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.

 

[S̷͖͑m̵͎͂á̵̺s̸͚̈́h̴̬̑]

@Leo Diezel

 

[Leo Diezel]

Would you please send me a recording of it?
Sent you my email in pm

 

[Degenerate_orbital]

So an update on this, I sent a video of the sound/noise to Leo. They believe it is a power tube issue. Leo then got me into contact with BAD, and they asked for the purchase information so that they could get the ball rolling on getting them replaced. I let them know that it was purchased through Sweetwater as a returned unit and that I would work through Sweetwater to resolve the issue. When I contacted Sweetwater about it, they said no problem, let’s swap it out for a new one at no extra cost.

I only typed all that out to convey that Diezel, BAD, and Sweetwater were all way more helpful than I would have expected.

Thank you Leo and anyone/everyone else at Diezel that took the time to look into this. I really appreciate it.

 

[shadow070]

Yup, always top service. Thats also a reason why i went with Diezel again. I also just got the BigMax, im so pleased with it. Glad its working out for you!

 

[Facetious_jesus]

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.

Hey. Any chance you can post the clip of what it sounded like? I stumbled across this post and wondering if I have this amp now…

 

[Degenerate_orbital]

Yes, I do have a video of it, but can’t seem to attach videos directly here. I’ll try and upload the video I have to YouTube or something. I returned it to Sweetwater the last week of February, just fyi.



Edited to add a link to the video.

 

[Facetious_jesus]

Yes, I do have a video of it, but can’t seem to attach videos directly here. I’ll try and upload the video I have to YouTube or something. I returned it to Sweetwater the last week of February, just fyi.



Edited to add a link to the video.

Thanks. Really appreciate it. Not 100% sure if it’s the same amp. Couldn’t quite catch SN but timeline would add up and definitely the same noise.

Really like the amp though. Will ask Sweetwater about it.

 

[Degenerate_orbital]

Thanks. Really appreciate it. Not 100% sure if it’s the same amp. Couldn’t quite catch SN but timeline would add up and definitely the same noise.

Really like the amp though. Will ask Sweetwater about it.

I looked through my emails with Sweetwater about it and couldn’t find a SN. All I mentioned was the order number. Good luck dealing with Sweetwater about it. They were really cool with me. Hopefully they get it sorted out quickly.