I bought a PH-16X assembled by Roy in January of 2018. The unit worked flawlessly for about three months when a very loud buzz developed. I sent the unit to Roy for repair and when it was sent back the hum was reduced but still present. I haven’t tried much, expect learning to tolerate the noise. I took about a year long break from audio and I’ve recently started up my main system again. The noise/hum seems to the back and i’m looking for any kind of solution to the problem. I know of people who buy these units and report dead silence. Mine is nowhere close!
Roy insists it’s bad tubes but i’ve already swapped them out for a new set and no chance. I’m using shielded interconnects and I run a ground wire to the turntable. I’ve isolated the noise to the PH-16X by process of elimination. It definitely is coming from the unit.
If anyone has had experience quieting this preamp please help me out!
Roy insists it’s bad tubes but i’ve already swapped them out for a new set and no chance. I’m using shielded interconnects and I run a ground wire to the turntable. I’ve isolated the noise to the PH-16X by process of elimination. It definitely is coming from the unit.
If anyone has had experience quieting this preamp please help me out!
One neat trick is to play music thru it at a level where you hear the buzz … then just pull its power cord out of the wall socket. Instant isolation. If the buzz persists, it is being picked up from either your cables or some other inductive input. If it instantly stops (before the capacitors discharge), then it is in the power supply. Valves, or if it has silicon rectifiers, them.
Just saying,
GoatGuy ✓
Just saying,
GoatGuy ✓
The first thing I tried was switching out all four 6922’s and switching out the 12x4 for all new tubes. The noise still persists.
Next I tried measuring a few voltages. F+ to F- was 12.65V and B+ was 176V. That’s within a 1% difference so I doubt Roy’s wiring is wrong. However with the unit open I noticed the transformer itself seemed to be humming and I could also feel the chassis subtlety vibrating. I’ve been told this could be DC offset on my AC lines, but I have no way to test this as far as I know.
Another thing to note is that if I turn on my PH16X the hum only starts once the unit has warmed up and not immediately after being switched on.
What could cause this noise? I love the sound of Roy’s products but I can’t tolerate the hum through the speakers!
Next I tried measuring a few voltages. F+ to F- was 12.65V and B+ was 176V. That’s within a 1% difference so I doubt Roy’s wiring is wrong. However with the unit open I noticed the transformer itself seemed to be humming and I could also feel the chassis subtlety vibrating. I’ve been told this could be DC offset on my AC lines, but I have no way to test this as far as I know.
Another thing to note is that if I turn on my PH16X the hum only starts once the unit has warmed up and not immediately after being switched on.
What could cause this noise? I love the sound of Roy’s products but I can’t tolerate the hum through the speakers!
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