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Random pop sounds in my system are scaring me

Hi, I need some help and expertise on this potentially expensive situation! The last few times I've powered up my 18wpc SET amp it has been plagued by some startling "pop" sounds at random intervals. The amp switch is in the mute position, with no source selected and yet at random intervals I hear an alarming pop sound coming from the speakers. The volume of the popping isn't SUPER loud, but it does startle me and has me worried. The weird thing is, sometimes it happens, sometimes it does not. I'll have to do some more testing, but I haven't noticed this happenig when a source is actually playing through the speakers. When I bias the tubes immediately after hearing a pop, I don't see any weird numbers or behavior on the bias meter. The amp is only about 3 months old and it took so long to get, I'd hate to lose it! I know it could probably be a million different things, but does anyone have an idea of what might be happening here? Help!
Thanks!
mbleming
beerad
40 posts
 
I had the same problem a couple of monthes ago. I swapped my tubes left to right, the sound followed. Replaced the bad tube (kt88), no more popping. I hope this is your problem; cheap and easy fix. good luck
jaiello
50 posts
 
I vote for a bad tube. As has already been suggested swap the tubes from left channel to right and see if the popping sound follows the tubes. I had this once with some 300B tubes that went bad after a very short time so that's the reason I lean toward suspecting the tubes.
no_regrets
362 posts
 
You may try cleaning tube pins as well as the tube sockets. The tube internals may be perfectly fine.
lak's avatar
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lak
4,545 posts
 
I agree sounds like a bad tube.
As Beerad and Jaiello said try the tube swap and post the results.
mbleming OP
33 posts
 
First, thanks to everyone who has offered their help and expertise on this, I'm new to tubes and need all the help I can get. I played around a little bit last night and I could reproduce the pop when I plugged and unplugged my phono stage. The weird thing is, it didn't happen every time! I have no idea what it could be, does the problem lie with the amp itself or my wall outlets, or both? Again, this is a new problem, only within the last week. It's strange because I was hearing it on its own, withough plugging or unplugging components...only today it happened when I plugged/unplugged my phono stage.
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