H&K Triamp clean channel gutless

[passionfingers]

Hi,
I am a total newb here and about as clueless as a new born frog, but I need to learn some stuff about my Triamp.
I've had it for a bout 4 yrs, and originally it had a great clean channel. Peeps compare them to Twins, but that's not really the issue.
Apart from an episode where a house-sitters boyfrined plugged it in with no cab connected, it had always been fone, and even after that it seemed ok.
First problem I had was when the original power tubes clapped out, and the clean channel strarted cutting in and out and losing power. As I recal, the overdrive channels were still fine though.
The nearest tech was 400km away, and after talking to him, I decided to put new power tubes in without biasing. It came back to life, but the clean channel has never really been the same.
About 9 mths later, I moved, and was able to take it to a tech. The second set of tubes had died, and he gave it a good go-over, replaced the V1 pre-amp tube, and power tubes. Around this time, it also developed some dry solders in the PCB, and another couple of trips to the tech ensued. At some stage, I bought some new pre-amp tubes, and tried replacing some, but the first one I installed was a dud, and was shorting inside the tube, so I ceased and desisted from that very quickly.
gedting to the meat of the problem now. The OD channels are perfect, but the clean channel, which is not affected by the Channel One master volume , just the gain, works, but has no volume or depth. With the gain up high, and the MV dimed, it is about as loud as an old TV.
Seriously, I should be wallpaper, and I can probably fart louder.
I should mention that I had asked the tech to look at the clean channel, and he said it was fine, but it was not really, and is now much worse. Replaceing the V1 pre-amp tube, provided I have the right one made a small improvement, but not much.
I have a limited choice of techs, and I want to do some research before I send my amp to anyone, so I have some clue where to start. I'm not really considering fixing this myself, but I want to have some idea about what to look at.

All help greatly appreciated
Ken

[Phil_S]

Well, Ken, this Triamp is a complicated amp. I think you are stuck taking it to a tech.

[passionfingers]

Well, Ken, this Triamp is a complicated amp. I think you are stuck taking it to a tech.

I was afraid that might be the case. TBH, I can live without it, as I have 2 other great clean channels in other amps, but ya know how something bugs you cos it's not right, and is just crying out to be fixed.
I might give one guy I trust a call. He's 2 hours drive though, which is a pain. Grrrrrrrrrrr !!!

[DonMoose]

Before taking that long drive, try swapping Tube 2 (Clean channel only) with Tube 7 or 8 (OD channels only).

If the clean comes back, it was the tube.
If the clean comes back and the OD doesn't go away, it was a dirty socket connection.

Be gentle, you don't want to aggravate a bad solder on one of these sockets.

Hope this helps!