[Surge74]

Finally got mine up and running.

Feeding directly via Synology Nas to PWD MkII to BHSE and out of SR-007.

Are BHSE supposed to run noise free?

The reason that I am asking this as there is a noise like something is vibrating from the main unit with the tubes.  Kind of like you hear when a light bulb is going bad.  

Otherwise, liking it so far and the shipping box minor damage hasn't done anything visible to my unit.

Yes, my BHSE is noise free. It's actually the most noise free amp I've ever owned.
I can turn the volume to the max and hear the faintest noise above 3 o'clock.

Perhpas you have one or more bad tubes?

 

[jhellow]

Justin,
 
Please respond to my PMs and e-mail about the status of the repair of my BHSE.  
 
JHellow

 

[Y26-Day]

Yes, my BHSE is noise free. It's actually the most noise free amp I've ever owned.
I can turn the volume to the max and hear the faintest noise above 3 o'clock.

Perhpas you have one or more bad tubes?

Thanks for posting.
 
Chat with Justin and it seems tubes have characters.  Some are better than the other and ymmv I guess.
 
On the good side, it won't damage anything as it is normal to have some rattle so I can go on enjoying the music.
 
Cheers all.

 

[TheAttorney]

Your posts were all about 447s and I thought to ask if anyone tried the 450s as nothing useful came up with the search.  A set like your XF2 double halos would cost anywhere from 3~800 nowadays.  How do you like the XF2s?  
As for the rattle with stock Mullards on BHSE, I don't even know how to call it at the first place but I will read into it then.  This is my first stereo setup so go easy on this newbie.

 
Ah, I didn't know about the 450s, so these are NOS Siemens and so probably quite different to their new production 477s. I haven't tried the 450s. Sorry for jumping in to quick. 
The xf2s have the best sound of the ones I've tried, but the MB 477s are the best value.
 

  I doubt biasing makes a difference here but are your tubes biased properly?  When you say rattle do you mean debris inside the tube is causing a rattle?  Not that I recommend you try it, but if you can hear the tube's noise through the headphone as in tapping it with a pencil eraser (gentle dinggg noise) while powered on, then it is referred to as microphoinic but does not necessarily indicate a bad tube.
 
IME the loose debris/mica/glass is somewhat common for old tubes, just like crappy print on the glass or crookedness or different height of glass it's all part of the deal.  Some tubes I've had with loose mica/glass inside worked flawlessly, others were duds.  If it's working right you shouldn't hear any rattle irregardless of loose particles.  I've had some tubes that sound great for a few moments then develop terrible crackly noises after 10-20 minutes; clearly bad tube.

Just to be clear, all my comments in all my tube rattle posts refer to a vibration/resonance to the physical tube itself. Both if tapped lightly when cold, or in normal use when switched on and left alone. It may come and go whilst the tube is warming up and can disappear if CAREFULLY adjusting the base of the tube or just holding it (with heatproof cloth protection). It may be so quiet that I can only hear it with my ear a few inches away from the tube or it may be sometimes louder than that. It is not affected by volume or bias (balance/offset).
 
Most importantly, it has no affect on the sound though the headphones - the BHSE has always been stunningly quiet in terms of any noise coming through the headphones. Carefully tapping the tubes is not heard through the headphones, so they are not microphonic. It's just an irritation when it happens - nothing to do with the sound through the headphones.
 
In one of my posts on the xf2s, I noted that one of the 4 tubes had the debris inside (probably mica I now realise). That tube also had the glass markings badly smudged and it generally looked like the runt of the pack. So which one to you think rattled the most? Yep, you've guessed it - it was one of the "good" ones. The runty one doesn't rattle at all..

 

[lojay]

Does the BHSE require or prefer balanced ins from a fully balanced DAC? I'm looking to buy the MSB Analog which is a single ended DAC with inferior balanced outs. Thanks....

 

[NoPants]

on what basis is msbs balanced out inferior?

the bhse has two single ended inputs

 

[lojay]

I am referring to the sonic performance of the amp and DAC, not the availability of inputs or outputs. 
I've widely read that the MSB Analog does not have full balanced outs.

 

[TheAttorney]

lojay, you don't need to worry about using the SE input of the BHSE. My Nagra CDC source is fundamentally an SE design with a Balanced bolt-on which reputedly spoils the sound slightly. So I use SE connection to the BHSE and it sounds great.
 
Yesterday, we tried my BHSE with a fellow headfier's fully balanced (I think) Chord DAC, using SE and balanced cables from different manufacturers, both being audiophile-but-not-ridiculously-priced models. Although both ends of the chain were fully balanced designs, we both prefered the SE connection, implying that the model of the cable and synergy was more important than the connection type.

 

[Bones13]

You can go round and round debating balanced vs unbalanced interconnects.

Many perceive an improvement with balanced. The caveat being that the balanced signal is usually higher level than the unbalanced. Higher volume is usually perceived as "better". A shielded interconnect can sound different than an unshielded one.

