DLUngurait Posted July 15, 2003 Share Posted July 15, 2003 My three year old daughter turned up the volume to max on my Onkyo Integra pre-amp... Later my 5 year old son turned on my Yamaha M-4 power amp (120w x 2) in order to play his "Who Let The Dogs Out" CD (knew that song had to be good for something!)...By the time I jumped across the room to turn it down it was too late. My pre-amp is definately blown...actually had a little smoke comming out of it and no more lights or sound out of the right channel. I haven't had the time or the courage to start checking the rest of my system...namely the the Yamaha amp and MOST IMPORTANTLY my '86 LaScalas. You can imagine how loud 120w is w/ LaScalas, I've never had the volume up more than maybe 1/3 of the dial before...Luckly the horified looks on my kids faces(my daughter was actually crying and hiding under a table) gave me pause long enough to realise it was my own damn fault...should have never taught my 5 year old how to work my stereo, even with my supervision. Anyone got any tips about how to check if I have any protection circuits/fuses that I can check before I throw in the towel on some of this gear...The LaScalas, if necessary, will be re-built. Maybe this is the excuse I needed to explore the world of tubes. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robinson Posted July 15, 2003 Share Posted July 15, 2003 Dave, I've got kids myself and I feel your pain. When I redid the family room, I put all the electronics WAY UP in a glass doored cabinet. I feared exactly what happened to you would happen to me. It still may someday. WRT your LaScalas, I think they could take it. You might have to replace the tweeter diaphragms (easy to do) but the rest should be okay. As far as your main gear, I'm surprised there wasn't fuse or overload protection kicking in. Normally, safety measures would kick in before stuff starts melting down. Is this a two-channel system? If so, I would take a look at going over to tubes ... vintage gear like Scott, Eico, etc. can be had (try Craig Ostby at NOSValves.com for gear he's restored at nice prices) and can be very pleasing. Or maybe try some SET gear (Wrights, Welborne) or some nice push-pulls ... DeanG and others here have heard just about everything. Behind each misfortune is an opportunity to upgrade. This will work out ... just hope the kids didn't sustain any hearing damage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted July 15, 2003 Share Posted July 15, 2003 I am suprised that it was the preamp that smoked and not the amplifier since it merely sends voltage (signal) to the amplifier. The La Scala's with any luck absorbed it without injury. I had a door made for my custom rack to keep my 22 mos old hands from the volume knob. She did however one day lay her hands on the remote and managed to depress the volume up button long enough to scare the crap out of herself and run for cover. You can just imagine with over 2000 watts and all big Heritage the db's that can be achieved. Now when she finds the remote she brings it to me. Hope it all works out for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted July 15, 2003 Share Posted July 15, 2003 My guess is it would be the tweeters that would be harmed first. I blew each of my originals in the first 2 months I owned my cornwalls. Major SS dbs did that with no harm to anything else. When my son was about a year old he turned the volume to 12:00 then hit the on switch. Scared the crap out of him (and my wife) but no damage done. Less power was going when the tweeters blew. Go figure. The lascalas actually are the easy fix if there's a problem. The amps may be toast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBusa Posted July 15, 2003 Share Posted July 15, 2003 The world of tubes isn't as spectacular and breathtaking as you've been lead to believe. The difference between a SS and a tube amp is minor. IMO you'll be severly disappointed chasing the wild goose that is the elusive, detailed, warm sounding tube amp. A tube amp is just old outdated technology that has only been brought back from the dead because of years of myths and over glorified stories about these amps. They are not what they are cracked up to be. I have been down that long, mysterious, unsatisfying road myself ...only to return to SS gear where I started in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painful Reality Posted July 15, 2003 Share Posted July 15, 2003 ---------------- On 7/15/2003 8:20:53 PM BigBusa wrote: The world of tubes isn't as spectacular and breathtaking as you've been lead to believe. The difference between a SS and a tube amp is minor. IMO you'll be severly disappointed chasing the wild goose that is the elusive, detailed, warm sounding tube amp. A tube amp is just old outdated technology that has only been brought back from the dead because of years of myths and over glorified stories about these amps. They are not what they are cracked up to be. I have been down that long, mysterious, unsatisfying road myself ...only to return to SS gear where I started in the first place. ---------------- Hello gross generalisation... I once ended up with a girl that was not stellar in bed... I didn't turn gay for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted July 15, 2003 Share Posted July 15, 2003 ---------------- On 7/15/2003 8:20:53 PM BigBusa wrote: The world of tubes isn't as spectacular and breathtaking as you've been lead to believe. The difference between a SS and a tube amp is minor. IMO you'll be severly disappointed chasing the wild goose that is the elusive, detailed, warm sounding tube amp. A tube amp is just old outdated technology that has only been brought back from the dead because of years of myths and over glorified stories about these amps. They are not what they are cracked up to be. I have been down that long, mysterious, unsatisfying road myself ...only to return to SS gear where I started in the first place. ---------------- To each his own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reel 2 reel Posted July 15, 2003 Share Posted July 15, 2003 uh...ho...you opened a can of worms with that one...I'm just gonna sit back and watch!