[deksawyer]

Hi

new to these parts though I've read a fair few posts.

Anyway, I got my K701's for my birthday and then went and bought a Dark Voice Figaro from Jasmine, in China which arrived today.

Got home tonight, plugged it all in and eventually found out that the left channel is distorting heavily. Even tried it with a number of different sources and other h/phones. but it is a problem with the amp.

Now, do I spring £30-40 sending it back to China, or is there something I can do myself? I'm reasonably proficient in electrical things, but valves scare me.

Could it be as simple as a loose or faulty valve? If I turn the power off, wait 3 seconds, then turn it on again the sound is OK for about a minute then goes into distortion.

Any tips welcome....

thanks

D.

 

[Godkin]

Could be a valve problem. Try switching the valves around and if the distortion moves to the left channel then you'll know.

Don't be frightened of valves. If you do decide to try switching or changing the valves, unscrew the bottom - it'll break a tape-like seal and invalidate the warranty - and you'll see the two 6F3s lying on their side, pointing towards the front of the amp. The valves have metal frames holding them in place. Pull them in a clockwise direction and they should slip down, allowing you to pull out the valves. When replacing the valves simply reverse the procedure.

The 6F3s aren't bad valves, but they can be unreliable. The Russians make a tube, called confusingly the 6F5P, which you can buy relatively cheaply from E-Bay. Western equivalents can also be bought: the ECL85 and 6GV8. On no accounts buy the ECL805. Some sites sell it as an ECL85/6GV8 drop-in. But it's not. I tried them and they didn't work.

 

[deksawyer]

Thanks Godkin.

I swapped the valves over, and the distortion is now on the right channel - so looks like it's a faulty valve.

I'll trawl ebay in a minute!

thank you....

D.