Hello,
I’m beginning to have “rustling” and crackling/static noises through my speaker when I power on my PS-2A. The noises are briefly louder when I power it on, then they persist at a lower level. I’m wondering if there might be issues with the the tubes.
Thank You,
Josh
Hi Josh,
How long have you had the unit? This could be a few things, but I think you are right to suspect the tubes. Can you open the unit and swap out the 12AX7? Try that first and see how it goes…
here is how you open the unit,
Hi Dan,
I’ll try this later, thanks you.
I’ve had it since April 11, but it was a demo unit, so I don’t know how many hours it had on it before I received it.
Thanks,
Josh
Swapped out the pre, still the same noises.
Could it be the power tubes?
I have a couple of matched pairs (TAD, Tung-Sol). Not sure if they’d be appropriate re: bias.
Don’t worry too much about the bias just for testing it will be OK. If it turns out to be the tube, then yes we can sort that part. Next time you open the unit can you make a note of the hand written number near the tubes? It will be something like Ia= then a number like 40 to 60 .
Thanks for following up.
It says 40.
Ok, did swapping the power tubes fix the crackling nose?
Yes! It’s quiet now.
The TADs that I swapped in happen to have a plate current of 41.
All I think you are done! Give variations in everything that’s pretty darn close
It sounds great now, thanks for your assistance!
And thank you for such an amazing product. Best gear purchase I ever made!
Thanks,
Josh
Hi Dan,
Now I’m unfortunately experiencing a new issue. I was playing playing, and suddenly there was drop in volume.
I can get it louder if I switch to Low Input mode and crank the volume up, but there’s clearly something wrong.
I tried swapping both the power tubes (with JJ’s @ Ip 40) and the pre, but to no avail.
Thoughts?
Thank You,
Josh
Hi Josh,
Is this volume drop now permanent? I would suspect the tubes are the most likely cause because they are the most recent change. Are they new? Is the volume drop making the unit unusable?
First try simplifying your setup. Remove everything from the FX loop and just have an amp, PS-2A and a speaker. A poor connection on the FX loop could also cause this.
Did you swap a second time or is this the first set of “new” tubes?
Hi Dan,
No FX atm.
TAD tubes were new. Were working fine for a while, then the sudden volume drop.
If I power off the unit for a while and then back on, the volume goes back to normal, but then drops again shortly.
I tried switching the TADs for JJs, same problem.
It is making the unit fairly unusable, as I have little control of the volume, but also it also seems to be affecting the audio fidelity.
-Josh
I do have a 3rd set of Tung-Sol 6L6s, but their Ip is 21.
Just tried the old tubes, and they seem to resolve the volume issue (albeit, with the original noise problem).
Maybe the resulting bias for (both) the new tubes I tried was causing issues?
Ope, now same problem with the old tubes.
Going to turn in for the night, but my guitar amp blew a fuse. Not sure why. Is it possible for components in the PS2A to cause a surge back into the amp, or was that likely unrelated?
Hi Jsternmo,
If your fuses are blowing in the guitar amp, then this is very likely the cause of the volume dropping, not the Power Station. The reactive load part of the PowerStation (that your amp sees) is entirely separate from the power amp part (that your speaker sees). It seems the PS-2A did have a noisy preamp tube, though.
Yes, seems to be working fine with a different amp.
I actually have the old preamp tube in there, so it was the power tubes.
Sounds great now, back to rocking out.
Thanks for all your help!
Best,
Josh