[kjoh]

I recently picked up a LD i+ and I was a little concerned about what it does when I power it on. The left tube initially produces a bright glow from the base when turned on. This is only for a second and the glow returns to normal just like the glow in the right tube.  If I have headphones plugged in I hear a good sized pop noise when I power on the amp.
 
I'm relatively new to tube amps and wasn't sure if this was normal for the LD i+ or if this is something I should be looking into. The only thing I'm doing differently from the previous owner is that the power cord isn't stock. Any thoughts/impressions are welcome. Thanks!   

 

[kjoh]

Checked the jumper settings and they're fine. I also switched the places of the tubes and it seems to be just that one tube generating the bright glow during power up. So maybe it's just a character of these particular tubes? I'm using Mullard M8100.

 

[KuKuBuKu]

It is an enourmous problem and could blow up your house. You should probably give them to me.

 

[kjoh]

Quote:

It is an enourmous problem and could blow up your house. You should probably give them to me.

That's ok my house has tube insurance

 

[kjoh]

Turns out it was a bad tube. Replaced it and there's no more glow

 
Still delivers a modest pop noise at power up though. This apparently is normal but I still fear for the safety of my headphones. The darkvoice amp I had before never did anything like this.

 

[LugBug1]

I'm currently rolling with the little dot I+ and a similar thing happened to me. I put some old mullard ef91's in and when I powered up they glowed really brighlty from the bottom and then calmed down. The sound was fine for a while and then a low swishing static sound appeared.. So I took them out.
 
I then did a bit of research and this is all normal,  tubes can make all sorts of noises until they "settle in" to thier new home. I tried them again a little later, the same big glow from the base for a few seconds but the noise is now gone. About 4 hours later and they sound verrrry sweet!
 
I wouldn't worry too much about the popping noise most amps do this. Also, most headphones a tougher than you think and are designed to handle large amounts of current. I wouldn't risk my RS1's in the LDI+ if I thought it would cause them damage.
 
How are you finding the sound? I've go some opamps in the post to try. I'm rolling ef92/91's for now and I'm prefering the 91's bigger soundstage and they are warmer.   
 
Theres a great LDI+ tube rolling thread, got loads of handy hints from there

 

[kjoh]

Quote:

I'm currently rolling with the little dot I+ and a similar thing happened to me. I put some old mullard ef91's in and when I powered up they glowed really brighlty from the bottom and then calmed down. The sound was fine for a while and then a low swishing static sound appeared.. So I took them out.
 
I then did a bit of research and this is all normal,  tubes can make all sorts of noises until they "settle in" to thier new home. I tried them again a little later, the same big glow from the base for a few seconds but the noise is now gone. About 4 hours later and they sound verrrry sweet!
 
I wouldn't worry too much about the popping noise most amps do this. Also, most headphones a tougher than you think and are designed to handle large amounts of current. I wouldn't risk my RS1's in the LDI+ if I thought it would cause them damage.
 
How are you finding the sound? I've go some opamps in the post to try. I'm rolling ef92/91's for now and I'm prefering the 91's bigger soundstage and they are warmer.   
 
Theres a great LDI+ tube rolling thread, got loads of handy hints from there

Thanks for your post LugBug1. That gives some reassurance to know that others aren't concerned about these characteristics.
 
I've been using grado headphones for a couple of years now but this is the first time I've paired them up with a tube amp. So far I'm really happy with the results

  Currently I'm using RS2's with flats and although I like there forward sound sig I think the LD i+ warms them up really nicely. The upper mids and highs are recessed a little bit and the lows are extended a little further. Soundstage also made a noticeable improvement.  Overall less aggressive sound but alot more engaging and fun.
 
Right now I've got the amp set up with the lt1364 opamp and rca 5654 tubes. I think I prefer the mullard m8100 as they sound a little less dark to me. I've head great things about the voskhod tubes and wouldn't mind trying them.