One particular tube upgrade elim my speaker hum


Have been trying for a year to reduce the hum heard when up close to the speaker with volume at 50%. I have Level 1 modded Shanling Tube monoblocks, TAD 150 preamp, and Level 1 modded Maverick SACD player.Speakers are Meadowlark Blue Heron 2's. Switched from Signal Cable interconnects to Silent Audio to Audio Metallurgy GA-0's. Speaker cables went from Signal Cable, to anti cables, to MAS Silver Hybrid. Still had hum at the speaker. Replaced 12ax7s in preamp with rca blackplates, then the el34's powering the amp with Amperex Bugle Boy. What made the difference was putting in Tung Sol 6SN7 tall bottles in the amps. Dead, dead quiet! Highs are better then before. Tube rolling pays off ($500 later!) Includes yet to be installed RCA red base 6SL7's.
Seems there are a million variables, feels good to nail something down finally!
mario_giberti
How many Amperex EL-34's did you need....those couldn't have been cheap! I'm using 6SN7's in my amp & pre-amp [Atma-sphere] and the Sylvanias just seemed to "kick ass" on bass presentation over everything else I've tried. Also, if you want heaven, see if you can find a pair of Telefunken 12AX7's!
Got the Amperex EL 34's for $199 for 4. Good deal. Actually, the RCA blackplates failed, they were $20 for 2, and I got a week of heavy use out of them. I did put in Telefunken 12ax7's, and they are excellent!
Yes, and not to be negative, but I've also heard there are tons of absolutely horrible Telefunkens floating around out there. Blowing $500 on just tubes is quite a bit of pocket change. Mark
I wouldn't consider spending $500 on tubes as a waste. The sound improvement can even be heard by my non audiophile wife, and on a $30,000 system, $500 is not that big a deal.
The telefunkens were $80, and sound good. The Amperex EL34's really helped out the bass and midrange.