Just swap the left and right channel tubes. If the trouble moves to the right channel then you will know it is a bad power tube. New EL34 tubes are only about 15 bucks each. I have used JJ EL34L power amp tubes and found them very nice. If you want to retube that amp, take a look at the Tube Depot site . BTW,I think the preamp tubes are the more important choice when choosing tubes. Keep that Amp!
Conrad Johnson CAV 50
Just acquired this beauty from my father in law. I've never owned a tube amp, so not sure if I should sell it, or keep it and pay him. Anyway, a question for you tube heads. One of the EL34 tubes in slot V7 ( a tube which can have it's bias adjusted, which I assume means the power transmitted) has it's red light constantly on. I turned the bias all the way down and it still flickers. However, I noticed that my left speaker sounded blown/distorted. When I turned the bias up, the distortion decreased. The instructions say to turn the bias down/counter clockwise, until the red light goes out. But, if I do this, it sounds bad. So, my question is this. Is it simply a tube I need to replace to fix that problem, and if I change one tube, should I change them all. Next question is I searched for the EL34 tubes and of course there are a large variety of them. Any thoughts. To me the amp sounds little bright with the Celstion SL6's I am using, so any warmer tubes would be nice. Also, if I were to sell this setup, any idea on what I might ask on pricing? Thanks.
Roly
Roly