[Kajun]

What are the black metal things that are covering my tubes on the amp? Just got the amp out of the box and wondered...Cause in pics I see people always have the tubes shown proudly..
 
Probably a dumb question but want to know if they should stay or remove them...maybe they are there for transporting the amp...dunno
 

 

 

[Kajun]

Ok, was told they are heat tubes...to get the heat up and away. Can take em off or leave em on.

 

[Chodi]

Quote:

Ok, was told they are heat tubes...to get the heat up and away. Can take em off or leave em on.

I leave mine off. No sonic difference and I don't like the pressure they put on the glass tubes. I think it might protect the tube in shipping but other than that I can't see their purpose.

 

[hybridamp]

I have the 332c, but I leave mine off also; I like the glow of the tubes better than the metal covers.

 

[Kajun]

Another question...I have an Audioengine D1 I am using as my DAC. With the RCA's out the back when I turn the volume on the D1 the sound level changes on the 332 amp on what I hear. I have it at mid level right now on the D1...Should that be max, mid, 90% or until you hear any noise then back off...I don't know and would appreciate any advice..  Right now I listed to the 332 at 3/4 turn on the dials. Seems high but I dunno.. Maybe I am supposed to have the D1 all the way up...  sooo confused but loving the sound

 

[Dogmatrix]

The tubes are dampers they are designed to prevent the tubes ringing from external vibration, Like really loud speakers close by
Unless there is allot of vibration in your rig they are not really required.
 
I am not familiar with the D1 but double amping is not a good thing as it will degrade sound quality, with variable output DACs the volume is usually set to maximum when outputting to an amplifier. My 332 has never been much past 1/4 even with 600Ohm cans.

 

[Kajun]

hmm, I will try all the way on the Dac...The manual said the rca outputs were for powered speakers n stuff like that..So, I thought it would work but I dunno... I hear ZERO distortion at levels most people would not listen to. Slight hearing probs from shooting guns most of my life.

 

[Dogmatrix]

Had a look at the D1, very nice looks like great value.
 
Anyway, you should be running the 332 from the RCA output, it wasn't clear if this was line level (not affected by the volume pot ) or not but the specs gave a max output level of 2v rms on the RCA and this is what you want. So plug into the RCA and if the volume pot still affects the output set it to max this will give the proper line level for the 332. Just remember not to plug in your headphones on the D1.
 
I was a pistol club junior myself but always used protection.

 

[Kajun]

Quote:

Had a look at the D1, very nice looks like great value.
 
Anyway, you should be running the 332 from the RCA output, it wasn't clear if this was line level (not affected by the volume pot ) or not but the specs gave a max output level of 2v rms on the RCA and this is what you want. So plug into the RCA and if the volume pot still affects the output set it to max this will give the proper line level for the 332. Just remember not to plug in your headphones on the D1.
 
I was a pistol club junior myself but always used protection.

Yeah, the D1 is great for what I use it..The computer and my blu-ray player for movies..I use the optical input for each as the sound seemed a lil better on the pc through the optical vs the usb
 
Yeah, later in life I wore hearing protection but by then dmg was done. 
 
Edit** I turned the dac up and I had to take the headphones off and adjust the amp down to just under half...might have to go down a tad still. I have the dt880 600ohm btw....ohh so comfy
No distortion so all is well I guess. Thanks