[arthur]

hey, here is a tip for all you urban non-TT-owning tempest owners.

if you hear radio signals coming from your Tempest when it's switched to phono without any phono equipment plugged in, you can eliminate it either with shorting plugs or simply switching the back switch from MC to MM. i had so much interference that it was actually leaking into the CD channel.

oh and if for some reason you decide to go with the plug option (or both   ) don't waste any $ on shorting plugs by spending any money on them. simply grab some old RCA's, cut out the wires, and then take a small chunk of foil and stuff it tight into the back end of the plug. but PLEASE make sure not to plug these into ANY outputs!

good luck

[Sonny]

You know...
Guys, I have that issue too, its really feedback...I don't know, but when I have it on Tuner I can hear feedback from the AUX and vice versa.
I think this is a result of crossing circuitry from the board.  Its quality control... They need to figure how to stop this.  We, the comsumers, shouldn't have to try and fix things if we buying these things from the manufacturer.

[MarkgM]

I don;t know how many do this, but sometimes you get the plugs with the integrated or pre, if it has phono outs.  I wonder if this is often the case?

[Sonny]

Nope, I've never received them with the plugs...
Its probably someone had them and included them with your purchase.
Has Klaus been AWOL lately?

[klaus@odyssey]

I'm here.  Just been insanely busy lately,  and this %^#%$#@&^$^%%$#$&#$*^%&^(*^*^(*&^$*^%$^&%&*)^_(&)*_)*(&%^&$%^#%^$(&*%^*(&)^&(*&)(**&%^&  log on / password system here didn't help.


Arthur,  good point about the plugs.  AND  YES,  even better point ////not in the output, folks.

Late,

Klaus

[MarkgM]

Erp!  Phono ins. hehe

[Barry]

Arthur,

To reduce the noise, should I short both MC and MM inputs?  Or should I short only the MM inpus?  Thanks!

[greve]

Arthur,

To reduce the noise, should I short both MC and MM inputs?  Or should I short only the MM inpus?  Thanks!

All inputs should preferably be shorted to reduce noise. Have a look at what "UK's Hi-Fi Accessory Guru #1" (=Russ Andrews) has to say about this and his solution to the problem called "Shorties" http://www.russandrews.com/product.asp?lookup=1®ion=UK¤cy=GBP&pf_id=5735&customer_id=PAA2765023004538UXSXVHKYUPFLYMTO

[djbnh]

Just move out to NH country where the deer and fisher cats are the only noise you hear.  

[pugs]

hey, here is a tip for all you urban non-TT-owning tempest owners.

if you hear radio signals coming from your Tempest when it's switched to phono without any phono equipment plugged in, you can eliminate it either with shorting plugs or simply switching the back switch from MC to MM. i had so much interference that it was actually leaking into the CD channel.

oh and if for some reason you decide to go with the plug option (or both   ) don't waste any $ on shorting plugs by spending any money on them ...

Klaus - so what do I do?  Put a little foil in the back of a RCA connector and plug it into my unused inputs?

Has anyone else tried this?

[BWentler]

An update:  

I purcahsed a package of RCA connectors and 100 ohm resiters from Radio Shack and installed them in all unsed RCA inputs of my Tempest.

Results:

There was a marked improve in all areas of the sound!  This is a GREAT tweak for the tempest

The bad/problem:  

I went to listen to some albums that I had purchased used and noticed that I needed to max out the volume to get any volume!    What sound came out of the speakers was great!  The album was very much tube sounding but it had no volume to it.  I reduced the volume and removed the shorting plugs and the sound came back to it's normal level.

The question:  

Since I use a MM cartridge and not a MC, I would like to use the shorting plugs on the unused RCA jacks.  What size resister would I need to do this while keeping the volume the same as with out the shorting plugs?

[speedcenter]

I went to listen to some albums that I had purchased used and noticed that I needed to max out the volume to get any volume!    What sound came out of the speakers was great!  The album was very much tu ...

Hi Bruce - long time no see...

As for that volume drop - are you sure this is related? Very odd behavior if the inputs are switched manually (are they? or is there some relay in there?). On my home built shoebox preamp, when I am not using an input, the whole input wire is completely disconnected from the device, so all the shorting plug would do is extend the return/ground wire through the plug back to the wire that ends on the input selector switch. Hardly a gain, and not surprisingly, I heard no difference putting shorted plugs in there.

