[DRHamp]

Your also welcome to send us the same pic, as we'd need to see what your seeing before we could help at all

Thanks, I'll do that and post a pic in a few and will also email it to Jeremy.

 

[rgmffn]

OK guys - another noob Ember question:
I just received a 6SN7 and adapter from Jeremy. The adapter does not seat fully into the 9 pin socket on the Ember. I'm afraid to force it down.
It appears to be approx. 1/8" short of being fully seated.
A question is, is this normal?

Everything appears to work ok - except there is a low level buzz(no input) and some scratchiness when rotating the volume knob above 2 or 3 o:clock.
Is this normal? could it be related to the adapter not being full seated in the 9 pin socket?
I've tried a variety of 9 pin tubes (6DJ8, 12AU7, 6N30P) and had no noise or vol knob scratch.

I can confirm that my adapter is about 3/16 of an inch from completely seating also. I don't want to push any harder either. It seems to work ok though.

I get volume pot scratchiness also but I have the input capacitors bypassed so not sure about that one.

The low level buzz I had also when going to the 6sn7. Jeremy suggested it might be ambient electrical noise. I got a pair of his aluminum chassis plates per his suggestion and that all but eliminated it for me.

It's best though is to get with him to see what he has to say about your particular concerns.

 

[thewind32]

OK guys - another noob Ember question:
I just received a 6SN7 and adapter from Jeremy. The adapter does not seat fully into the 9 pin socket on the Ember. I'm afraid to force it down.
It appears to be approx. 1/8" short of being fully seated.
A question is, is this normal?

It is normal. I've asked Jeremy who told me there is nothing wrong after I sent him a photo. Here's how mine looks like

 

[DRHamp]

Here are pics:

 

[DRHamp]

They look about the same so noise is likely tube. Sent to Jeremy also.

As @thewind32 said and Jeremy has confirmed that the pins not fully seating is totally normal and not a problem. The noise is likely interference from some close-by electronics.

 

[mandrake50]

I can confirm that my adapter is about 3/16 of an inch from completely seating also. I don't want to push any harder either. It seems to work ok though.

I get volume pot scratchiness also but I have the input capacitors bypassed so not sure about that one.QUOTE]
.

The manual mentions that some noise from the volume control is likely with the input caps bypassed. I heard it on my Ember. I decided that the difference in sound derived from bypassing the input caps was not worth it.
Try putting them back into the circuit and see if it makes a difference. I am fairly certain that it will.

 

[DRHamp]

The manual mentions that some noise from the volume control is likely with the input caps bypassed. I heard it on my Ember. I decided that the difference in sound derived from bypassing the input caps was not worth it.
Try putting them back into the circuit and see if it makes a difference. I am fairly certain that it will

I have all of the jumpers in their default position but I will verify that the input caps bypass jumpers are in the right position.

 

[Makiah S]

I have all of the jumpers in their default position but I will verify that the input caps bypass jumpers are in the right position.

With my HD 800 and the amp set to Bypass both Input Capcitors and Resistors I don't have too much vol pot scratching, I'm also finding the sounds is a little... less hard with better impact/resolve! Pretty nice actually, I never noticed a difference with my HE 4. The LCD 2 isn't quite as well, so with 35R out and .1R out I don't have any real VolPot noise, but my entire system is running from a Power conditioner so that might help keep things quite

 

[rgmffn]

The manual mentions that some noise from the volume control is likely with the input caps bypassed. I heard it on my Ember. I decided that the difference in sound derived from bypassing the input caps was not worth it.
Try putting them back into the circuit and see if it makes a difference. I am fairly certain that it will.

In my case, I don't even use the volume on the amp so the scratchiness isn't a problem. I sit a ways away from it so I needed a solution. The solution was an Emotiva Control Freak. It's a nice little piece of equipment. Feels great and let's you adjust the volume ever so gradually. It really does work well. So, that's why I have the input caps bypassed. Just looking for that little bit of extra cleanliness.

