2. amps-preamps
  3. 130714-1659

Help with a new Tube headphone amp blowing fuses

Received a new headphone amp this week to replace one from same manufacturer that is still serving me well but wanted to try a little more power, new amp 1.4 watts versus a .35 watt on the older one. Have about 25 hours on new amp and turned it on this morn loaded CD and after about a minute the music was replaced with an elevated fuzzy noise right before fuse blew, replaced fuse and it blew a second or two after turning unit on, saw nothing unusual going on with the tube glow, replaced New amp with the older amp in system and all is well. What are the possibilities of fault here, would like to handle myself without having to send back to Japan for warranty work.
tooblue

Showing 3 responses by atmasphere

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,640 posts
 
, just got my Yamamoto tube headphone amp back from the shop here in Houston and the diagnoses is that it has a bad transformer, that he could not get parts and that he would discard it for me and save me a trip.
Red Flag!

If the power transformer is bad, the manufacturer will want to see it! Any good technician would understand this, unless the unit is years old and out of warranty.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,640 posts
 
The tube glowing oddly does not happen all the time.

Remove the power tube and run the unit. Does the fuse blow? If yes => it needs service, probably in the power supply. If no => install the tube and try it again. If you hear odd sounds, tap on the tubes and see if any respond. The socket might be loose (but that usually won't blow a fuse unless its the grid connection on the power tube that is loose) which can make crackling and popping sounds. So you have to sort out which is which. Sounds like it would be a good idea to obtain a spare power tube regardless since they are not all that common.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,640 posts
 
Raindances is one of their better albums.

@tooblue , what happens if you replace the power tubes? Does it still blow the fuse?
More to discover