Noisy Valves?

I got my new active valve powered speakers set up last night and settled down to a bit of listening. After a while I noticed a slight 'vibration' noise coming from one side.

Bugger I thought.

On investigation it sounded like it was coming from the valves rather than the speakers. I turned the speaker off, then let it cool and turned it back on. The iffy sound had gone.

I'm not used to valves, so is this something they do on occasion? Is there a fault, should I replace the Chinese valves with something better if they are available?

Or was it not the valves at all, any suggestions?

 

From everything I've heard - listened to and been told by others - Chinese valves are nothing special and are currently very overrated by the audiophile community. Your best bet is Russian or American made. By the way though, valves do make some very odd noises, and do some very odd things when they are bedding in/warming up, so best try and leave them on for an hour or two and see if they settle a bit (sometimes they do, sometimes they don't).

 

Thanks

I thought valves probably need 'running in' but wasn't sure what to expect while they did. They've only had a couple or three hours so far and I'll see if the noise re-appears.

I bet there's something in the manual but it's all in Chinese.

Looked round the valve suppliers I could find online and the speakers obviously don't use common valves. Svetlana etc. don't list them so I'm looking limited in choice for replacements.

 

what valves are they?

 

I'll have to look when I get home but according to their website 2x6P1 valves & one 6F2 valve are used.

I just bought Hi-Fi World for adverts/contacts and Chelmer Valve do at least list the 6P1, which is a start.

 

both are listed here -

http://www.crowthornetubes.com/netval~2.htm

 

Right I've checked the actual valves and those are the numbers.

So I will get a price from crowthorne to get some more to try and as spares in case things break.

Cheers.

 

?? chinese valves are the ''lada'' of the thermionic world. I dont know how you overrate them! .... well perhaps a bit harsh, they can be fine, difficulty lies in reliabililty, quality control, and sample to sample consistancy.

Avanzato-
If your speakers include valves, find out if the bias is fixed. If so, you may want a proffessional to change them for you. It certainly isnt 'plug and play!'...just in case you havent considered this already.

Chelmer valve are OK. They test and brand their own (imported) valves from abroad, getting past the problems above.

Companies such as Wilson valves, Watford, and Langrex can provide you with more NOS valves, premium brands from UK, America etc.

 

I don't overrate Chinese valves, I think many audiophiles do - for some unknown reason, I've heard a lot of raving about them to be sure. I just don't think they can make music anything like good Russian or American valves, IME of course.