Why did this fix my problem?


I have a deHavilland mercury preamp and Thor TPA 60 EL34 based monoblocks. My amps input impedance was 100k ohms and the Mercury is a cathode follower which I understand needs a minimum 10k ohm load. I was having a problem with the amps going into wildly fluctuating bias and would have to shut them down. Upon restart the bias would hold for a short period and then the whole process would start over. After 6 months of sending the amps to Thor who found them in perfect working condition I sent to a repair company that specializes in vintage and tube equipment. After a week on the bench the amps never acted up. I put the tech in contact with deHavilland and they decided to lower the input impedance of the amps to 47k ohms. It has been six months and I not only have never had one problem, the sound of these 2 components is just glorious. Anyone know why this worked?
leatherneck1812

Showing 3 responses by almarg

I assume that the interconnections between the two components were via unbalanced (RCA) cables, since the preamp does not provide balanced outputs. I see that the amp has both unbalanced and pseudo-balanced inputs. I presume that there were no jumpers or other connections on the XLR inputs.

This is just a shot in the dark, for which I can't formulate a precise explanation, but perhaps the problem would not have occurred if the amp's inverting input on XLR pin 3 had been grounded (e.g., with a jumper connecting that pin to XLR pin 1).

With the original 100K input impedance, the unconnected inverting XLR input would have more closely approached a "floating" condition, compared to when the input impedance was subsequently changed to 47K. That would perhaps have made it more likely that the amp would behave in an uncontrolled manner. Without detailed design information on the amp it is probably not possible to say what that behavior might have been, but an oscillation of some sort seems conceivable to me.

The different (and probably lower) output impedance of the NAD that you temporarily connected would have changed (and probably reduced) the impedance between the non-inverting input signal path of the amp and ground. Again, without having specific knowledge of the design of the amp's input circuit it's hard to explain precisely how that might have prevented the oscillatory condition, but it seems conceivable to me that the changed circuit conditions might have had that result.

Regards,
-- Al
My amp doesn't have any xlr inputs though. I am assuming you read the review on the Crescendos in Stereo Times ....
Right you are! What misled me was the reference in the review to "... the TPA-60, now known as the Crescendo," together with the indication that a pseudo-balanced input is provided.

So I have no further theories to offer, other than a general suspicion that some kind of design marginality existed in the original 100K configuration, that in turn was sensitive to the output impedance of the connected component.

Best regards,
-- Al
Thanks, Ralph (Atmasphere). That does all sound like a plausible (and clever) explanation. Never woulda thunk it myself, though :-)

Best regards,
-- Al