Pookie,
First off how old is your amp?
First off how old is your amp?
More newbie tube questions
So far so good with my McIntosh MC275 but I had a few more tube questions:
On power up one of the KT88 tubes and a couple of the smaller input tubes flash for a second then settle into the orange glow. All the other tubes in both amps just sort of "wake up" to the orange glow. I tried swapping the tubes and it's the socket. Whichever tube is in those sockets "flash" on power up. Nothing is wrong with the sound or performance (based upon my 6 day experience level) Should I be concerned?
Second, I ordered a complete set of Svetlana Winged C KT88 tubes. Each amp takes 4 and I received 6 with a bias point of 45 and 2 have a bias of 44. According to the McIntosh literature, the MC275 is self-biasing. Since I have NO IDEA what ANY of this means, is it a problem that 2 of the tubes are "off" by one unit? Is this the correct bias for this amp?
Last, the small output tubes say 12AX7A but all I could find are 12AX7 (no A). Is there a difference? I plan on using the Ei Grey plate tubes for these - do they have to be balanced and/or matched? I'm running both amps in mono with the RCA inputs.
On the same vein, I'm also looking to change the 12AT7 to NOS Mullards. Opinions please.
Thank you again for your help. I think this will set me up for awhile.
On power up one of the KT88 tubes and a couple of the smaller input tubes flash for a second then settle into the orange glow. All the other tubes in both amps just sort of "wake up" to the orange glow. I tried swapping the tubes and it's the socket. Whichever tube is in those sockets "flash" on power up. Nothing is wrong with the sound or performance (based upon my 6 day experience level) Should I be concerned?
Second, I ordered a complete set of Svetlana Winged C KT88 tubes. Each amp takes 4 and I received 6 with a bias point of 45 and 2 have a bias of 44. According to the McIntosh literature, the MC275 is self-biasing. Since I have NO IDEA what ANY of this means, is it a problem that 2 of the tubes are "off" by one unit? Is this the correct bias for this amp?
Last, the small output tubes say 12AX7A but all I could find are 12AX7 (no A). Is there a difference? I plan on using the Ei Grey plate tubes for these - do they have to be balanced and/or matched? I'm running both amps in mono with the RCA inputs.
On the same vein, I'm also looking to change the 12AT7 to NOS Mullards. Opinions please.
Thank you again for your help. I think this will set me up for awhile.