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In Reply to: Joule Electra tube noise w/ Merlins (long question) posted by rottenclam on May 18, 2006 at 16:43:01
I wish I had found this thread a long time ago. I have a Joule Electra VZN80 MKV amplifier and Merlin VSM-MX speakers, both of which I purchased over two years ago. I have experienced the buzzing/humming problem for the entire time. The sound has been so good that I have been willing to put up with the noise. Well, ... I just tried the toothpick tweak. It works as advertised!
I also tried a different version of the tweak. I was concerned that the toothpick might break and fall into the amplifier, so I tried something else. I put a 100 gram cylinder-shaped weight on top of one of the bias buttons instead of a toothpick. That works just as well. The goal is to keep the button depressed at all times, so anything that is heavy enough or provides the proper leverage (like the toothpick) will do.
Some other tweaks that I tried before the toothpick trick that helped to reduce, but not completely eliminate, the noise:
1. Provide good isolation for the variac. The variac used to hum quite loudly. I use an Equarack isolation system, which utilizes a combination of viscoelastic and ball bearings. This tweak reduced the noise level to a barely audible level. Also effective for isolation were a 4 inch maple block (good) and a Grand Prix Monaco amp stand (better, but expensive).
2. Place a Walker resonance control disc on top of the knob of the variac. Not quite sure why, but this tweak also reduced the noise quite a bit. There is a steel shaft under the knob. Perhaps the Walker disc helps to prevent the shaft from disturbing the big coil shaped transformer that is inside the case of the variac. I am just speculating. Anyways, the Walker disc fits perfectly on top of the knob. This tweek is very effective.
3. Use a good power conditioner. I use an Audience aR1p (relatively cheap to buy) with the variac. If I unplug it and go directly into the wall, the noise increases.
4. Use a power regenerator. After using the Audience aR1p alone, I ttied it in combination with an Exactpower Ultrapure power regenerator. This combo further decreases the noise and makes the music sound more detailed with even better imaging (in my opinion). Bobby recommended the Equitech 2Q power regenerator, which I might try in the future. The Ultrapure is pretty darn nice, though, at half the price (used).
5. Place Dynamat on the underside of the variac. This was the first tweak that I tried. It provided a moderate degree of noise reduction.
Other comments:
The Joule OTL amp and/or Merlin speakers/SBAM seem more sensitive to picking up noise compared to other amps/speakers that I have owned. Make sure that interconnects, power cables, and speaker cables do not touch each other, and if any of them they do, make sure it is as close to a 90 degree angle as possible. My speaker cables (Virtual Dynamics Master) cause a buzzing noise if they are in contact with the interconnects or if they are touching metal (my rack is made of metal).
Also, the VZN 80's binding posts are somewhat close together, so care must be made in placing spades onto the posts. If the spades are too close to each other, they can create a buzzing noise. This happened to me even though the spades were not touching.
Finally, power cords from JPS Labs (AC Analog and Digital) were effective in reducing noise. I have them with my preamp and sources. I'm not sure how they contribute to noise reduction, but they do.
I currently have Virtual Dynamics Revelation power cords for my amp/variac and for my BPT power conditioner that I use for my preamp and sources. I've tried to remove the VD cords but found that I missed the very good soundstage and the "you are there" sound that they impart. They don't add noise, nor do they seem to make a noisy background better (in my experience). I also have VD Master LE interconnects between my preamp and SBAM and between my SBAM and amp. I tried changing those, too, but could not talk myself into getting rid of them for the same reason I did not change the power cords. I previously had Cardas Golden Reference throughout - very nice, but a bit warm and compressed, with less detail, compared to the VD cables. When funds permit, I will eventually try the JPS Aluminata cords for comparison purposes.
Anyways, I thought I'd post my experiences for others to view. In my opinion, the Joule/Merlin combination is well worth the time and patience to get it right. I now have a very quiet background; my system sounds dialed in.
Thanks for your post! Some good tips there. Here are some thoughts on your comments:
"1. Provide good isolation for the variac. The variac used to hum quite loudly. I use an Equarack isolation system, which utilizes a combination of viscoelastic and ball bearings. This tweak reduced the noise level to a barely audible level. Also effective for isolation were a 4 inch maple block (good) and a Grand Prix Monaco amp stand (better, but expensive).
2. Place a Walker resonance control disc on top of the knob of the variac. Not quite sure why, but this tweak also reduced the noise quite a bit. There is a steel shaft under the knob. Perhaps the Walker disc helps to prevent the shaft from disturbing the big coil shaped transformer that is inside the case of the variac. I am just speculating. Anyways, the Walker disc fits perfectly on top of the knob. This tweek is very effective.
3. Use a good power conditioner. I use an Audience aR1p (relatively cheap to buy) with the variac. If I unplug it and go directly into the wall, the noise increases."