Balanced cables give better noise rejection than unbalanced. Especially over longer runs. That's the reason balanced is used by the pro industry.

There are real balanced, and fake balanced input and outputs out there too. Balanced dynamic headphone connections are fake. True balanced requires either a transformer or specific circuitry to create the negative (or positive) version of the original signal.

If your setup is simple, source under or next to your amp, there is probably not much difference between the two. If the source has fake balanced, then there won't be a difference. Longer run, more noise (that nest of cables and power cables behind a complex system) the balanced might be a better.

IMO don't go out of your way for balanced connections. They are probably better in some situations.

 

[lojay]

I agree with these observations, but I think some amps prefer balanced inputs or are designed around it. I'm not sure if BHSE is one of them - though my (limited) experience suggests that tube amps generally like SE. 

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

  I am referring to the sonic performance of the amp and DAC, not the availability of inputs or outputs. 
I've widely read that the MSB Analog does not have full balanced outs.

I would say (from my own personal experience) balanced in and out will always beat single in and out with respect to volume levels and sound quality when comparing the same or similar components !  Balanced cables are also not prone to external interference's like single cables and cable runs can be long without loss of signal quality ! 

 

[preproman]

  I would say (from my own personal experience) balanced in and out will always beat single in and out with respect to volume levels and sound quality when comparing the same or similar components !  Balanced cables are also not prone to external interference's like single cables and cable runs can be long without loss of signal quality ! 

Surly the length of cables are not the question here.  
 
If you amp is inherently balanced then yes - it might be best to feed it a balanced source.  If the amp is inherently SE then feed it a SE source - simple.

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

 
Surly the length of cables are not the question here.  
 
If you amp is inherently balanced then yes - it might be best to feed it a balanced source.  If the amp is inherently SE then feed it a SE source - simple.

Length of cables is a bonus if you go balanced !
 
If the amp is inherently balanced there is no "might be best" about it…..it will be the best way to get the best performance from the system.   I have a very hi-end ($50,000+) speaker system which can be used both as fully balanced or fully single yet the manufacturer (who has designed from scratch and hand built the components) recommends (for sonic reasons alone) balanced mode as opposed to the single mode !
 
Of course if it doesn't have balanced inputs or outputs throughout i..e one of the components favours the single mode then of course you won't get full benefits of balanced mode as the system should ideally be fully balanced throughout.    
 
Another thought here……. When "Focal" (one of the top speaker designers and manufacturers in the world) commissioned "Naim" (a very respected amplifier designer and manufacturer) to design and build the best "reference" system they could to feed Focals top of the range speakers (Grand Utopia's)….guess what….they used balanced throughout.    This was a £300,000 ($500,000 +) system which I had the privilege to hear at a UK HiFi show this year.   It sounded awesome……and to my surprise was only playing mp3 and redbook quality files !  When I asked Naim why they didn't use hi-res files….they said it was to make a point that if the system itself is right then everything should sound good !   
 
Sorry to stray off the subject…but just making my point about balanced v's single.   The cap it all off….assuming all the components match in every way as a whole….I have never heard a single mode system sound better than a balanced mode system. 

 

[lojay]

Length of cables is a bonus if you go balanced !

If the amp is inherently balanced there is no "might be best" about it…..it will be the best way to get the best performance from the system.   I have a very hi-end ($50,000+) speaker system which can be used both as fully balanced or fully single yet the manufacturer (who has designed from scratch and hand built the components) recommends (for sonic reasons alone) balanced mode as opposed to the single mode !

Of course if it doesn't have balanced inputs or outputs throughout i..e one of the components favours the single mode then of course you won't get full benefits of balanced mode as the system should ideally be fully balanced throughout.    

Another thought here……. When "Focal" (one of the top speaker designers and manufacturers in the world) commissioned "Naim" (a very respected amplifier designer and manufacturer) to design and build the best "reference" system they could to feed Focals top of the range speakers (Grand Utopia's)….guess what….they used balanced throughout.    This was a £300,000 ($500,000 +) system which I had the privilege to hear at a UK HiFi show this year.   It sounded awesome……and to my surprise was only playing mp3 and redbook quality files !  When I asked Naim why they didn't use hi-res files….they said it was to make a point that if the system itself is right then everything should sound good !   

Sorry to stray off the subject…but just making my point about balanced v's single.   The cap it all off….assuming all the components match in every way as a whole….I have never heard a single mode system sound better than a balanced mode system. 

Interesting though my question is whether the BHSE is designed to be fully balanced and whether it would depreciate sound quality if I use an excellent but nevertheless single ended DAC....I do not have a $500,000 audio system and am not planning to buy one while I appreciate your view.

 

[Elrondo]

Just recieved my Blue Hawaii SE/Stax 009's in the mail last week...well, it was worth the wait. This is pretty much perfect sound...great transparency and speed first of all, but sooo nice to have good bass extension and dynamics along with it. And the neutrality...what an incredible combination of strengths in one earspeaker/amp combination. Thanks Justin!!