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So far so good. Only had a very brief listen at the moment. Will give it a bit of a go later tonight, found I have a little  bit of a gain issue. I’ve got barely any usable control on the volume pot. I’ve had to lower the volume on the dac which isn’t ideal.

 

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Had a bit more of a listen last night and I’m very impressed so far. I think it definitely needs a lot more of a warm up to sound it’s best compared to the Mingda.

The soundstage seems completely different, which I’m trying to get my head around, may have to play around with speaker position a little. There is a lot more depth to the sound stage and seems a lot more forward as well. Music is flowing nicely and sounds very good. A worthwhile upgrade I think, the Mingda was very impressive for the price though I really liked it. 

I do seem to have picked up a bit of a ground loop issue which I’ll need to work through. I’m using unsheilded interconnects so I’m not sure if that’s the problem. I have never had an issue with them before but who knows. ?‍♂️

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Hey mate how’s things?

I definitely prefer the A5 to the L1000, which is mainly due to the speakers I believe. The are a 4ohm load and do like a bit of power .

. The A5 is 420w at 4ohms and can supply more current than the M.

The L1000 gear does sound better in a fully balanced system I’ve found. I do really miss the Kenwoods, but unfortunately had to go when I found something that could drive the Classic 20’s a little better. I don’t have the option of multiple systems or keeping to much gear. ?

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2 hours ago, Pops110 said:

Bang on there mate.
Hopefully get some time to work through things this weekend. It is sounding very good.

Enjoy the AudioNote preamp Dave.

Steve mentioned that he dropped it over to you.

Cheers

Chris

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Any ideas for trying to get rid of ground loop? 
Ive tried all the usual things,

- connected all items to the same power board.

- No cables are touching each other.

- changed power and interconnects around.

The issue appears to be the pre. No noise with just the power amp on. The noise starts when I plug the pre in, high pitched noise that gets louder when you turn the volume up. Would shielded interconnects fix the issue? I don’t have any so may have to borrow some.

Any other ideas?

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4 minutes ago, Pops110 said:

 

Would shielded interconnects fix the issue? I don’t have any so may have to borrow some.

 

 

Yes, I would suggest it would.  (Unshielded interconnects are a nono, AFAIAC.)

 

And if you get "high-pitched noise that gets louder when you turn the volume up " - I suggest that is not caused by a ground loop.

 

Andy

 

Edited by andyr
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13 hours ago, andyr said:

 

Yes, I would suggest it would.  (Unshielded interconnects are a nono, AFAIAC.)

 

And if you get "high-pitched noise that gets louder when you turn the volume up " - I suggest that is not caused by a ground loop.

 

Andy

 

If it’s not a ground loop, any suggestions on a cause of the noise?

Its not overly high pitch but it’s not a low hum sort of noise. I’m going to try lifting the lid and reseating the valves today.

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1 hour ago, Pops110 said:

If it’s not a ground loop, any suggestions on a cause of the noise?

 

Yes - first change to shielded interconnects.  If it still appears then it it may well be a ground loop.

 

Quote

Its not overly high pitch but it’s not a low hum sort of noise. I’m going to try lifting the lid and reseating the valves today.

 

A ground loop would give you a low pitched hum - as it would be 50Hz.  If it's a higher-pitched noise then I'm thinking it's not a ground issue.  :)

 

RFI ingress (due to unshielded interconnects) is the most likely cause, IMO.  Once you eliminate this possibility ... we can move forward.

 

 

Andy

 

Edited by andyr
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So swapped in some Oyaide shielded interconnects today and still have the same issue.

I also purchased a cheap isolation converter as I was told that it should fix things if it was a ground loop. Still have the same issue. 
Also tried swapping in new power cables, just generic ones all connected up to a different cheap power board with the same issue.

Any other ideas please.

 

 

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23 minutes ago, Pops110 said:

 

So swapped in some Oyaide shielded interconnects today and still have the same issue.

 

 

OK, thanks for doing that.  So it looks like your issue is not caused by RFI ingress.  :thumb:

 

25 minutes ago, Pops110 said:

 

I also purchased a cheap isolation converter as I was told that it should fix things if it was a ground loop. Still have the same issue. 

 

 

Not sure how this 'isolation converter ' of yours is supposed to work - so I can't comment.

 

Do you have a multimeter?  One that can measure resistance - which can tell you whether you have a short, a res value or an open circuit?  If you do:

  • take the lid off your new amp (I presume that is the thing which has caused you to get this noise?).
  • being careful not to touch the mains connections, put one meter probe on the ground tag of one of the input RCAs ... and the other on a ground point on the case.  You should not get a short between these points - ie. case ground (which should be connected to mains earth) should be either a. completely isolated from signal ground or b. have a 10 ohm resistor between it and signal ground.

