Hi, I have a PS-100 that I bought new back in July 2023 and since day 1 as soon as I power it on there’s crackling that’s heard through the speaker. I, maybe incorrectly, assumed that the crackle would eventually go away as the tubes worn in but the noise is still the same. I didn’t mind too much but now that I use the unit more, the noise is becoming really frustrating.
I’ve been meaning to reach out to Fryette for a long time now to ask about this issue, so here I am asking for help and if there’s something that can be done about this. Was there a bad batch of tubes at some point, is there anything I can check on the unit to make sure it’s operating correctly?
We find that sort of thing normally does away, but OK, that did not happen.
I would try a systematic approach. If you have a spare 12DW7/ECC832 pop that in. This is not the typical 12AX7 tube. However, if you don’t have one, you could try putting in a 12AX7 and see if it removes the crackling. If that solves the problem, then you know the issue is with that tube.
If not, move on to the power tubes; swap in spares or order new 6550s.
Just to clarify your statement above, there wasn’t a bad batch of tubes in that time period?
Thank you for the diagnosis steps, I didn’t want to just start opening it up without at least a “go ahead” from your team. I replaced the 12DW7 with an EH 12AX7 7025 (I don’t have any 12DW7s) and first impressions are that the crackling is gone. When I put it in operate mode it was so quiet that I thought something was wrong (I didn’t have an amp connect to it, I just wanted the unit by itself to isolate any other noise)
Any recommendations on what 12DW7 tubes to use these days? I see the stock is a JJ, is that still something you recommend using? Is it worth getting a NOS tube here?