3 (as you would expect). I don't pretend that I'm good at soldering so I'm wondering if bad solder joints could cause this type of problem. Also, I noted that the positive power and negative power are not balanced (14.85, -15.15); pretty close but? I've checked ohms and voltages all around and did not find any balance issues other than that. My next step is to replace the JFETs (again) and put sockets on them so I can pull the JFET leads and bypass the muting circuit, which I read could be problematic. Any suggestions on what else I can do to diagnose this issue?
Thanks
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