New To Me Paramounts

[brucef]

I did not receive the manual when I purchased the amps. Is that something I can order through BH? Also, no I have not let them warm up for several hours - only around 30 - 40 minutes before using.

[Doc B.]

Paramounts don't sound thin and harsh unless something is wrong. First guess is the output impedance setting is not optimal. You can order a manual from us. We are really booked with some things for the next few days but we'll be back at it on Monday. Eileen can help you then. You can reach her at queen at bottlehead dot com.

[Natural Sound]

Hi Bruce, looks like you got a nice pair of Paramounts there. I have a question for you. What are you using for a source? DAC, CD player, turntable, tuner, tape, etc.? If you are using a turntable which cartridge and phono-pre are you using?

The "phono" input on your Fisher is not the same as an input on your Quickie. Could that explain the harsh and thin sound you are experiencing?

Sorry if this sounds obvious. But sometimes the obvious is overlooked.

[brucef]

For source I am using either a cd player or a streaming device with a built in dac, an Audioengine clone. Since I don't have a manual in my hands, I am kinda stuck. As Doc had mentioned things may need to be adjusted. I would like to know if the Quickie is a bad match for those amps, but no one has addressed that question yet.

[Paul Birkeland]

The Quickie should work just fine with the Paramounts.

[brucef]

I received the manual yesterday for the Paramounts and I began reading through the build instructions and comparing to one of my amps. Things look good from what I can see. They are wired for 8ohm speakers.I checked resistance as per the instructions and everything seems to be good, with the exception of the resistance checks for the items marked with an asterick. Terminal strip 9, 19 and pin sockets B4 and B6. I will get a reading for a second and then it goes off. Is this normal? This is all new to me. Learning as I go. Thanks for the help.

[Paul Birkeland]

The asterisk means that you don't want to see a zero or a really low number there, but there isn't really any consistency between meters for what will actually come out on those readings.

[brucef]

Thanks Paul. After your reply I did notice in the manual that it does mention that. Voltage checks will be over the weekend. I did listen to them the other day, and letting them warm up for a couple hours did seem to help with the overall sound.

[brucef]

Just finished checking voltage on the first amp. Results as follows:

Terminal strips    Manual        Mine

  1                      440            455
  5                        71              75
  9                      175            175
 10                         0               0
 16                     457            485
 17                         0               0
 18                         0               0
 19                      175           175

10k pot set to 175vdc

4 pin socket

A1                        74.1           77
A2                        440           455
A3                            0              0
A4                           69            72

Power Board

Red                     3.1vac         2.8vac
Black                   3.1vac         2.8vac

Kreg A                 4.1               3.1
Kreg B                 6.3               7

OA                       300              301
OB                       175              175   

Are things close enough?

Thanks Bruce

[Paul Birkeland]

With the meter you're using, what is the smallest AC scale?

It is unusual to see 2.8V instead of 3.1V for the driver tube heaters.  This could be an issue of low line voltage, but you have some DC voltages that suggest that your line voltage might be slightly high (not a bad thing).  If your meter only has a 200V and 500V scale for AC voltage, then the 2.8V reading wouldn't worry me. 

-PB

[brucef]

The meter I am using does in fact only have a 200v and 500v setting for AC voltage.And, when I checked the second amp, it tested almost identical to the first amp in regards to all the measurements including the 2.8v reading.