Noisy Avalon 737SP.... how noisy should it be

[Martin Quinn]

I got an Avalon on Ebay abroad and when I plugged it in I notice that its
noise floor is about 20 dbs louder than it should be. Theres a hissing,
'rustly' sound coming through. It comes up the more you bring the Mic Pre
input up. I sent it to the repair shop and the repair man told me that it
was a dodgy valve, which he replace, then charged me ?50 for the job.
Brought it home, plugged it in, still the same.

Before I call him back I need reassurance that I'm not goin mad. I have a
Great River MP2NV, a Focusrite ISA430MKII and 2 TLA 5051 preamps. plugging a
bass guitar into these at the same sort of level shows me a signal thats
significantly quieter. I've tried different wiring too (that was my first
thought) but its still the same.

This is the only one I've heard. Should a 737SP be damn quiet for the money!
And could it be bad valves or a dodgy transistor on the input circuit?

thanks guys,

Martin

[EganMedia]

Likley as not it is a bad tube. 737s do have a higher noise floor than a lot
of solid state gear, but it ought not be so high as to be offensive under most
circumstances. I don't use mine with ribbon mics (except on loud guitar amps),
but I don't have noise issues otherwise. I have had to replace tubes in both
of mine, and there were a batch of bad pots in th early ones, but they're good
boxes generally speaking.


Joe Egan
EMP
Colchester, VT
www.eganmedia.com

[EganMedia]

Likley as not it is a bad tube. 737s do have a higher noise floor than a lot
of solid state gear, but it ought not be so high as to be offensive under most
circumstances. I don't use mine with ribbon mics (except on loud guitar amps),
but I don't have noise issues otherwise. I have had to replace tubes in both
of mine, and there were a batch of bad pots in th early ones, but they're good
boxes generally speaking.


Joe Egan
EMP
Colchester, VT
www.eganmedia.com

[Danny Taddei]

I bought 2 of them new and had that problem a 2 times. Once when I used
one VERY close to a computer monitor (though it may have been the
surrounding things around the monitor) and once was an AC problem. Both
times a move a 3 or 4 feet solved the problem. OTher then that, those
babies are silent even with the pre pushed.

Martin Quinn wrote:

> I got an Avalon on Ebay abroad and when I plugged it in I notice that its
> noise floor is about 20 dbs louder than it should be. Theres a hissing,
> 'rustly' sound coming through. It comes up the more you bring the Mic Pre
> input up. I sent it to the repair shop and the repair man told me that it
> was a dodgy valve, which he replace, then charged me ?50 for the job.
> Brought it home, plugged it in, still the same.
>
> Before I call him back I need reassurance that I'm not goin mad. I have a
> Great River MP2NV, a Focusrite ISA430MKII and 2 TLA 5051 preamps. plugging a
> bass guitar into these at the same sort of level shows me a signal thats
> significantly quieter. I've tried different wiring too (that was my first
> thought) but its still the same.
>
> This is the only one I've heard. Should a 737SP be damn quiet for the money!
> And could it be bad valves or a dodgy transistor on the input circuit?
>
> thanks guys,
>
> Martin
>
>

[Danny Taddei]

I bought 2 of them new and had that problem a 2 times. Once when I used
one VERY close to a computer monitor (though it may have been the
surrounding things around the monitor) and once was an AC problem. Both
times a move a 3 or 4 feet solved the problem. OTher then that, those
babies are silent even with the pre pushed.

