Thank you; I see how it works. |
Voltage plays the major role in the conversion from Farads (or MicroFarads) to Joules. Joules = ½CVoltage²
So you would have to know what voltage your filter caps were charged at. The MA-3 works out to 2838 Joules, since the actual capacity is 270,000uf or .27F, and the B+ voltage is 145 Volts.
If you have a typical solid state amplifier, the voltage might be plus and minus 60 volts. That would work out to about 13 Joules. If on the hand you are talking a tube amp, the voltage might be 475V. Then its 429 Joules. Voltage makes the big difference.
I hope this makes things clear... if you walk through it with a calculator you will see how it works. |
It sure will and at the top of my list of "excellent possibilities" is your MA-2 mkIIIs.
One question...what difference would the:
"1/4 Farad of power storage capacity per channel" in the MA-3, make vs. the MA-2 mkIII's "1100 Joules/chassis".
Since I don't know how to do the Farad-to-Joules conversion, I'm not sure what these numbers are telling me.
For what it's worth, my amps are "3800uF x 2".
Thanks. |
There is a lot to be said for clean power! Clean power means you can run the amps close to (but not) clipping and still have them be musical.
MBLs being what they are it is nice to have some power behind them, but FWIW the difference between 220 watts and 440 is only 3 db, which is only just detectable as a volume difference to the human ear- IOW, slight.
So if you have things set up right you should be able to get by with less power. That will open the door to a number of excellent possibilities! |
This is what I've discovered regarding authority and ease at high volume levels...
1. Adding a 20amp Elrod Statement power cord to my power conditioner made a huge difference. (It replaced an excellent Harmonix Studio Master 20amp cord).
2. Adding an electronic crossover didn't make any difference.
3. Using 450 wpc amps (VTL 450s) in place of my 125 wpc amps didn't make any difference.
This has me thinking that I may just be in need of -better- power, not -more- power. |
Altec 1570B monoblocks (when modded by Tom Tutay) using 811's in triode for 160 wpc... |
Thanks to all.
If I won the lottery, the amps that I would buy first are the Atma-Sphere MA-3s. I think they would sound glorious with my speakers.
In lieu of a lottery win, I will stick with my Manley 250s and try and squeeze a bit more juice out of them by adding some big Elrod power cords. I am also going to try and lighten their workload by adding an electronic crossover. They will then only have to amplify frequencies over 75Hz (maybe even 105Hz; we'll see). |
Shoreline amps are made by Rainbow Electronics in Sacramento which is actually a repair shop. The owner tries to replicate the power of the Ocean. His top model costs $100,000. |
Thanks Brian. At that price I don't think I will ever hear them driving my MBLs :-)
I think I will try using an electronic crossover before my four monobocks rather than looking for more powerful amplifiers.
I'm open to suggestions on a brand of crossover (in current production or not).
Are the vacuum tube ones made by Marchand excellent? |
Ralph's MA-3 amplifiers are $82K per pair. I can't imagine what they would sound like driving your MBLs :-)
Brian |
Okay; I'll bite:
How much are you asking for your 500 watt triode amp?
(I am seated and braced :-) |
-Since triodes were mentioned- we make a 500 watt triode amp:
http://www.atma-sphere.com/products/ma3.html |
Another question: at 250 watts, are the Manley 250 Neo-Classic monoblocks the most powerful amps using EL34s? |
Shoreline makes some very fine, but also very expensive (not as expensive as TRL) push-pull 6550/kt88/90 based triodes. Some folks think they are the best of the super power tubes...I couldn't say.
I also remembered the Wavestream Kinetics V-8's...not sure of their power rating but they were designed to drive difficult loads.
I also have a pair of the MFA 200d's (same designer as the V-8's) and they are excellent as well. |
I tried the 450 in tetrode mode and I much preferred the Manley 250. At the time, I didn't know that one could switch between triode and tetrode on the VTL. |
Yup, how about the VTL 450? |
I haven't heard of Shoreline. (TRL is very expensive). |
Shoreline 800 is another monster. I have the Shoreline 300 and it is a stunner.
Tube Research Labs (TRL) models are also very powerful |
Right, how could I have forgotten about VTL?!
For some reason I never clued in to the fact that you can switch between tetrode and triode on their amps. |
I am sure there may be more but the VTL MB1250 seems one that comes to mind with 1250watts in Tetrode mode. Now that's one big room heater:)
I am not sure what the power rating of the VTL Siegfried...I think 800 watts. Much better looking by the way... |
