What Do You Hear When Your Amp Needs Biasing?


Hi, Everybody,

I was listening to my rig the other day and noticed that some (but not all) closely miked recordings of female singers (Diana Krall on some of the cuts on "When I Look in Your Eyes" comes to mind) sounded a bit edgy or harsh. I checked the bias on my Manley Mahi amplifiers and found that some of the values on the multimeter, which should have been at 250, were as low as 240. I made the bias adjustments and, lo and behold, the vocal tracks sounded better. So I'm wondering what, in general, is a tipoff that a to be of a fire needs to be biased?

Thanks!
rebbi
On my Ayon Spirit II I audibly hear certain piano transients as having a ringing to them. Also, harshness in clarinet, some vibes transients, and some sibilance in female voices. What rectifies this situation is biasing to ensure that all 4 tubes are at the ideal setting, and moreover, that they are set identical to one another. When the adjustment is done, these distortions/harshness issues go (almost completely) away --- being reduced drastically.
Your amp need bias if it is sounding too neutral and uncolored. I recommend playing Rush's show to increase the bias on the right channel but since Keith is off the air I don't know what to use on the left channel.
More often than not I'll think I hear something off, check the bias and it's still dead on. There was one time however that a certain piano concerto I'm very familiar with sounded a bit zingy, so checked the bias and one of the power tubes was way off.

Most of the time though I think it's pretty hard to hear the small wanderings that are common.
What does the manufacturer recommend as to when you are suppose to recheck bias on the amp? That is the criteria I would use.

enjoy