Martin Quinn wrote:

> I got an Avalon on Ebay abroad and when I plugged it in I notice that its
> noise floor is about 20 dbs louder than it should be. Theres a hissing,
> 'rustly' sound coming through. It comes up the more you bring the Mic Pre
> input up. I sent it to the repair shop and the repair man told me that it
> was a dodgy valve, which he replace, then charged me ?50 for the job.
> Brought it home, plugged it in, still the same.
>
> Before I call him back I need reassurance that I'm not goin mad. I have a
> Great River MP2NV, a Focusrite ISA430MKII and 2 TLA 5051 preamps. plugging a
> bass guitar into these at the same sort of level shows me a signal thats
> significantly quieter. I've tried different wiring too (that was my first
> thought) but its still the same.
>
> This is the only one I've heard. Should a 737SP be damn quiet for the money!
> And could it be bad valves or a dodgy transistor on the input circuit?
>
> thanks guys,
>
> Martin
>
>

[Neil Rutman]

I would reccommend calling Kevin at Avalon. The customer support at Avalon
is top notch! When I bought 737sp on ebay it arrived and had scratchy pots.
Kevin said this unit was part of recall and replaced all the pots amd
calibrated for free! Thing sounds amazing now!

neil r

"Danny Taddei" > wrote in message
news:QPrvc.13209$lL1.224@fed1read03...
> I bought 2 of them new and had that problem a 2 times. Once when I used
> one VERY close to a computer monitor (though it may have been the
> surrounding things around the monitor) and once was an AC problem. Both
> times a move a 3 or 4 feet solved the problem. OTher then that, those
> babies are silent even with the pre pushed.
>
> Martin Quinn wrote:
>
> > I got an Avalon on Ebay abroad and when I plugged it in I notice that
its
> > noise floor is about 20 dbs louder than it should be. Theres a hissing,
> > 'rustly' sound coming through. It comes up the more you bring the Mic
Pre
> > input up. I sent it to the repair shop and the repair man told me that
it
> > was a dodgy valve, which he replace, then charged me ?50 for the job.
> > Brought it home, plugged it in, still the same.
> >
> > Before I call him back I need reassurance that I'm not goin mad. I have
a
> > Great River MP2NV, a Focusrite ISA430MKII and 2 TLA 5051 preamps.
plugging a
> > bass guitar into these at the same sort of level shows me a signal thats
> > significantly quieter. I've tried different wiring too (that was my
first
> > thought) but its still the same.
> >
> > This is the only one I've heard. Should a 737SP be damn quiet for the
money!
> > And could it be bad valves or a dodgy transistor on the input circuit?
> >
> > thanks guys,
> >
> > Martin
> >
> >
>

[Neil Rutman]

I would reccommend calling Kevin at Avalon. The customer support at Avalon
is top notch! When I bought 737sp on ebay it arrived and had scratchy pots.
Kevin said this unit was part of recall and replaced all the pots amd
calibrated for free! Thing sounds amazing now!

neil r

"Danny Taddei" > wrote in message
news:QPrvc.13209$lL1.224@fed1read03...
> I bought 2 of them new and had that problem a 2 times. Once when I used
> one VERY close to a computer monitor (though it may have been the
> surrounding things around the monitor) and once was an AC problem. Both
> times a move a 3 or 4 feet solved the problem. OTher then that, those
> babies are silent even with the pre pushed.
>
> Martin Quinn wrote:
>
> > I got an Avalon on Ebay abroad and when I plugged it in I notice that
its
> > noise floor is about 20 dbs louder than it should be. Theres a hissing,
> > 'rustly' sound coming through. It comes up the more you bring the Mic
Pre
> > input up. I sent it to the repair shop and the repair man told me that
it
> > was a dodgy valve, which he replace, then charged me ?50 for the job.
> > Brought it home, plugged it in, still the same.
> >
> > Before I call him back I need reassurance that I'm not goin mad. I have
a
> > Great River MP2NV, a Focusrite ISA430MKII and 2 TLA 5051 preamps.
plugging a
> > bass guitar into these at the same sort of level shows me a signal thats
> > significantly quieter. I've tried different wiring too (that was my
first
> > thought) but its still the same.
> >
> > This is the only one I've heard. Should a 737SP be damn quiet for the
money!
> > And could it be bad valves or a dodgy transistor on the input circuit?
> >
> > thanks guys,
> >
> > Martin
> >
> >
>