Hartke LH1000 Head, Hydrive 410 and 115 Cabs

[jonnyenglish358]

Hi Guys,

Just after some help/advice.... I have just purchased second hand off ebay the Hartke LH1000 Head and the hydrive 115 and 410.... however when testing the amp it sounded great so bought it and have since taken it home anyway used it for the first time this weekend and its perfect. However when you turn the high frequency switch (which i didn't realise it had when testing) i starts to hiss/hum on both cabs? are the tweeters just blown do you think or is it the head? didn't notice any change in the quality of sound when they were switched either so assume they aren't doing anything which leads me to believe they are broken.

Thanks for your help,

Jonny

[Hot Tub]

If it's happening to both cabs, that would suggest it's the head. Do you have another cab you can connect just to test?

[Dood]

It's all ok, nothing is broken. It's actually part of the design of the LH1000 head. You can think of the LH as an amp whose master volume is up at 10 all the time and you control the overall volume with the gain control instead - which is essentially what the dial marked 'volume' on the LH is. With that, it does mean that the amp generates a wee bit of hiss. Much less than many other amplifiers cranked all the way up I might add - and you can improve the situation by using a high grade valve as well as keeping the bright switch disengaged (which is a treble bleed).

Tweeters don't hiss by the way. They on,y reproduce the hiss being sent to them from a source. The LH is a great amp and is designed to go loud. I'd also say, whatever bass you are using, active or otherwise, go straight in to the passive socket for some extra level. I used to run Active EMGs in to the front of mine, no problems.

[jonnyenglish358]

Thank for your responses guys! yea its both cabs... is there any reason theat i can notice any difference in sound whether the high frequency is on or off? i mostly play with a passive however it does get occasional use with a active 5 string fretless and also a four string active

thanks,

Jonny

[Dood]

[quote name='jonnyenglish358' timestamp='1491478931' post='3273347']
Thank for your responses guys! yea its both cabs... is there any reason theat i can notice any difference in sound whether the [b]high frequency is on or off[/b]? i mostly play with a passive however it does get occasional use with a active 5 string fretless and also a four string active

thanks,

Jonny
[/quote]

You're referring to the three position switch on the back of the cabinets?

[jonnyenglish358]

Yea that's the one why?

[jonnyenglish358]

Please don't say its broken?

[Dood]

[quote name='jonnyenglish358' timestamp='1491514374' post='3273708']
Please don't say its broken?
[/quote]

Well it's hard to tell as there are a number of factors that could influence whether or not you hear a difference in your bass sound or not. I don't think it's broken at the moment though as you've already said you get loads of hiss from the tweeters? If you can reach round the cabinet whilst everything is powered up (you don't need to be playing) - put your ear close to the tweeter and flick the switch through the positions and listen to the hiss. It should go away when the switch is in the off position.

[Dood]

If you need more hiss then turn up the volume, click on the bright switch and wind up the treble control on the amp. Again, you won't need to play anything, just have a lead plugged in and you should have enough hiss to help you hear if the tweeter is being switched in and out.

[Dood]

P.s. If you can record what you are hearing that can help us diagnose.

[jonnyenglish358]

Okie dokie i will have a go at this tonight and let you know! the noise is only present when the high frequency is switched on... when you switch it to 1 the hiss appears... when you switch it to 2 the hiss gets audibly louder. I also believe but cant be sure that the volume also controls the level of the hiss (but cant actually remember)

thanks for your help guys,

Jonny