2. amps-preamps
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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
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?
opiv1
23 posts
 
I own a AI M3A and i haven't had any tube eating problems although I do use a pair of pearl tube coolers on the line stage tubes. This preamp has a pair of switches that drop the gain down it could be that only one of the switches is set to low gain and that the right channel is still set to high gain so your system has too much gain on that side which causes a lot of hiss depending on the system especially if you have a solid state amp. I would check this first since it would cost nothing to fix if that were the problem.
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.
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
Trailrunner,
M3a phono section will not suffice for the descent analogue setup.
Much wiser investment will be for AE3 and separate phonostage such as EAR834P. Alltogether you gain performance on both linstage and phonostage sides.
bigtee
803 posts
 
The M3A has an excellent phono section. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Is it the best, no. Is it good enough to build around for an excellent analogue system, darn straight.
Your hiss is the tube in the channel making noise. AI has had some tube issues (all Sovteks are not created equal). I have used these preamps for years and currently use an L-1. I bought a pair of "Rocket" tubes from Upscale Audio for $30 each and they sound excellent and are really dead silent. I also bought a pair of matched Sovteks from AI which are also dead quiet. I went through a bunch of noisy Sovteks a while back with a M3A. Other tube brands will work but be real careful where they come from. AI has a recommended tube list on their web sight. Check it out.
I use the L-1 with 3A Sigs. It provides top notch performance as did the M3A.
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