NOSValves

If the Peach is an early original not upgraded then it utilizes 3- 6DJ8's and 1- 12X4 recitifier. Its pretty hard to say which tube is causing the weakness/distortion (if it is the Peach causing the problem). If you have had the Peach for a long time and used it allot you should probably re-tube regardless. Probably cost less than $100 for all of them unless you want some hard to find expensive vintage 6DJ8's.

You should not worry at all about leaning on the volume for LP's having any degradation to the sound. The Scott phono section low input is centered around about 5mV from the cartridge but 3mV is not that bad at all. What really makes the difference between CD's and LP so obvious is that CD's and most other high levels sources today have about 4X the signal the Scott was designed for... So those sources are getting way louder at low levels of the volume control... The only way turning up the volume control could cause problems is if the actual sound reached a point where it was over driving the available power of the Scott! You'll never do that with any cartridge made in recent years. You could easily with CD's though!

Do you have any other way to control the volume on this system? Maybe a different preamp or a CD player with a built in volume control? If so take the Peach out of the chain and see if the problem disappears.

Hmmm 4 days without a comment I wonder why

The voltage that lights those 3 12AX7's is derived from the cathodes of the 4 output tubes. So the problem is not actually in those 3 12AX7's. For some reason those output tubes are not conducting. Because a tube is lighting does not mean its working what lights in a tube is the heater. The tube can not work without the heater lighting but being lit does not mean the tube is operational. You can get the service manual here http://www.fisherconsoles.com/non%20console%20manuals/fisher%20x100-3%20sm.pdf Oh wait I misspoke a bit. One of the 12AX7's could possibly be the problem if one has a heater winding that is shorted open. To check all 3 12AX7's plug them into the sockets where the two 12AX7's are now lighting and see if all 3 will light. If they light then the problem is elsewhere. It could even be that for some reason the amplifier has no high voltage B+ present. But usually when something goes wrong with the high voltage B+ the amp will blow fuses.

If the meter was setup wrong you would to be able to read any of the tubes. Before you proceed give me a call 810-287-6135 I need a bit of clarification.

I'd suggest you trade it in on a Chevy

Earl...in the future I would suggest you wait more then 10 seconds for an answer from me via email or just give me a call... Asking for technical support on a public forum could result in some real bad information... So others benefit from this thread the chances are very good that Earl has a dead output tube.In most cases this means the output tube had a defective internal solder connection that shorted open which causes the no current condition. Infant mortality...its too bad this rarely seems to happen in the 6 month warranty period from the tube manufacturers...

You probably will be for 10 years or more... those tubes are tough..

FYI the current Sovtek EL84M is the same basic tube but very few tube dealers stock it which is surprising, very robust and great sounding tube.

yup bargain bin cheapo Solens....

FYI If you need a replacement glass for your McIntosh or any fairly popular vintage piece of gear check here http://www.radiodaze.com/dials-glass-26/ and if they don't have it you can send your broken pieces in they will use them for making a reproduction. I've done this with them a number of times.

Well its hard to say I have no idea what a "Sylvania tube with no numbers on them, maybe 313" tube type is...how did you ever end up.with something like that?

another for Terry Dewick

Well Maynard is correct it would probably be wise to just email me since I might not even see your post here but I'm not offended. The Stereo VRD runs the output tubes at a lower plate voltage then the mono blocks so no need to swap rectifier types when trying different output tubes. Not sure why your rectifier flashed in 30 seconds but that is about how long it takes for a 5AR4 to begin to ramp up the B+ voltage. If you have had the 350B tubes in the amps for a long time you might need to clean the metal contacts inside the tube sockets, you might have some oxidization which when swapping the tubes caused a contact issue. But then this could just be a coincidence and one of your rectifier just decided to give up the ghost on you.

So how much is a complete restoration, Craig? (I am certain that I must be breaking a rule by asking) You're not breaking a rule asking but I would if I answered... Sorry I don't do business on the forum. Thanks a petty whiners for that!

Yes, we do get tired of the complaining crap. It's a select few that make it ridiculous. Can't understand why they stay here if it's so bad they have to whine and complain. I guess their momma never taught them if they don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Life's too short. Thank you Craig! I saw your comment and thought, "oh my, do I even want to see what he wrote!" You"ll get no guff from me. IMHO It's all much to do about nothing. Not like I was getting a thousand hits a day off that little banner in my signature. I think about 90% of the people around here know what I do and where my website is. If this made some petty SOB happy then good for him/her...

now that is a good idea!

