2. amps-preamps
  3. 1049313084

Need help w/ Audible Illusions M3A

First off I'll say that I'm new to owning tube gear and appreciate any advice Audiogoner's can give. I own an Audible Illusions M3A and it has developed some "hiss" in the right channel. It's loud enough to hear when the system is idling from 12 feet away, and therefore fairly annoying. It doesn't sound as though the performance is comprimised any other way though. Time for new tubes? If so, any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,

Scott

associated equipment:

Audio Research D-200
Theta Data basic
California Audio Labs Sigma II
Vandersteen 2CE
Synergistic/XLO cables
Tice Solo
trailrunner1

Showing 4 responses by trailrunner1

trailrunner1 OP
10 posts
 
I guess I should add that the reason I bought the M3A, is that I plan to get a turntable at some point in the near futur and wanted to have the flexibility at that time, so for now I'll just use the line stage.

Are there any good resources on the web besides Upscale Audio to source tubes?
trailrunner1 OP
10 posts
 
Opiv1: Thanks for the response, what kind of tubes are you running with sucess? Also, are the gain switches inside the preamp?

Thanks for the help.
trailrunner1 OP
10 posts
 
Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I switched tubes R/L and the hiss followed it, so it appears it is a tube going bad. Everyone talks about how hard the M3A is on tubes, and Kevin @ Upscale Audio claims that my preamp would destroy a pair of Siemens or Bugle Boys inside of a week. Anyone have experience with this? If so, are there good sounding options other than Sovteks? Thanks again.
trailrunner1 OP
10 posts
 
Bigtee - what kind of source componentry are you using?
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