jean-michel Posted February 14 Posted February 14 Hello guys, I just did not have any issues with this exceptional preamp until yesterday morning I pushed on the power button and suddenly a big flash through my rectifier tube ( Sophia Electric Aqua Blue 2 ) No sound the input tubes did not lit it is like a total shunt down like the rectifier tube acted as a fuse; btw the one visible on the PCB board seems OK I know there is another one near the outlet I think but I did not have courage to check as something more disturbing did draw my attention : something ” heavy” is moving and it sounds like a screw is loose…Very weird…. I’ve sent a mail to Garry
xlr8or Posted February 14 Posted February 14 Sorry to hear this. Do you have any photos of the rectifier to share? What brand and version is it? You should be able to remove the rectifier entirely and still switch on the unit with a new fuse installed. The heaters should still light up on the preamp tubes. If the heaters are unable to light up then please share some photos of the internals to help fault find. 1
jean-michel Posted February 15 Author Posted February 15 (edited) Good news I’ve followed the instructions from Garry and changed the blownfuse near the AC outlet with the spare one and replace the faulty tube with the default one ( re- setting the appropriate voltage too ) and everything is working now Edited February 15 by jean-michel
xlr8or Posted February 16 Posted February 16 Good to hear that your unit is fixed. Can you share what brand and version the rectifier tube was? It may help some others here to keep away from acquiring the same one.
jean-michel Posted February 16 Author Posted February 16 Sophia Electric 274B Aqua Blue 2, I have sent a mail to see if they can replace the tube with a new one. I know that this kind of issues can happened to any tubes from any brand so if it is happening once you are unlucky if it is happening twice so this will be a strong red flag regarding quality of fabrication and reliability and my expectations in this regard for a rectifier tube costing more than $ 300. But we wait and see how the 6 months warranty will work:)
xlr8or Posted February 16 Posted February 16 On 16/02/2025 at 8:06 AM, jean-michel said: Sophia Electric 274B Aqua Blue 2, I have sent a mail to see if they can replace the tube with a new one. I know that this kind of issues can happened to any tubes from any brand so if it is happening once you are unlucky if it is happening twice so this will be a strong red flag regarding quality of fabrication and reliability and my expectations in this regard for a rectifier tube costing more than $ 300. But we wait and see how the 6 months warranty will work:) Expand Just remember the option of using vintage tubes is also available. They are far more reliable than modern production types. For the above asking price you'll be able to consider many options. 1 1
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