erik_squires

Responses from erik_squires

Vacuum Tube preamp with my KRELL KAV 250a, a no no......WHY?
Regarding the power going out or flickering during storms: I have both preamp and amp going straight into fresh/new sockets in the wall.  Whenever there is even the slightest prediction of a storm, I yank the power cables on both until the threat... 
Vacuum Tube preamp with my KRELL KAV 250a, a no no......WHY?
Hey @judsauce - If a tube swap fixed your issues you have your answer. Any leakage at the outputs would not change based on the tubes, AFAIK. In either case, this problem is super easy to measure. Get a multimeter that measures at least down to 0... 
Vacuum Tube preamp with my KRELL KAV 250a, a no no......WHY?
Ps, recapping updates power caps, rarely signal caps.  
Vacuum Tube preamp with my KRELL KAV 250a, a no no......WHY?
May be worth putting this into perspective.  Your typical SS pre may have +- 15V rails.  You could put your tongue on that and survive. A tube preamp, like an old TV or amp, has potentially lethal voltages.  
Vacuum Tube preamp with my KRELL KAV 250a, a no no......WHY?
To help explain, the maximum voltage in an amp is around 8V for pro audio gear, and around 2 I think for consumer. So even a few millivolts offset can cause a pop. The issue isn't just the offset it's a step.  So consider a preamp that's off, but... 
Vacuum Tube preamp with my KRELL KAV 250a, a no no......WHY?
@immatthewj  - It's usually a little DC.  DC = direct current which can happen from leakage or a preamp which doesn't settle at exactly 0 volts. Easy and save enough to measure.  Any multimeter will let you know how much DC offset there might be ... 
Vacuum Tube preamp with my KRELL KAV 250a, a no no......WHY?
OP: Tube preamps use high quality film caps that usually have a life span longer than ours, but failures do happen and they may be small (few millivolts) to larger. The input coupling caps on amps may vary depending on the quality of the amp. Lo... 
Vacuum Tube preamp with my KRELL KAV 250a, a no no......WHY?
The combination is often used and can be a magical. The tech is being overly cautious, but not entirely making things up. Solid state preamps and tube preamps produce the same output voltages when working correctly. The issue with tube gear is th... 
Tandberg 2030 inputs/antennas.
Depends just how far you are.  Generally the attic is a great location as it's high up and not going to attract lightning.  I had about a 4' long whip antenna from a company now gone that worked great, I think Magnum Dynalab now sells some too.  ... 
Mood
I’ve had this happen and eventually traced it down to Class D amps being off all weekend. They took about 48 hours or more to warm up.  Others have had similar experiences. Not sure if it's all amps, or just ICEpower, but mine for sure.  
Focal v Wilson
It's true that this particular Wilson has a 2 Ohm impedance dip in the bass, but the Focals tend to not be great there either.  They tend to dip in the "punchy" part of the mid-bass and are unusually sensitive to the current delivery of an amplifi... 
Still the demons of GAS pursue me
@jnovak  As part of that was the idea of a flat frequency response to rule them all. I'm very much a fan of EQ, either from subtle adjustments in tone controls that are transparent, or DSP in the subwoofer path, but otherwise I think we still exp... 
High Pass Filter for Mains
Want to point out that even if you do use an analog crossover, a DSP EQ on the sub is still beneficial.  I would say if you can leave your high pass for your main amp and let the DSP handle the low pass for the sub, and everything else you'll find... 
High Pass Filter for Mains
Op: A single cap is 6 db/octave. Keep in mind that total rolloff is additive   A sealed speaker is 12 db/octave so adding 12 = 24 total  
High Pass Filter for Mains
A single cap, and plugging the ports can be very effective.   Hsu speakers also makes custom 2nd order line level