2. amps-preamps
  3. 150286-53619

Again the topic of weight of amps

I see this has been covered but not recently.
I have had a few amps in the 100+ pound range.
I liked them enormously but I am in a small space and am tired of dealing with these behemoths when I need to move them around and the real estate they take up. They were all wonderful in their way and I would like to have kept them but for their immobility. But can one find true love after such heavy weights with a feather weight 55 pounder?
Have technological advances in 2019 made such a thing possible? I had a pass 350.8 which I loved but you can't keep a Stonehenge rock in an apartment living room.

roxy1927

Showing 9 responses by geoffkait

geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
wspohn
First question is why one would need to move power amps other than when they are first installed....can’t think of any good reason, but you could always invest in some amp stands with casters.

>>>>Eggs 🍳 ackley! Which is why the very first thing you should do when you install power amps is to isolate the big honking transformers from the chassis by removing the bolts and placing the transformers on cork or some viscoelastic material, thus turning them into constrained layer dampers.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Are you out of mind?
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Is that supposed to be passive resistance? 😳
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
The fact that there is any difference in resistance is simply evidence that the fuse wire is not symmetrical. nobody ever claimed that its resistance alone that makes fuses or wire or cables directional. RM is Captain Ahab and fuses are his Moby Dick. I have oft opined that amplifier designers are the last to hop on board the directionality train. Too hyper circuit-focused, one assumes. Too proud, too, maybe.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
One can’t help wondering if Tim P. controls the wire for his hand wound transformers for directionality. 🤔 Probably not. That would be too coincidental.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Nope, they all do. That’s why it’s important to wrap the transformers in mu metal. Of course you can ignore or dismiss the whole issue. I really don’t care. Even toroidal transformers that supposedly don’t emit magnetic fields do, in fact, leak. Been there, done that.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
I have great bass - slam, articulation and plumpness, the whole nine yards, and am using a Sony Walkman CD player. Consequently I don’t buy into the theory that the transformer has to be large. 
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
mitch2
@geoffkait
It’s no secret that big honking transformers produce toxic magnetic fields that distort the sound and that transformers produce mechanical vibration that affects everything in the chassis, especially given that transformers are bolted down to the chassis.
I believe I have heard of amplifiers that have a separate case for the transformer but I cannot think of a specific example right now.

>>>>Michael Green says he removes the transformer and places it far away from the amplifier, connecting them with long wires. An enclosure for the transformer would be fine as long as the enclosure was a low frequency high permeability alloy. I.e., mu metal. Two enclosures would be even better. 🤗
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
I suspect Michael Green might be on to something when he says he went to very low mass systems, especially low mass amplifiers. If thy eye 👁 offend thee pluck it out. It’s no secret that big honking transformers produce toxic magnetic fields that distort the sound and that transformers produce mechanical vibration that affects everything in the chassis, especially given that transformers are bolted down to the chassis.
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