problem with CAL DAC,help!

Today,i was moving my speakers around,i turned the balance control so only the left hand side speaker was working,when i finished moving the speaker i set the balance control to centre,but no sound came out of the right hand speaker,the cone was moving to and fro,strange i thought.I traced the problem to the cal dac,turned it off unplug it,looked inside,nothing seemed burnt,so i put it back together,plugged it,fired her up,nothing,just a pop through the speakers,and when i move the volume control the cones move back and forth,but no sound from eather channel.

I'm hopping the problem is the valves even though brand new and working perfectly,anyone got any ideas?

 

sorry adam!

my knowledge stops short of fixing things. Know any good valve men near you?

IF you get totally stuck I can take it to one in England for you if you want?

Cheers
Chris

NB have you tried turning it on with the top off to see if any of the valves have gone?

 

Hi chris,


Well i really don't know what went on there,first the right hand side lost its sound,then the right,wierd as it didn't short anywhere,distort or anything.

Well it i took the lid of,and your correct the valves arn't glowing at all,shame as the were brand new golden dragons,luckily i had the original Cal Audio tubes to try.Put them in, waited 3 mins and....phew it worked,so it looks like i just need some new tubes,I'll go see the dealer soon as i'm waiting for the new stub to come from origin live to fit to my RB600,so will get it all done together.

Urg!! isn't this hobby frustrating when something goes wrong!

 

Hi Adam!

bet your pleased about that btw!

NB golden dragons are very expensive for the quality on offer IMHO.

If you fancy mail order from the UK - wilson valves, langrex supplies (my favorite 2) will get you something better cheaper (IMHO).

As a rough rule of thumb (very rough) if you want a bright clear sound go for an american valve like a philips, if you want a rounder fuller sound, a british valve like a NOS mullard (this'll cost you more though).

Anyway, pleased to hear you've got it up and running again.
I wonder if the balance control effected it? .. I cant see why though? maybe lee/dean/pete can say...

Chris

 

ill agree with Chris there, valves in my cornet are golden dragon, V expensive, not the best

tube rolling here i come

 

I'm baffled as to what caused one to go then the other,as it didn't short out or how a balance control can damage a valve.

I replaced the 2 valves with the originals,it sounds much slower,and bloomier in the bass,with treble sparkle diminished,i definately prefer the Golden Dragons.

Thanxs for the kind offers Chris,I can get valves easily here in malaga,out of curiosity i saw the price of £8 each for the golden dragons,seems cheap to me,is that considerd exspensive for E83CC ?

 

Adam

I've been having a hard think on this one.

For a start, I believe it is coincidence that this happened when you where playing with the balance control. The balance is downstream from the DAC and would have no influence at all.

Also when you say the valve weren't light up I'm also worried. Valve heaters do not go wrong. The main anode can and will but the heaters never.

At any time in moving the speaker around did you move any other piece of kit?

I wish you were around the corner from me as a multimeter wold help solve this. I would measure the voltages around DAC and make sure you just haven't fixed a bad connection on the valve sockets. (I may just have to have a break in Southern Spain!)

Having said that, early Golden Dragon where prone to failure. Ones made now are much better and can produce very good sound. £8 each is a fair price. This guy in Bilboa is a good alternative and useful for price comparisons http://www.arrakis.es/~igapop/index.htm

 

Hi Lee,


You know when you've done something wrong,or broken something as you¡ll get a crackle pop or some other noise that will let you know you done some damage,i just moved the balance control over to one side and moved the speaker around for some experimentations,when i returned the balance to the centre no sound from other speaker.So i opened the lid expecting to see a burnt out black valve,but no nothing,put the lid bach on,no sound at all,the other valve had gone,real wierd.

I reopened the lid turned on,the valves WERE getting warm,but there was no glow so thats was the problem.I remembered i had the old spare set and put thoes in,and now it is fine,and am still unsure what has gone,in the instruction manual,it always sats power down,front and back when changing cables over,but moving speakers?

Looking at the Golden dragons (not really knowing what im looking for) all looks ok,im looking at it as if it was a light bulb,its not burnt out,and all the thin cables look in tact? hmmm......

So how can you tell you shot a valve?

 

Adam

As I say, I think it was just coincidence and you've been unlucky.

You can't unless you have a valve tester. I would use a mm to measure voltages around the board.

Hope the new valves do the trick.