Yes, we do get tired of the complaining crap. It's a select few that make it ridiculous. Can't understand why they stay here if it's so bad they have to whine and complain. I guess their momma never taught them if they don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Life's too short.

Actually there is! They have 24kt gold plated tops, exotic wood frames and lots of extras under the hood. Yup

He did?

Both the far left tubes are Phono one in each channel. When looking at the front of the amp if you name them 1 2 3 4 from left to right 1=Phono left channel 2=Phono right channel 3= Tone/Preamp left channel 4= Tone/Preamp right channel. Nice deal with "some" restoration work done.

Correct. Correct the only thing that is not mirrored is the location of those two tubes.

Clean usable watts ....excellent! exactly why I use higher powered tube amps...I have more sweet clean usable watts.

Agreed, that a comparison on an "apple to apple" basis appears to make sense and stress both amplifiers in relation to how you like to listen in order to evaluate how they perform in relation to your listening habits. However, this information now begs the question regarding how precise did you match the gain of each amplifier in your comparison? In my experience, some people tend to forget about "level matching" or "gain matching" when comparing amplifiers. Even very slight differences in gain between amplifiers can be audible as I have found that precise level matching can be more critical than most even realize. In certain situations a 1 dB difference can change a person's perception of an amplifier. In general, when gain levels are different, it seems that many will tend to conclude that louder music, even if it's just slightly louder, will almost always sounds better to them than the quieter music. The curiosity is killing me. What is this 25 watt push pull EL84 amplifier? In case you did not get it from what I wrote previously, Quick Silver horn mono's. TO BE PERFECTLY CLEAR...they sounded great. but $2,000 better than the yamaha rx A1030... not so much. If I did not have the yammy 1030, the horn mono's are keepers! AND the fact that I have the Yamaha RX 1030 is accidental. I had been wanting a Macintosh or Pass amp. I never thought I would have the money to buy one, and in fact did not ( at the time) . BUT i needed an amp. I looked on CL and this 1030 which I knew nothing about was for sale brand new used less than a week. I offered the guy $400 and he took it. I connected it to my ( new to me) lascalas and it sounded good. Thinking that tubes would sound better I saved up and bought the Big Ben. Since that is a buy it and you keep it, I kept it. Although it sounded a small bit better than the 1030, again it was not worth the money as far as sound improvement goes. Then, 2 yrs later, I got to listen to khorns. I was blown away by the improvement! BUT NOW the BB 6 watt SET just was not enough for the BASS when comparing to the yamaha 1030. So now you know the rest of the story. This thread lost me. Do you still have the Quicksilvers? If so, what 12DW7/7247 and power tubes are you using? Your preamp may not be optimal for the Mono's and that may be why the 1030 sounds good....the preamp section is matched to the power section. I have found, over the years, that a preamp and amp from the same manufacturer is they way to go. However, there are always exceptions. FloridaBoy makes an excellent point and it ties into the question I had asked earlier about gain matching the comparison amplifiers. Please keep in mind that the Quicksilver Horn Mono Amplifier has approximately 18dB less gain than Quicksilver's standard amplifier. I could not find specifications on the Yamaha 1030; however, I suspect that AVR receivers probably have higher gain figures and lower input voltages to achieve full power vs. the Quicksilver mono amplifier or tube amplifiers in general, which is one reason why I asked how you did your gain matching. I tried to find the output voltage of the Emotiva Stealth DC-1 and I believe this may be the first time I've seen a DAC that doesn't list its output voltage and impedance on its specifications page. I know that it is promoted as double duty as a preamplifier and these types of basic specifications are important in understanding the voltage gain of the preamplifier portion of the unit; however, maybe the primary purposes is DAC/Headphone amplifier since there appears to be plenty of headphone output data. For example, the XDA-1 specifications show a nominal output voltage of 1V RMS (balance output is more), for which 1V RMS would not be sufficient to drive the Quicksilver horn mono amplifiers to the full potential. While the Quicksilver horn mono amplifier has a nice input impedance of 100 Kohms, the Quicksilver horn mono amplifier has an input sensitivity of 6V. Also, did you use the Emotiva Stealth DC-1 with the Yamaha internal amplifier section (probably not the mismatch to the degree I suspect with the tube amplifiers) or the Yamaha internal preamplifier with the Yamaha internal amplifier (where you would have no mismatch)? Good call I bet he couldn't 5 watts out of the QS amplifier. I've always got a chuckle out of that design trick...make an amplifier a rediculus 6VAC to full power and than brag how quiet it is....nuts...no accomplishment in that at all...