Quickie & Blumenstein Benthic

[oguinn]

Ok, I did a couple of tests.

• I took the X2 out of the chain and went straight from the Smash to the SEX and noticed the left channel was far quieter than the right channel when I had the pot turned from one direction to the other.
• I took the Smash and the X2 out of the chain and ran it again. Although there's no balance control in that setup it appeared that the speakers were getting roughly the same dB level (I unplugged the speaker I wasn't testing).

So I think this might actually be a Smash balance pot issue. I'll reheat those joints and open a thread in the Smash forum if it persists.

[fullheadofnothing]

Or you could, you know, turn the balance control...

[oguinn]

I did do that. If I understand the balance pot, the way it works is that when it’s all the way to the left the left channel should be as loud as the right channel is if it’s turned all the way to the right. That’s not the case here. The left channel doesn’t get anywhere near as loud.

I can use the balance pot to adjust, but I thought the point was to use it to adjust for speaker distance and all that, not fix significant imbalances inherent in the build.

[oguinn]

I’m new to an amp with a balance pot, so if I’m missing the point of the balance pot let me know.

[Paul Birkeland]

The output of the Smash should be well balanced without using the balance pot at all.  What you're describing sounds like a build issue that you're now discovering.

[Jamier]

Jameson,

Put your Q back in, use the X2 and enjoy some music while you sort out your Smash. I'm sure you'll find the problem in short order. Besides, the Q is a pretty good pre, I wish Doc hadn't retired it, but maybe he's got something else coming down the road that's even better for the low,low price of a hundred bucks.

Jamie

[oguinn]

I actually think it’s one of The 4P1L tubes! It follows whenever I swap them.

[Jamier]

Jameson,
      Do you have some other 4P1Ls to swap in?

Jamie

[oguinn]

I have some on order from, like, Romania... we'll see if they arrive. I've also emailed the replacementparts address to see if they have stock. And finally I've ordered some polish to try and clean the pins just to see if that's the issue.

In the meantime I've swapped the Quickie back in and it sounds great!