Soft sizzling/buzz from cabinet speaker

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beef331994

New member
Hi all,

Recently I noticed a soft sizzling/buzz from my speaker cabinet(blackheart BH112). I can only hear it if I put my ear next to it or in a very very quiet room. My head is the blackheart little giant. I was wondering if this is normal or there is something wrong with the amp head and/or cabinet. I just retubed it to tung-sol 12AX7 and JJ EL84. To be more specific, I turn down all the knobs and the buzzing/sizzling is still present.

Thank you so much for all your help in advance
 
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Trial and error. Try other sockets in your place, I do have some friends having noise on specific sockets
 
The BH5H is a single-ended amp, so its design is inherently more noisy compared to other more common push-pull amps. Push-pull amps utilise phase cancellation which helps reduce unwanted noise in the preamp signal. A good analogy would be how a humbucker silences hum as opposed to a single coil.

A number of other factors like the quality of the parts used in the amp, circuit layout, dirty tube sockets and shielding play a part too. An inexpensive way to start troubleshooting would be clean out your tube sockets first. The Tung Sol 12AX7 already has one of the lowest noise floors amongst modern production tubes so you're pretty set for tubes unless you want to go NOS. Seeing the price point of your amp, I personally wouldn't reccomend going all hog wild and replacing parts of the amp with higher quality hardware as it'll probably cost you as much as the amp itself if not more.

What stormage said about power outlets is true too. An improperly wired power source can cause noise as well. If you have dimmer lights installed in the same room as your amp is hooked up, those can cause noise too.
 
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CyanideJunkie said:
The BH5H is a single-ended amp, so its design is inherently more noisy compared to other more common push-pull amps. Push-pull amps utilise phase cancellation which helps reduce unwanted noise in the preamp signal. A good analogy would be how a humbucker silences hum as opposed to a single coil.

A number of other factors like the quality of the parts used in the amp, circuit layout, dirty tube sockets and shielding play a part too. An inexpensive way to start troubleshooting would be clean out your tube sockets first. The Tung Sol 12AX7 already has one of the lowest noise floors amongst modern production tubes so you're pretty set for tubes unless you want to go NOS. Seeing the price point of your amp, I personally wouldn't reccomend going all hog wild and replacing parts of the amp with higher quality hardware as it'll probably cost you as much as the amp itself if not more.

What stormage said about power outlets is true too. An improperly wired power source can cause noise as well. If you have dimmer lights installed in the same room as your amp is hooked up, those can cause noise too.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for the explanation, I did try another wall socket in another room without any other appliance turned on. And the result is still the same. I think I might just get another amp. It is currently not affecting me though as the clean tone is still fine. I'm only afraid it affects the dirty tone. Any advice on how to move on?
 
Well, if you're going the new amp route you can look out for push-pull amps like the Vox AC15 or the Jet City JCA2212RC. Now I'm not saying that these amps will be completely noiseless. As I said, there are other factors to consider as well. If you're unsure about the configuration of the amp, you can always do a little research online before committing. One thing to look out for though: Some misinformed sales people may try to sell you the story that amps with 2 or more output tubes instantly classify as push-pull amps. Fact is that there is something called a "parallel single-ended" configuration, so there's that to look out for.

If you REALLY want a completely silent amp, you either have to be prepared to upgrade a pre-assembled amp's components or get a boutique amp. Stuff like top-shelf components and efficient power filtering don't come cheap. Either way, it'll cost you.
 
CyanideJunkie said:
Well, if you're going the new amp route you can look out for push-pull amps like the Vox AC15 or the Jet City JCA2212RC. Now I'm not saying that these amps will be completely noiseless. As I said, there are other factors to consider as well. If you're unsure about the configuration of the amp, you can always do a little research online before committing. One thing to look out for though: Some misinformed sales people may try to sell you the story that amps with 2 or more output tubes instantly classify as push-pull amps. Fact is that there is something called a "parallel single-ended" configuration, so there's that to look out for.

If you REALLY want a completely silent amp, you either have to be prepared to upgrade a pre-assembled amp's components or get a boutique amp. Stuff like top-shelf components and efficient power filtering don't come cheap. Either way, it'll cost you.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much. I guess ill love with it considering I'm a poor kid.
 
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