[MGLDyson]

Hey folks,

Just got a Woo WA6 last month and have already burned it in for about 200-300 hours. It's got the Sovtek rectifier and RCA 6de7s. I just noticed last night that I am getting a buzzing sound that I can hear only when the music is not playing. I assume it is still there when music is playing but because of sound playing I can't hear the buzz. It's the same sound when the amp is initially turned on and when I turn it off. I assume it is the electricity running through the tubes but I am not familiar enough with this stuff, yet, to know. Also, I have not noticed it until recently. So it seems that it has developed since I have been using the amp. Does anyone know what this noise is and how to silence it? Is this microphonics? Will tube dampers fix it? Check my sig for my setup.

I will e-mail Jack as well to get his take on the situation. Thanks.

 

[jamato8]

Do you get this when nothing is hooked up to the amp. Disconnect the source you are listening to from the amp. I have heard this on the AC line and it can be any number of things from a refrigerator to other pieces of equipment that inject noise into the AC. It can also be the rectifier tube. Do you hear it equally in both channels? Do you have more than one rectifier tube? It is always a good idea to have a few back-up tubes in any case.

 

[Tarkovsky]

I think you need a doctor.

 

[takezo]

there's always a humming sound when the amp is turned on initially...it goes
away after 10 secs...if it doesn't go away then it may be your tubes or a source
creating a magnetic field near your amp or headphone...it also sounds like
something that a loose wire, crossed/touching internal wires or a faulty ground
will produce...you should pinpoint the problem by changing the location of the
amp, the tubes and maybe even the power cord. if none of these alleviate
the problem then it may be an internal wiring problem.

email jack to make certain. good luck.

 

[JZImages]

I had a similar problem. I pulled the tubes out and plugged it back in. The hum went away. Hopefully it's the same for you.

 

[johnsonad]

I too had this problem. Jack trouble shooted it, I even mailed it back to him. In my case the problem wasn't with the amp, but with the source I was using as it was not grounded. If you unplug the RCA's and leave the amp on, is the buzz still there? If not, then it is something up stream, if so it could be a tube or your power. Jack is good at trouble shooting it. Once I got a better source the buzz went away.

 

[MGLDyson]

I think I've eliminated the amp as the source of the buzzing. When I unhooked the RCA cables connecting the DAC to the amp, the buzzing ceased. I also hooked up the amp to a portable CD player and there was no buzz. So the amp is fine, tubes and all.

Having eliminated the amp I moved on to the DAC. The buzzing is coming from the coaxial connection with my PC (Audigy 2 ZS). Thanks for the comments and replies.

 

[jamato8]

Is your dac grouned? Normally they aren't but if it is try a cheater plug to eliminate the ground on the source.

 

[3x331m]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamato8 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is your dac grouned? Normally they aren't but if it is try a cheater plug to eliminate the ground on the source.

Off topic...

Jam,

What's the gesture from the man in your avatar ? Everything is alright ?

On topic....

External DAC is always recommended when you use PC/Laptop as a source. If the noise still exists, check the grid noise.

 

[MGLDyson]

I believe the power cord has only a positive and negative prong with no ground. I should restate that the only time I get the buzz is when the coax is connected to computer.

 

[jamato8]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MGLDyson /img/forum/go_quote.gif I believe the power cord has only a positive and negative prong with no ground. I should restate that the only time I get the buzz is when the coax is connected to computer.

Ah, I see. Then you are picking up noise most likely from the ground on the computer via the ground on the coax. Toss the computer and get a new one. :^)

Well glad its not the amp but from your description it sounding like a ground or something riding on the signal rather than the amp.

 

[MGLDyson]

I wish I could ditch the comp. Instead I think I am going to try for a dedicated CDP for two reasons:

1) Parts and build dedicated to CD playback

2) No loud pieces of hardware (i.e., fans in a computer)

And yeah, noise from the computer is what I am leaning to as well. The e-mail I got back from Jack pretty much said the same things said in this thread.

 

[MGLDyson]

Just in case anyone ever has a similar problem, I solved mine. I found the noise in the "digital out" on the board of my Audigy 2 ZS. To fix this I just hooked up my VDA-2 to the "coaxial out" on the drive bay hub of the Audigy 2. No more noise same sound card.