2. amps-preamps
  3. 1326265162

TRL Dude or Joule 150 MKII for Major Pre Upgrade

Thinking of either of these for what I view as a huge pre upgrade in my system. Current system is:

-Celestion A3
-Krell KAV250a (500 wpc/4 ohms).
-Nohr CD-1
-Rotel 995 preamp

I am looking to pickup warmth, depth and much more soundstage. Quality bass is also important to me. I want to keep the Celestions and feel that my current pre is the weakest link. Will also will update my digital source and ss amp down the road.

My thinking is that it will be worth paying up a bit for a higher quality pre that I can grow into.

Also I have a small naive question...with either of these pre amps will the sound difference be that great compared to the Rotel.

Thanks...any comments are appreciated.

-Iggy
iggy7
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,517 posts
 
Well the amp seems to be the issue after more testing. I tried using Blue Jean cables that are well shielded, but the buzz continues. Again, with the preamp off and unplugged the buzz continues.

I measured as Ralph stated and could not get any reading on my ohm meter (too low) when testing for ground on the RCA 's and the middle (ground) on the AC inlet of the amp. My meter measured too low to read on the (m)ohm setting.

I tried shorting out all 4 xlr inputs between pin 1 & 3 and still have the buzz. This Buzz was not there when my previous Soundlab speakers were in the system. The buzz came for the first time when I replaced the Soundlabs with a passive speaker.

I am at a loss. I spoke with Aesthetex and they had no answers. I will try them again now, but they also seem stumped.
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,517 posts
 
I meant to say I measured no ohms. I assume getting no ohms means there's no connection from the signal ground as measured at the RCA socket to chassis. Same with the power cable ground to chassis. The chassis has no resistive connection and seems isolated from everything.

This does not seem good to me.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,874 posts
 
Hi Grannyring, if the the chassis is grounded to the middle pin of the IEC, but there is no resistance (open) between the RCA ground and the chassis, then the chassis can act as a sort of antenna- and thus can can buzz.

A resistor of about 100 ohms (1/2 watt) between the RCA shield and chassis should take care of it if this is the problem. If it were me this would be the next thing I would try, based on the measurements you have reported.

Keep posting...
vett93
205 posts
 
Atamasphere, if Grannyring's Dude is like mine when I first got it, the chassis is not grounded to the middle pin of the IEC.
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,517 posts
 
Mine preamp's chassis is indeed grounded to the middle pin of the iec. Again, the buzz comes when the preamp is off and unplugged even. I have an amp issue. I called Aesthetix today and they gave me some other things to measure on the amp.

I will report back on how this ends up so all can learn. Thanks to all for the help.
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