Are my speakers supposed to do this?


Hi all. Thanks for reading this thread. I just put a new preamp (Eastern Electric Minimax) into my system and am noticing some weirdness in my speakers. When everything is on but no music is playing I noticed that both the left and right drivers of my monitors (Tyler Acoustic taylos) are moving forward and backwards very slowly but at a very steady rhythm. Takes about a second for them to move forward and then another second to move back. They repeat this cycle until I turn the amp off. This doesn't seem normal to me. I never noticed this with my previous pre. When I play music through the system it seems okay, no obvious distortion although I do notice my drivers moving (from my listening position 7 feet away) in a similar way - slow in and out although it doesn't seem as cyclical.

When I first put the Minimax preamp into my system there was a very loud hum and some static pops coming through the speakers. I lifted the ground on the pre with a cheater plug and the hum & static went away.

Did I damage my speakers? I want to try and trouble shoot but am afraid that damage already may have been done and I don't want to make it worse.

Thanks.
tooter
I think the problem is with the tubes, but not because the tube is going bad, but because it's a low quality brand.
When I got my tube amp, I've experienced similar problem, but I could also hear the modulation that appeared at approx 1 cicle per second. I replaced a pair of GE 6k7 tubes with a pair of RCA 6k7g and modulation stoped.
Try a different brand for a pair of 12au7.
I was told that the high frequency, that was out of audible range and that is why my midrange drivers were modulating as opposed to the woofers. The DC I believe is direct current as oppossed to AC. My problem was related to electrical components not tubes. I did swap to the tubes first to prove that they were OK and hopefully you have a source to try that.
Zoya,

Thanks for the suggestion. I just tried replacing all tubes with better NOS and no change in the situation.
Check the line voltage because if it is too low, the power supply may be in the pre may be oscillating. It could also be DC leakage.
Bobby@merlin