Popping cracking noises

[BadaBing11]

Recently I got a Cary Slp 98 pre amp. Last weeken I had just turned the pre from standby to on, played a cd, and shortly into the cd I got some very loud pops and crackling from my speakers. It was probably twice as loud as the music.

Now I have never had this issue in the 8 years of owning Ascents using a Bryston preamplifier . I read where dusty stats can cause pops and noises, but this was like OMG.I thought a stat had blown.

Well I vacuumed the speakers. And I have to say, I did not see any dust before doing so.

I called Cary and they were really not sure what it was. Perhaps a bad tube or capacitor.

I digress. After cleaning, I have had no recurrence.
I'm wondering if the stats could have been the source of the sounds. I know they do funny noises every so often. But this intensity was similar to what you would hear if you dropped your tonearm on an LP.

Thoughts? Is the preamplifier the culprit? Or is it the speakers.

Thoughts, opinions, facts.... All welcomed,

Best regards

Bing

 

[tsv_1]

i'd guess you've got a tube on life-support.

I've never heard an ML panel pop (on it's own) the way you describe... maybe possible, I've just never heard it.

 

[JonFo]

Sounds more like the pre-amp.

If the crackling is louder than the music, that's typically something upstream of the speaker. And if the pops and crackling were at all related to frequency content or volume of the music, then even more likely it's the amp or pre-amp.

Even SS amps can have a cap go bad after 12 to 15 years. And as you know, tube amps are just high-maintenance.

Also, look for loose interconnects or cabling problems. A bad IC connection (internal to the cable/plug) will do this as well.

 

[Rich]

My guess is you have a tube going bad in the preamp. I had this same problem with my CJ a long time ago. I retubed and everything was good again.

 

[repman]

Maybe static with the air being so dry.

I am getting shocked everytime I touch something in the house

I need to look into getting a humidifier added to the two Furnaces up and downstairs.

 

[roberto]

Recently I got a Cary Slp 98 pre amp. Last weeken I had just turned the pre from standby to on, played a cd, and shortly into the cd I got some very loud pops and crackling from my speakers. It was probably twice as loud as the music.

Now I have never had this issue in the 8 years of owning Ascents using a Bryston preamplifier . I read where dusty stats can cause pops and noises, but this was like OMG.I thought a stat had blown.

Well I vacuumed the speakers. And I have to say, I did not see any dust before doing so.

I called Cary and they were really not sure what it was. Perhaps a bad tube or capacitor.

I digress. After cleaning, I have had no recurrence.
I'm wondering if the stats could have been the source of the sounds. I know they do funny noises every so often. But this intensity was similar to what you would hear if you dropped your tonearm on an LP.

Thoughts? Is the preamplifier the culprit? Or is it the speakers.

Thoughts, opinions, facts.... All welcomed,

Best regards

Bing

Hola. Usually only one channel is doing the cracking, right?... then just change the output cables to find out if you new preamp it the one that is doing those noises. If the noise changes to the other speaker, then you know that it is the preamp. Happy listening,
Roberto.

 

[BadaBing11]

All,

thanks for the great suggestions. Roberto, Iinstead of switching leads, I moved tubes around some. Anyway it has been good ever since I posted.

Someone mentioned a cap going bad. The Cary tech thought this was a possibility ( as well as a tube going bad. ) I've never had either to deal with so if one or the other is the issue:

What should I expect on a cap? Do they usually fail fast, or slowly over time?
Same question for tubes.

Right now I am trying to get it to repeat the malf and am having no luck. (Maybe I am having luck and everything is back in order

Thanks all, appreciate the insights,

Best Regards
Merry Christmas

Bing

 

[roberto]

All,

thanks for the great suggestions. Roberto, Iinstead of switching leads, I moved tubes around some. Anyway it has been good ever since I posted.

Someone mentioned a cap going bad. The Cary tech thought this was a possibility ( as well as a tube going bad. ) I've never had either to deal with so if one or the other is the issue:

What should I expect on a cap? Do they usually fail fast, or slowly over time?
Same question for tubes.

Right now I am trying to get it to repeat the malf and am having no luck. (Maybe I am having luck and everything is back in order

Thanks all, appreciate the insights,

Best Regards
Merry Christmas

Bing

Hola Bing. Well it is so good to know that the noise is gone. I have an electronic worshop here in Costa Rica. I do service a lot of tube gear, because also I am a fan of them. Sometimes, the pins of the tubes get kind of rusty. It is wise at least every six months to take them out of their socket and put them back. This procedure, will clean the leads and they will make a better contact. Also, I use a little bit of (believe me) of WD-40 to clean the contacts and this trick works fine with the tube sockets. When I clean my power amp sockets, I think it sounds better, much cleaner and very great with harmonic texture. Try it, you might like this too. It will not harm anything of your system. Better contacts makes to my poor ears, better sound. The air between instruments is more evident, and also the highs are projected in a different way, I feel more space, more sound stage, more detail, more less noise, better ground floor. Inner detail is more "there". I love the body of the piano key board, and also I do understand better the musician(s) soul. Their felling...their way to play the instrument(s)...it just a simple tweak. Small capacity caps are the ones that usually produce noise. I like wonder caps. There are some good brands made in America of caps. Regarding the tubes, you don't know when they are going to fail. Small tubes last almost for ever. I did service Channel 7 (TV station repeaters here in Costa Rica) and usually they were on 20 hours every day. I had problems with power tubes, but at the preamp, they were just fine. I can't remember me changing one of these. But they fail once and then. If you have a lower channel, usually is a bad 12AX7, or 12AT7, 6922 and their substitutes. Remember, keep your contacts clean, and you will be always in heaven! Happy listening,
Roberto.

