2. amps-preamps
  3. 134032-70

Rectifier Hum

I have a Dennis Had Inspire Fire Bottle SEP HO amp that supposedly will work with just about any rectifier. I was using a new Gold Lion GZ34/U77 for a while and recently noticed a low hum from my subs. Took everything apart, checked cables, etc., and finally got to the tubes and discovered that swapping out the GZ34 with a Shuguang 274B fixed the issue. Assuming the GL had gone bad, I bought another GZ34, a JJ this time, stuck it in and there's the hum again. I also tried the originally supplied JJ 5Y3S and it hums also, but less than the Gold Lion or the new GZ34…why? I don't want to send the amp back to Dennis as it does work fine with the 274b, but it's on my mind so I seek counsel. Help me…help me…Atmasphere? 

wolf_garcia
davidpritchard's avatar
davidpritchard
866 posts
 

Why not E-mail Dennis Had and get his opinion. He is a talented designer who is also approachable. I hope you will share his opinion with the Audiogon community.

David Pritchard

wolf_garcia OP
6,708 posts
 
I did and haven't heard anything yet.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,841 posts
 
If I recall correctly, the tube rectifier in your amp is bypassed with a solid state device as well. This is making me wonder if its snubbed properly. If not, it could certainly contribute to hum. Tube rectifiers on their own don't need to be snubbed.

The term 'snub' refers to a network, usually a resistor and capacitor, that prevents the capacitance of the rectifier from interacting with the inductance of the power transformer in such a way as to form a tuned circuit with a resonant peak. If that peak occurs, the rectifier will make noise. Its a bit more complicated than that but that's it in a nutshell.
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