I could be mistaken, but I thought that Krell discouraged tube pres with their amps, but in a nod to those that insisted, there was an internal switch on some of their amps to help protect them from tube DC. |
Unsound,
That is what I thought that I read somewhere...I'll have to call Krell.
someone just listed here a BAT 50se that he was running with Krell KSA 200s and says that they sounded great together, I'm going to follow up with him to see if he had to do anything internally.
I'm looking at a modwright 9.0se signature...any thoughts? |
I have a Krell 100-S that I run with an Audio Horizon tube preamp, sounds wonderful to me. |
I had a pair of Krell 300S with a Audio Research Tube Pre Amp - LS5 MKII and it sounded great - no problems. |
There is no such thing as 'tube DC'. No preamp, tube or solid state, will make DC at its output if it is working right.
IOW, the idea that tube preamps have DC at their output is a myth. |
I think the "working right" is the operative term. Tube failures are not uncommon. |
Unsound, even if there was a tube failure, DC would not be the result. DC would be the result of a coupling capacitor failure, something highly unlikely in a tube preamp, as said cap would be a film type, which are very stable parts that last decades.
If anything, the electrolytic caps common in solid state preamps are far less reliable!
IOW, what we are talking about is indeed a myth |
Not true Atmasphere, your amps may be of a better quality but I experienced a reasonably high DC offset on a modern preamp that retailed 8 grand; the coupling cap was indeed the culprit. So always measure with a VOC meter which can be had under 20 bucks. |
Atmasphere explain that to C/J. I just got done working on a Prem140 that had Polystyrene film caps at the input and output of a 440Vdc regulated power supply. Every single semiconductor device including 15 zener diodes failed dead short because one of those film caps instantaneously shorted and healed. I've also had to replace coupling caps in McIntosh and Dynaco amps and preamps due to either shorted or leaking coupling caps. It happens far more often than you think, especially in older gear. |
Hifigeek1: what brand were the film caps in your Premier 140? Did your tech report that the faulty origin was indeed the cap? My preamp was a CT-5 and luckily that was still under warranty. Should I worry for my LP140s? |
Polyglot, if you encountered such a thing then the preamp is in need of service. No preamp, tube or solid state, will have any DC at its output. The simple fact is that as a designer you can't count on the amp being used to have a coupling cap at the input. Many amps have direct-coupled inputs so any DC could result in DC at the output, or at the very least, excess distortion.
So all preamps if functioning correctly will have no DC at the output. If otherwise, the unit is either malfunctioning or a bad design, and in either case should not be used. If a manufacturer tries to convince you otherwise, turn around and run as hard as you can.
HiFiGeek1, FWIW, film caps don't short and then 'heal'; that is a paper and oil thing. It should be noted though that if subjected to a voltage above their rating, any cap can arc.
However your example is not one that should be included (although I am sure it must have been a disappointing event). It sounds like you had a power supply failure, not a failure of a coupling cap at the output of the preamp.
I've worked on a lot of vintage gear and shorted or leaking **coupling** caps are quite rare (unless we are talking about vintage solid state- the coupling caps there are often electrolytics). OTOH this is quite common with filter capacitors.
Any preamp, tube or solid state, is capable of failure... what this topic is about is whether a tube preamp in good nick is going to put out DC, and the answer to that is no.
Dynaco and Mac preamps, if vintage, may well be over 50 years old and are excused, as if one is serious about using such gear, it has to be properly serviced out (as I am guessing you now know). |
Polyglot I am a tech and a Warranty Repair Station for ARC. The caps that failed in the C/J were C/J's own branded polystyrene caps. I'm sure they were not made by them. Their tech advised me that this series cap do indeed short and then heal themselves. Their update includes removing all those particular caps from the amp and replacing them with updated parts. I would contact C/J and ask them. My friend and great guy Ed who worked their for decades, retired and no longer works there in customer support. I don't know if you will be able to get any information from them. |
Thanks Atmasphere and Hifigeek1 for your comments. I have/ had most of the CJ preamps starting from PV5 till the CT-5 and a bunch of SS and tube gear and only the CT-5 had this issue, in fact, that was the only one. Ed is indeed a very pleasant guy to speak to. Mel, who is taking over his job I believe, is very helpful. |
Thanks Polyglot. I was unaware they hired someone new. |
Hi, I own A krell 700cx,you need to use a pre that has zero feedback of any kind!,ayon is a good tube pre that will work,how do I know,I have the cd-player-analogue pre-amp one box combo,it works well,if you like tube pesentation, like I do, cheers! |