 

[BadaBing11]

Thank you Roberto

Hola Roberto

Thank you so much for the information.

I am saving this note because I have never seen or heard a better vocabulary of descriptors for audiophiles. You must write for a living.

I will try the wd 40. It makes a lot of sense. Just one question, How do you clean the sockets? Do you get down into the holes where the tube pins are inserted? If so, are they flooded with WD 40?The only thing I can think of is a very small pipe cleaner with some WD 40 on it.

I suppose inserting the tubes would displace the majority of oil.

Muchos Gracias.

Bing

 

[sigus]

Nicley stated!

Hola Bing. Well it is so good to know that the noise is gone. I have an electronic worshop here in Costa Rica. I do service a lot of tube gear, because also I am a fan of them. Sometimes, the pins of the tubes get kind of rusty. It is wise at least every six months to take them out of their socket and put them back. This procedure, will clean the leads and they will make a better contact. Also, I use a little bit of (believe me) of WD-40 to clean the contacts and this trick works fine with the tube sockets. When I clean my power amp sockets, I think it sounds better, much cleaner and very great with harmonic texture. Try it, you might like this too. It will not harm anything of your system. Better contacts makes to my poor ears, better sound. The air between instruments is more evident, and also the highs are projected in a different way, I feel more space, more sound stage, more detail, more less noise, better ground floor. Inner detail is more "there". I love the body of the piano key board, and also I do understand better the musician(s) soul. Their felling...their way to play the instrument(s)...it just a simple tweak. Small capacity caps are the ones that usually produce noise. I like wonder caps. There are some good brands made in America of caps. Regarding the tubes, you don't know when they are going to fail. Small tubes last almost for ever. I did service Channel 7 (TV station repeaters here in Costa Rica) and usually they were on 20 hours every day. I had problems with power tubes, but at the preamp, they were just fine. I can't remember me changing one of these. But they fail once and then. If you have a lower channel, usually is a bad 12AX7, or 12AT7, 6922 and their substitutes. Remember, keep your contacts clean, and you will be always in heaven! Happy listening,
Roberto.

 

[roberto]

Hola Roberto

Thank you so much for the information.

I am saving this note because I have never seen or heard a better vocabulary of descriptors for audiophiles. You must write for a living.

I will try the wd 40. It makes a lot of sense. Just one question, How do you clean the sockets? Do you get down into the holes where the tube pins are inserted? If so, are they flooded with WD 40?The only thing I can think of is a very small pipe cleaner with some WD 40 on it.

I suppose inserting the tubes would displace the majority of oil.

Muchos Gracias.

Bing

Ha,ha,ha, I wish I could speak more fluent English so I can make myself better understood. The WD-40 is not oil, but looks like it. It displace humidity, and can be use where high voltage is present, because it is not an electricity conductor. Just apply it with the aid of a cotton swab to the pins of the tubes and insert them and take them out again, then proceed to re-insert the tubes, and that's it. Sometimes also, faulty contacts make popping noises. ML is one of the few speakers in the whole world that shows the heart of the musician(s) without any effort. You start to recognize even musician(s) that are playing with bands or artist(s) that are not part of them. Drummers, bass players, guitar players, piano or keyboard players, wind players etc, and beacuse of this, you start a new search, because you say, I want more of this...it is intoxicating for good. Happy listening,
Roberto.

 

[Sambob2]

Let us know if the loud popping occurs again. Sometimes the culprit is a fractured solder connection. If you moved a few tubes around, you may have also forced the fractured connection to make contact again. This condition will only be temporary as the fracture will separate again at some other time.

 

[BadaBing11]

Let us know if the loud popping occurs again. Sometimes the culprit is a fractured solder connection. If you moved a few tubes around, you may have also forced the fractured connection to make contact again. This condition will only be temporary as the fracture will separate again at some other time.

Thanks,

I am leaving everything alone for the time being. If I hear it again, it will go back to Cary. I was thinking of upgrading tubes anyway, but will give it time.

Fractured solder makes a lot of sense. I would imagine temperature or humidity changes might be a trigger if this is the case.

Sambob, do you know an easy way to test this idea? Are there things that would provoke a failure ?

I just hate intermittent problems as they are harder to fix. Good news is I'm on day 3 with no problems. Have played for many hours. I've done cold starts, starts from standby...no more issues.

If anyone can think of another way to test things out, please let me know.

I'm not too terribly worried though, have 3 years of warranty, and the guys at Cary are great to work with. Though luck would have it that I sold my other preamp yesterday. If I have to send the Cary back, I'm SOL until it comes back.

Merry Christmas everyone,

At the end of the day we are all very fortunate to be able to enjoy our passion for music , the Martin Logan experience is hard to beat.

Best regards,

Bing

 

[BadaBing11]

Update

Well,

It has been about a month since I posted this thread. I have not had an issue since I moved the tubes around, so I believe Roberto got the diagnosis correct.

Thanks to Roberto for the tips,

Bing

 

[roberto]

Well,

It has been about a month since I posted this thread. I have not had an issue since I moved the tubes around, so I believe Roberto got the diagnosis correct.

Thanks to Roberto for the tips,

Bing

Hola Bing...thanks...keep in mind that sometimes tubes make odd noises. If you have this, usually tubes are used not sharing the channels, in other words, you have tubes for the left channel only, so you can change them left to right. Before you do this, read the tube number and only change this tube for other with the same number. Also sometimes, the factory may use one tube in common for both channels... you should read the manual to be sure about this...happy listening,
Roberto.