If neither a. nor b. is true - then I would suggest the short between case earth and signal ground is causing your noise.

 

If either a. or b. is true - then there's something more you can try.  This is more 'off-the-wall'!  :)  But I'd like to hear the results of your meter test first, before I tell you it.  :winky:

 

Andy

 

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On 15/05/2020 at 7:55 AM, Pops110 said:

If it’s not a ground loop, any suggestions on a cause of the noise?

Its not overly high pitch but it’s not a low hum sort of noise. I’m going to try lifting the lid and reseating the valves today.

If re-seating the valves doesn't do the trick, try some different ones, known good ones.

 

Is it both channels?

 

Do the separate valves handle separate channels? or are the two halves doing L&R? If separate and it is only in one channel try swapping L&R valves over to see if the issue follows.

 

What's the pre again?

Edited by muon*
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On 14/05/2020 at 6:21 PM, Pops110 said:

high pitched noise that gets louder when you turn the volume up. Would shielded interconnects fix the issue? I don’t have any so may have to borrow some.

Any other ideas?

That sounds like tube rush may be another possibility.

It would be worth swapping the tubes out to make sure it's not the tubes.

This is always one of the first things to do when sorting out issues with tube gear.

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35 minutes ago, muon* said:

If re-seating the valves doesn't do the trick, try some different ones, known good ones.

 

Is it both channels?

 

Do the separate valves handle separate channels? or are the two halves doing L&R? If separate and it is only in one channel try swapping L&R valves over to see if the issue follows.

 

What's the pre again?

It’s both channels, hum increases when you turn the volume up.

Its a heavily modified Audio Note M1

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29 minutes ago, Martykt said:

That sounds like tube rush may be another possibility.

It would be worth swapping the tubes out to make sure it's not the tubes.

This is always one of the first things to do when sorting out issues with tube gear.

Will try and get a hold of some new valves to try. I don’t have any on hand just yet as I’ve only just got the amp. 

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54 minutes ago, andyr said:

 

OK, thanks for doing that.  So it looks like your issue is not caused by RFI ingress.  :thumb:

 

 

Not sure how this 'isolation converter ' of yours is supposed to work - so I can't comment.

 

Do you have a multimeter?  One that can measure resistance - which can tell you whether you have a short, a res value or an open circuit?  If you do:

  • take the lid off your new amp (I presume that is the thing which has caused you to get this noise?).
  • being careful not to touch the mains connections, put one meter probe on the ground tag of one of the input RCAs ... and the other on a ground point on the case.  You should not get a short between these points - ie. case ground (which should be connected to mains earth) should be either a. completely isolated from signal ground or b. have a 10 ohm resistor between it and signal ground.

If neither a. nor b. is true - then I would suggest the short between case earth and signal ground is causing your noise.

 

If either a. or b. is true - then there's something more you can try.  This is more 'off-the-wall'!  :)  But I'd like to hear the results of your meter test first, before I tell you it.  :winky:

 

Andy

 

I don’t have a multimeter but I have been meaning to get one so might go and grab one tomorrow. Will let you know if I do.

Thanks for everyone’s help. Really appreciate it. ?

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If worse comes to worse you can borrow my latest pre amp and I will have a look at the Audio Note for you.

It does not have a phono pre though. On the up side it has a DC blocker and a soft start that would run your power amp as well.

 

20200404_095433.thumb.jpg.e88dcc97632f15eb944fb3b28935b8dc.jpg

Edited by Ihearmusic
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28 minutes ago, Ihearmusic said:

If worse comes to worse you can borrow my latest pre amp and I will have a look at the Audio Note for you.

It does not have a phono pre though. On the up side it has a DC blocker and a soft start that would run your power amp as well.

 

20200404_095433.thumb.jpg.e88dcc97632f15eb944fb3b28935b8dc.jpg

Legend, thanks mate.
I didn’t want to bother you mate but I would really like to hear your new pre. Looks great, how does it sound in your system mate. I might touch base with you sometime this week.

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17 hours ago, Pops110 said:

Legend, thanks mate.
I didn’t want to bother you mate but I would really like to hear your new pre. Looks great, how does it sound in your system mate. I might touch base with you sometime this week.

I am happy with the sound but you know how it goes.......

No worries Dave. I look forward to it.

 

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On 16/05/2020 at 6:04 PM, Pops110 said:

It’s both channels, hum increases when you turn the volume up.

Hi Dave,

How loud is this hum sound?

For example how loud is it from listening position?

Cheers

Chris

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