2. amps-preamps
  3. 161387-96791

Constant noisy tubes maybe go solid state?

I have a Quicksilver Line Stage Preamp (12AT7) mated to an Odyssey Khartago Stereo. Overall I like it. Way too much gain but I digress. Weeks after receiving it I rolled in a few different tubes, kinda fun to color the sound signature. I liked rhe RXA black plates I got and those stuck around for more than a year. They started going microphonic and making noises so I ordered another pair (noisy) then another different vendor (blasts of white noise) and another set that arrived today (one is noisy as holy hell and one seems fine).

So where does one order preamp quality tunes that are quiet? Is there something I’m not requesting when ordering? Maybe dump
snd go solid state? I’m trying to be humorous because I’m pissed. Ha.
gochurchgo
gochurchgo OP
898 posts
 
@leemazei got Mullards and they are, after 60 or so hours now making noise. I’m going to try to return them to upscale and switch back to the RCA’s.
Unless this is somehow electrical
noise then this preamp is a tube destroyer, although I went a year with the same set and had no issues. Go figure.
Pretty fed up. All I want to do is play music, not spend and-into fortunes shipping tubes.
leemaze
329 posts
 
Oh boy - what a bummer!  Did the replacement RCA from Brent sound good?  Let us know if Upscale takes those back?
axeis1
279 posts
 
To the OP: The Best tube vendor is Andy Bowman at Vintage Tube Services. He’s been at this for 30years! He’s as honest as the day is long. 
gochurchgo OP
898 posts
 
Went and threw on the 12db attenuators I had and now everything is dead silent. All the tube noise I have been getting (which didn’t get louder with the volume pot) now gone below the threshold of the attenuators. I’m pondering snagging a 6db pair just to see what that does.

So by this, if I theoretically could lower the gain of the QS to say <8 FB gain then I should have no issues. Right? Or is it non linear and I’m over simplifying?
alchemyman
21 posts
 
Get some ECC83 JJ gold pins. Very reliable -- not expensive.  Mullard NOS are not bad, RCA clear tops. Tesla 803c in place of 12AX7 are nice, but hit or miss as to what you can find.

Try here:
https://www.amplifiedparts.com/tech-articles/12ax7-comparison-current-made-tubes
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