 

[DRHamp]

With my HD 800 and the amp set to Bypass both Input Capcitors and Resistors I don't have too much vol pot scratching, I'm also finding the sounds is a little... less hard with better impact/resolve! Pretty nice actually, I never noticed a difference with my HE 4. The LCD 2 isn't quite as well, so with 35R out and .1R out I don't have any real VolPot noise, but my entire system is running from a Power conditioner so that might help keep things quite

I have the vol pot scratching only with the knob at 2+ o:clock and it's not bad - and again I don't have the caps or resistors bypassed. I will experiment a little and bypass them to see if I perceive an improvement with my Atticus HP which are dang good as is. I'll let you know what I think - btw, I wish I could describe the differences I hear as well as you.

 

[DRHamp]

In my case, I don't even use the volume on the amp so the scratchiness isn't a problem. I sit a ways away from it so I needed a solution. The solution was an Emotiva Control Freak. It's a nice little piece of equipment. Feels great and let's you adjust the volume ever so gradually. It really does work well. So, that's why I have the input caps bypassed. Just looking for that little bit of extra cleanliness.

I couldn't find the Emotiva Control Freak available anywhere, guess they have stopped making it.

 

[rgmffn]

I couldn't find the Emotiva Control Freak available anywhere, guess they have stopped making it.

Oh nooo.... I love that thing! (Actually, I have two). I've had them a few years and haven't looked at availability lately. I couldn't do without that thing. I'm constantly adjusting it almost per song. I'm wondering why they would discontinue them. I don't think there is anything else out there that would equal them in quality. That's a bummer!

 

[Makiah S]

I have the vol pot scratching only with the knob at 2+ o:clock and it's not bad - and again I don't have the caps or resistors bypassed. I will experiment a little and bypass them to see if I perceive an improvement with my Atticus HP which are dang good as is. I'll let you know what I think - btw, I wish I could describe the differences I hear as well as you.

Thanks! I'm alright, everything takes time and you can only get better lol!

Interestingly I had a little noise at 2'oClock as well with my HD 800 but that was only when I'd whip up from full counter clockwise [7 oClock] to full clock wise, as I'd pass 2oClock I'd get some noise. I think it has to do with how the Pot is set, it's probably a log pot and 2'oClock is where the resistance starts to decrease more in relation to the % of the dials turn ect... All in all not bad at all!

 

[mandrake50]

When I bypassed the input caps I could hear some noise over the entire range. Not bad, but certainly there. No effect on the music when NOT moving the pot. With the input caps in the circuit , I can hear a bit of noise when sweeping the pot from one end to the other, but it on the order of 90% plus better.

I played with adding and removing the caps. There was no perceived change in transparency or FR. With that, my decision was to keep them inline and hear less noise when adjusting the pot...

I am sure the feature was provided to satisfy me and my OCD brethren here. I thought perhaps there might be some bit of the elusive last bit of clarity.. Of course I had to play with it. It simply made pretty close to zero audible difference to me.

 

[DRHamp]

Someone referred to this tube rolling process as a rabbit hole and now I understand why. I've played with a variety of tubes so far - 12AU7, several 6DJ8s, several 6SN7s, 6SL7, 6N30P, and 12AX7 - 9 tubes in all and they really are very different. I do have a couple more ordered based on what I've found so far. Out of the 9 tubes, 2 really stand out for me in terms of my sonic preference. One is a 12AX7 Bugle Boy and the other a Sylvania 6SN7GT VT-231 JAN-CHS. I will not attempt to describe how the are different sonically other than, to my ear, the are much more open and clear, instrument separation and placement really stands out. Interestingly, the 6SN7 was purchased as a matched pair, both Sylvanian VT-231 JAN-CHS. One of the pair, I didn't care for as it seemed like a veil was placed over the music - lacking detail and clarity - at least to me that was interesting. Going forward, I'll focus on the two tubes I like and see if I can identify a preference between the two. So, I found two that I like - shouldn't I stop there? Probably.............. but.............

Is that the norm - two like tube with very similar meaurements may sound very different.