Ahh, the variac.... its benefits allow the OTL's to be operated at the sweet spot of filament voltage and bias, independent of local line voltage, but yes, they can be noisy. The noise here is MECHANICAL... i.e vibration which is why all the things above can make a difference. This vibration is caused by the nature of the variac's design and also by power line noise (DC offset, power line asymmetry). Mechanical damping devices (like a walker puck) just simply act to damp vibration and can be very effective. Because the variac is a type of toroidal transformer, things like DC noise on the power line or asymmetry can get the coils in the the variac vibrating in which case a good power line conditioner can help if this is the issue. The variac will generally always make some degree of noise if you ear is close to it though. I'm pretty sure Jud Barber started putting the Variacs into wooden cases (like the amps main chassis) in later verions of the OTLs becuase the larger wooden enclosure helps cut down on variac noise (sound) a bunch.
A note about power regenerators.. I have tried a few over the years. Some like the PS audio are very good, but there are others which use DC/AC switching (power converters) ... these latter types will do the job in making up for power losses at current peaks, BUT they are often significant noise generators. I have found them to often make a good sounding system sound worse than bypassing them and going directly into the wall. In general, we (I) like the balanced transformer power conditioner units on the OTLs (made by Equitech, BPT and there may be a few others out there) which have worked very well for us and other Joule OTL customers.
Having set-up many systems with Merlin VSM's with Joule OTLs, I have not run into any issues cable runs being a cause for noise. I'm guessing, you must live in a very heavy RF environment. I am not familiar with the VD cables though and some cables designs are more prone than others to picking up noise.
As to the JPS Analog AC and Digital AC power cords, they reduce noise because the cables are made with filter networks and a cable whose dielectric material absorbs EMI/RFI. This help prevent external noise form getting in or out of the power cord.
I'm curious if you have tried grounding your metal rack? If cables make more noise when touching the metal parts of the rack, it could be that the RFI that the rack is picking up has no place to go (ground). Just a thought! :-)
Again, thanks for your post.. glad you are enjoying your Joule OTLs and Merlin speakers!
Happy Listening,
Rich Brkich
Retailer & Audio Asylum Industry Liaison
Thank you Rich for the feedback and insight! I will look into the Equitech and BPT power conditioners, and I will also look into grounding my rack. I am also going to try more JPS cables, as they seem to really work as advertised. As it is, I am enjoying my system immensely!
Rich, have the Joule VZN-80, LA-150 MKII and Merlin VSM-M speakers. Considering picking up a balanced power conditioner for my system, but only want to invest the money if it will make a real difference in sound and protection.
I have dedicated 20 amp circuits to both the amp and the pre-amp (plus source components). Power fluctuates at both outlets between 118-124 volts. I live in a high lightning area, so lightning and surge protection are a must. Through your experience, would you recommend the Equi=tech or BPT for my situation? If so, which ones have you had the best experiences with? Thanks in advance.
Is the voltage fluctuation long term (i.e. as the day goes by the line voltage drifts up or down over the period of hours) or is the line voltage change short term (jumping up and down over the period of minutes)?
I have heard clear improvements in sound when using these units, especially when we use them in various hotel rooms at trades shows. These transformers based units use their transformers to provide common mode noise rejection... so the quality of performance is dependent to a significant degree on the quality of the transformer.
For example, the entry level Equitech units use nice but cost effective transformers made outside the USA. Their better Q series units use transformers from Plitron (made in Canada IIRC) which are built to better tolerances/winding techniques (possibly also better wire) which cost more.
FWIW - I do not sell Equitech or BPT at this time. I am less familiar with the BPT products, but from their web-site I see they use Plitron transformers... they also look like they have more sophisticated filtering (i.e. more filters in addition to the transformer and the spike/surge protection looks for sophisticated than the Equitech- In general my experience with the "filtered" outlets on the Equitech is that they do not very good sounding). Some of the BPT products use the ERS material... though the few inside pics I see of their units that use it show it is used allot... my experience is that using too much of this stuff can tend to make things start sounding too dry.
Since you are in FLA... I would make sure the spike/surge protection is very good in whatever you get given the amount of lightning Florida gets. From experience with Equitech units in several customer hands, I know they do a good job in spike/surge protection... from their website - it looks like BPT would do a good job too.
What am I using these days???... on more budget gear, I have on of the cheaper Equitech Son of Q units around. For the big rig (Joule, Audio Aero etc) I am using Running Springs PLCs.. mainly on front end (CD/Pre use). On mY OTL's I generally use a JPS Aluminata Power cord (a bit of a power conditioner in its own right) going direct into a 20A JPS In wall Wired circuit.
Happy Listening,
Rich Brkich
Retailer & Audio Asylum Industry Liaison
Rich, thanks so very much for the great response. You're the best. Jim
Jim, I have a nearly identical system as yours and am using the Equitech Model 1.5Q. I have the VZN-80, LAP 150mkII, CD player, etc plugged into it and it works great. I have VSM-MM speakers. I've forgotten what it sounds like without it. I live in Orlando and had the same concerns.
Jim
NT
Happy Listening,
Rich Brkich
Retailer & Audio Asylum Industry Liaison
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