2. amps-preamps
  3. 119241-73122

Conrad Johnson CAV 50

Just acquired this beauty from my father in law. I've never owned a tube amp, so not sure if I should sell it, or keep it and pay him. Anyway, a question for you tube heads. One of the EL34 tubes in slot V7 ( a tube which can have it's bias adjusted, which I assume means the power transmitted) has it's red light constantly on. I turned the bias all the way down and it still flickers. However, I noticed that my left speaker sounded blown/distorted. When I turned the bias up, the distortion decreased. The instructions say to turn the bias down/counter clockwise, until the red light goes out. But, if I do this, it sounds bad. So, my question is this. Is it simply a tube I need to replace to fix that problem, and if I change one tube, should I change them all. Next question is I searched for the EL34 tubes and of course there are a large variety of them. Any thoughts. To me the amp sounds little bright with the Celstion SL6's I am using, so any warmer tubes would be nice. Also, if I were to sell this setup, any idea on what I might ask on pricing? Thanks.
Roly
rolyasm

Showing 1 response by timo62

timo62
147 posts
 
Roly ,

It sounds like your left channel fuse protection has blown.

The fuse protector are located on each side of the amp between the far left and far right EL34 and the 6SN7 tubes. You will see there are "fuse out" indicators next to the fuse protection. If it is lit red then you have a blown fuse. You will need a Buss Fuse  BBS-3/4

If the fuse out light is red , power down the amp and just unscrew the black knob and the fuse will come out with the knob. This will also mean the one of your EL34 tubes have gone bad , so you will need to replace both left channel tubes , or you will keep blowing fuses.


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