What do defective phono tubes sound like?


I have noticed some rather loud energy discharges when playing LP's.Sort of an abrupt popping.Not unlike static discharge.I do not get this with my digital playback.
The ONLY change made to my system lately has been a new arm.The problem began immediately "after" it's installation.It was just fine with the previous arm.

I don't want to make this an "arm" mfgr thing(and will not mention arm name)but wonder if the phono tubes in use(very NOS Siemens CCa's,with low hours)can be the culprit.

This is making me pull my hair out,and I have little already.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
sirspeedy
Sirspeedy,
If you changed the tubes and you are still experiencing the same results. To narrow it down even further ,borrow a table from a dealer.Any model that you can plug into your system.
Or a phonostage from a dealer or from one of your buddies.

I know its even more work ,but it will tell you right away if it is your new arm.

However I suspect its not.

The out standing quality of your new arm would not have left the factory untested and checked over thoroughly, me thinks.
Stilty,the phonostage can be had,I think.The tubes are most suspect as of now.

As to the arm....I am not so sure about that,due to circumstances which my loyalty may have attributed to.One reason why "if" it is the arm(and it is not taken care of promptly)I will be "peeved"!!

As I said,I am taking a day off Tuesday,to rol up my sleeves on this.
Thanks to ALL for actually giving a darn!
>>What do defective phono tubes sound like?<<

A whiney, complaining, syrupy, effeminate, please feel sorry for me, sort of sound.

Can you hear it?
Sirspeedy, your description of the problem sounds like a static discharge to me. If the arm is improperly grounded it is possible for it to *not* hum, but have discharge problems, especially with low humidity. The needle tracking the LP will create the static charge and if not drained off by the grounded arm, you will get a random static 'pop', which can be quite loud once amplified by your electronics!

A hint is that this problem showed up when you changed arms. If the prior arm is available, I would swap it in and see if that sorts it out. If not, I would test the arm to see if it is really grounded correctly. BTW the turntable should be grounded to the arm too. If not, that can cause static discharge too.