You had the Tempest opened up - how are these inputs wired? Do they go straight to the PCB or is there a point-to-point wiring scheme to a selector and then to the board? If it is the latter, your experience would be rather odd! Tehcnically, there had top be some electrical connection (via a resistor or two) between the inputs to allow for a voltage leak from your active intput. Not what I'd expect from a preamp like the Tempest. I'm sure Klaus could explain this, though.

Peter

[BWentler]

Hi Bruce - long time no see...

You had the Tempest opened up - how are these inputs wired? Do they go straight to the PCB or is there a point-to-point wiring scheme to a selector and then to the board? If it is the latter, your experience would be rather odd! Technically, there had top be some electrical connection (via a resistor or two) between the inputs to allow for a voltage leak from your active input. Not what I'd expect from a preamp like the Tempest. I'm sure Klaus could explain this, though.

Long time, no talk.    Maybe this winter we can get together.  I got married and now live in a house.  The stereo is in the basement and I'll be posting questions on how to build the room ASAP.  Thanks for responding to my posting SpeedCenter!!!!!!!!!!!!  

As for the Tempest and RCA jacks, they go straight into the PCB.  From talks with Klaus before I purchased the Tempest, it sounded like both the MM & MC phono sections are always active.  Maybe by "shorting" the MC side of the phono stage, it draws so much current or something like that, that it affects the MM side of things.  

I also noticed last night that when playing music and normal levels and I install and remove the shunt caps on the MC RCA connectors, I sometimes here some noise at that same time.  Should I be doing this when the volume is above 0 or even when the Tempest is on?

[KarlDL]

A few observations that may be helpful:

1.  The two sets of RCA jacks for the phono stage are paralleled.  One pair goes to the TT cartridge, the other to terminating plugs for MC only; leave latter open for MM.  If I traced the circuit accurately, there's no way to externally short out the MC input when the unit is in MM mode.  MC stage input and output "float" internally when MM is selected.

2.  All input switching is done by relays.

3.  Tape output is not buffered (my only real peeve    with the Tempest design).  If you short the tape out jacks or terminate them with resistors under 10K you may well load down your sources, detrimentally (if sources contain tubes, think 100K).  I would leave them open.

4.  CD, tuner, & aux inputs have internal 47K terminating resistors, before the selector relays.

5.  Shorting the phono input, or terminating it with, say, 100 Ohms, makes sense if you don't do vinyl and are in a hostile EMI environment, as it lessens noise etc. from getting into the Tempest's innards.

Karl

[BWentler]

Thanks for your reply and insights into the insides of the Tempest

A few observations that may be helpful:

3.  3. Tape output is not buffered (my only real peeve  with the Tempest design). If you short the tape out jacks or terminate them with resistors under 10K you may well load down your sources, detrimentally (if sources contain tubes, think 100K). I would leave them open.

Could you explain why is not cool and if there are external boxes that would buffer the tape loop?

Bruce

[KarlDL]

Bruce,

I'm usually a believer in simplicity and, therefore, would ordinarily argue that less complexity (amplifier sections) is always better.  However, the issue with tape outs is that it is feasible for them to get inadvertantly shorted or connected to sources of substantial, perhaps dangerous, hum.

Say you unplug the recorder (whatever medium it might be these days) end of the cable, leave it lying around, and it comes into contact with a case or whatever metal might be nearby.  It might short out and thereby load down whatever source you're listening to, perhaps to the point of bass rolloff or distortion.  Or, if it contacts a chassis that's not at the same ground potential as your preamp, you might get a rude awakening by hum (fed back through the tape out into the preamp's signal path) and that could even fry a driver or two in your speakers.  With a buffer amp in between, those scenarios don't occur.

This would be a non-issue if the Tempest's tape output were fed from the op-amp that buffers the path from the selector relays into the volume control.  I don't understand why it is the way it is and retraced the circuit a few times to make sure I wasn't imagining things.

Just because things can go wrong doesn't mean that they will in sufficiently careful hands.  Would I reconfigure the Tempest to buffer the tape out?  Probably not, as I would be careful to always unplug the preamp end of the cable first and feed equipment with 10K or higher input impedances.

Karl