2. amps-preamps
  3. 181403-178782

Wiggle kt170 base

Hello everyone,

 

The sound on my tube amp was pretty good with the kt170. But I made a mistake. I took out the 4 kt170s and put in kt120 to understand the differences more. Next day I put back the the kt170 each into their exact slot from before. 

 

There is hissing on the right speaker and a rare medium pop now. The very left kt170 has a very slightly loose base. Does this affect sound? I have no more intention of removing the kt170s if the loose base doesn't affect sound I'm fine to leave as is. 

 

Could you teach me more about this hissy sound? I didn't touch any of the pre-amp tubes and they are all mostly nos. The hiss is softer today than it was yesterday.

128x128samureyex

Showing 2 responses by samureyex

samureyex's avatar
samureyex OP
102 posts
 

Hi fellas,

 

That orange/red base at the very bottom is very slightly wiggly from the metal part. I've tried to adjust all the tubes randomly and the hiss/static is still there but very low db now. Like those old tvs when the channel has no signal. The hiss slightly got louder randomly and then went back down. In the past it has been totally silent. No big deal. I don't think this little mishap is worth more of your time. Ty, I'll ask for more help if the situation gets worse.

 

One quick question. So the amp has 4 power tubes and 4 preamp tubes. If the issue is the right channel that usually means it's the 2 tubes on the right side?

samureyex's avatar
samureyex OP
102 posts
 

Long story short. The culprit is actually 1 of the nos preamp 717A tube I bought last month in pair. I've reversed those 2 tubes and the hissing has migrated to the left channel. I've taken those tubes out entirely and replace with something else and the hiss has disappeared entirely. 

 

So weird for 1 to develop hiss just when I swap back in some power tubes. Welp. Guess it's time to try the famous Tesla ef806s I've always wanted. Haha

More to discover