Newly purchased Big Max makes weird noise after startup

[Degenerate_orbital]

I purchased a Big Max from Sweetwater and received it last week. After getting it hooked up to my 2x12”, I turned it on and noticed a weird “tink” sound coming from the amp itself. When I say “on”, I mean both the power and standby switches are in the “on” position. I do not hear the sound when the power is on, but the standby is “off”.

The sound is coming from the amp itself and is not coming through the speakers. I can’t tell exactly where the sound is coming from within the amp, but it sounds kind of like metal tapping glass.The sound is not super loud but is audible from 5-10 feet away from the amp. I’ll hear the sound every 10-15 seconds for the first few minutes the amp is on. After that, the sound will go away. The amp itself sounds great and does not change its tone during or after this sound is being made.

Is this likely just a tube making this sound while it is getting warmed up or something else? I don’t have any spare pre or power amp tubes to swap out to see if it is a tube issue.

I’ve played all sorts of tube amps for 25ish years and have never noticed a sound like this coming from an amp before.

 

[S̷͖͑m̵͎͂á̵̺s̸͚̈́h̴̬̑]

@Peter Diezel

 

[S̷͖͑m̵͎͂á̵̺s̸͚̈́h̴̬̑]

I purchased a Big Max from Sweetwater and received it last week. After getting it hooked up to my 2x12”, I turned it on and noticed a weird “tink” sound coming from the amp itself. When I say “on”, I mean both the power and standby switches are in the “on” position. I do not hear the sound when the power is on, but the standby is “off”.

The sound is coming from the amp itself and is not coming through the speakers. I can’t tell exactly where the sound is coming from within the amp, but it sounds kind of like metal tapping glass.The sound is not super loud but is audible from 5-10 feet away from the amp. I’ll hear the sound every 10-15 seconds for the first few minutes the amp is on. After that, the sound will go away. The amp itself sounds great and does not change its tone during or after this sound is being made.

Is this likely just a tube making this sound while it is getting warmed up or something else? I don’t have any spare pre or power amp tubes to swap out to see if it is a tube issue.

I’ve played all sorts of tube amps for 25ish years and have never noticed a sound like this coming from an amp before.

Since peter isnt answering, let me tell you what i think.

When a material expands with heat, you get a rhythmic tapping that goes away generally in 1.5 minutes when it reaches temperature. This happens in plumbing in the winter when the hot water enters a cold pipe. It is called Thermal Expansion


Is it pretty cold in your house?

 

[Degenerate_orbital]

Thanks for replying. I wouldn’t say it’s cold. It’s about 70 degrees F (21 degrees C) in my house. It does sound like thermal expansion. I’d be surprised if it was something else, actually. If it’s just tubes, I wouldn’t worry about it at all. I’ve just never heard tubes make a sound like this before. If it is something else in the amp that is expanding and contracting when it gets hot/cold (like something soldered on the board), then I might be more concerned.

I’ll contact Sweetwater about it, too. I just figured it’d be prudent to ask here first since the actual builder(s) lurk here. I realize it’s difficult/impossible to diagnose an issue over the internet. I was more just wondering if this is something that is super common but I’ve just never run into it before.