I'm surprised Audio Note would market these amps with what seems to be a design flaw. Are others experiencing same issue, and if not, I'd think it could be improper assembly.
Is rectifier tube arcing a problem?
I did some research and couldn’t find a definite answer. I have an amp that I tried 6 different pairs of 5U4G and 5U4GB. 3 pairs has arcing (RCA 5U4G, TungSol, Svetlana 5C3S) and 3 pairs don’t (RCA 5U4G with hanging filament, EH 5U4GB, Sylvania 5931). I took the amp to a technician and he checked everything, he can’t find anything wrong. The problem is, I like the sound of the TungSol and Svetlana which both have arcing. The technician said it is ok to keep using them, but honestly I am not too comfortable. But I like their sound. Is it really ok to keep using the arcing tubes? Will it damage the amp?