@jambaj I have read about (and observed on YouTube) noises (i.e. hum) that do not change volume when the volume control is adjusted on tube gear. It can be due to the design of a specific brand of tube.
It is related to the actual "design" of the plates and heater within the tube. Sometimes changing the tube to another brand will fix this situation.
Unfortunately there is no way of knowing which brands will work
So far I have only heard of one other incident from an Audiogon member where a hum was observed on a tube power amp after installing a Helix power cable. But that amp had a lot of tubes, so trying to debug the issue proved to be a challenge, so the member just used his previous cable
Can you try
Do you have any different brands of tubes you can try?
I would try the old cable again - if the noise is still there then it might be due to a tube that is close to failing?
BUT - Why did this happen with the Helix Cable?
Unfortunately, component designers can push their designs very close to a "limit" to squeeze out every ounce of performance
Keep us posted on your progress
Regards - Steve
It is related to the actual "design" of the plates and heater within the tube. Sometimes changing the tube to another brand will fix this situation.
Unfortunately there is no way of knowing which brands will work
So far I have only heard of one other incident from an Audiogon member where a hum was observed on a tube power amp after installing a Helix power cable. But that amp had a lot of tubes, so trying to debug the issue proved to be a challenge, so the member just used his previous cable
Can you try
- reseating the tubes
- switching the tubes around
Do you have any different brands of tubes you can try?
I would try the old cable again - if the noise is still there then it might be due to a tube that is close to failing?
BUT - Why did this happen with the Helix Cable?
Unfortunately, component designers can push their designs very close to a "limit" to squeeze out every ounce of performance
- they do not know what components and cables you will be using with their product
- so changing something as simple as a power cable can cause issues.
- the root cause of that failure was in fact the speaker cables being used - not the power cable
- the new power cable allowed the amp to work more efficiently, which caused it to exceed a "threshold" and the amp failed
- once the speaker cables were changed the amp worked perfectly with the new power cable
Keep us posted on your progress
Regards - Steve