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robinson Posted July 15, 2003 Share Posted July 15, 2003 Big, I'm not going to challenge your position because it's your OPINION. Fine. In my humble opinion, there is no comparison but it is probably music-dependent. Best wishes ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted July 15, 2003 Share Posted July 15, 2003 Threads like this really make me miss Mobile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted July 15, 2003 Share Posted July 15, 2003 As I stated yesterday, my wife and I sat down and listened to a song we've probably heard a thousand times before. We both heard detail, clarity and instruments we've NEVER heard before on my trusy SS receiver. Maybe if I want to crank up some heavy metal, the SS power is nice but for my current musical tastes, tubes are more to my liking. MHO. I'm the one who has to be happy with my system. It's worth a listen to both to see what makes you happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnorv Posted July 15, 2003 Share Posted July 15, 2003 For nominal listening, I bi-amp my Altec rig with a pair of TriPath 2020's at a rip snorting 8 w/ch. For critical listening, I fire off my 8 w SET/Rowland 5. Jim N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 Anyone got any tips about how to check if I have any protection circuits/fuses that I can check before I throw in the towel on some of this gear...The LaScalas, if necessary, will be re-built. Try turning on the power amp(s). It they come on the the relays close there's probably nothing wrong. Smoke not withstanding, have you tried to see if anything works? As for fuses, you'll probably have to remove the covers and look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 ---------------- On 7/15/2003 1:31:19 PM DLUngurait wrote: Luckly the horified looks on my kids faces(my daughter was actually crying and hiding under a table) gave me pause long enough to realise it was my own damn fault...should have never taught my 5 year old how to work my stereo, even with my supervision. Maybe this is the excuse I needed to explore the world of tubes. Dave ---------------- Dave, Using the pause given to regroup is good. For tubes, yep. sounds like a good reason to check out tubes. I don't imagine that you will find the taste of the grapes sour at all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 Low level listening, without a doubt, tubes are cost performance winners. There are so many variables involved on whether tubes are for you or not. Other equipment, especially speakers will dictate if tubes will synergise with your set up. Listening habits & musical tastes also play the major role. If you like to take it up past 100dbs, tubes & good SS, whats the difference,not much at those volumes. 70dbs, you will have to spend some serious bones to get what tubes have to offer with hi sensitvity speakers. Thats a fact! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyhorns Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 Try opening up the broken device (it's already broken, can;t do much more damage...) and see if there are any internal fuses or burnt components, might be a simple fix that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 DLUngurait, Surprized nobody else mentioned this... Tubes are *HOT*. Hot like an incandescent bulb is hot. They are also exotic looking, glow warmly at night, and hold infinate fascination for young children. If you do go with tubes, either get something that has a child-proof (?) cage protecting young fingers from tubes and vice-versa, or make sure you have someplace up high you can place it where little ones can't get at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpg Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 I will step in here for a sec... I have minimal experience with tubes, and a lot more experience with SS. I can say, I like tubes a lot more. I had the pleasure of listening to some darn nice tube amps... they sounded unlike anything I have ever heard through any of my SS equipment whether I built it myself or bought it. So, now I am working on a tube amp... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Holiday Posted July 16, 2003 Share Posted July 16, 2003 I recently went down the road of tubes, and as a heads up its very expensive. I bought 2 kits and I will be building them myself, and both of my kits were over $1000, of course this is brand new stuff, so maybe vintage could be better, but remember unless you buy f.e.t.'s, m.o.s.f.e.t.'s, or i.g.f.e.t.'s you will be getting distortion along with all of your other parts etc, you can buy basic tubes that have 0% distortion i think the ag5 tubes are 0% thd..... thats why I went to tubes, the clean sound, but also with tubes the gain is what is important not wattage, and with tubes if you buy an amp and a pre-amp about 75% of your gain comes from your pre-amp if it is active, and on really sensitive speakers like your la-scala's having an active pre-amp can produce some noise in the background, there-fore its wise to upgrade your power-supply and your power cords with teflon-tape or even pvc insulation with magnetic shielding to reduce the background noise, there is a lot more that goes along with tubes than ss, as i have learned already....... and there is plenty of reading as well.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLUngurait Posted July 16, 2003 Author Share Posted July 16, 2003 Thanks for all of the reponses and advice. One of my friends at work advised me not to try turning on the system, at least not without disconnecting my speakers. Luckily I have a 2nd system that I use for Home Theater so I am not without music or a means to easily test my LaScalas. I will find the time this weekend to open up the pre-amp and power amp to check for blown fuses or other damage. Like many here I have read a great deal about tubes vs. SS. Although I have very little to no experience w/ tubes, my gut instincts tell me I would be most satisfied w/ bi-amping. I'll have to live w/ my home theater receiver for now. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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