Ribbon cable inside amplifiers

I’ve never had anything negative to say about Nelson Pass, the quality of his equipment construction or his business practices. I appreciate how open Nelson has been about his thoughts in amplifier design, and amplifier / speaker integration via seminars and published writing and his willingness to share with the DIY community via FirstWatt.

He makes a number of aesthetic choices when it comes to the sound of his preamp and amps which simultaneously have gotten his gear a large following and which does not work for me. It isn’t tribal.

@dgarretson - Nice to see you my friend.

I think those are fun experiments to do,  honestly, but I wouldn't do it on a megabucks amp as my first trial.  Given the advent of streaming, and 1 PCB construction I wonder how much of that is even possible with modern designs?

I wonder if Pass Labs use ribbon in the audio path?….

What if he does?? I mean it seems like you’ve just kind of randomly hit upon some feature of audio construction you were not previously aware of you are now fixated on. It’s a poor way to judge gear.

This is why I’m suggesting you build your own instead of arm-chair judging gear based on pictures and conjecture and an unexplained problem with a particular use of connection methods.

Listening to the amp is really the only way to judge his results. The proof of the pudding is not in the ingredients but in the eating.

And why are you fixated on poor Pass for using ribbon connectors?  Have you been looking at other amps too?? Lots of ribbon cables there too.

Maybe this is what you were looking at. Look at all the red and blue wires, and those great big metal plates on the capacitors. All the high currents are handled well by very tidy and short wiring.

As others have commented, the ribbon is probably there for power on/power off signals (not current), and perhaps some turn on sequencing. None of it appears to be in the way of the audio signal, though I could be mistaken and even then, if properly selected, would be fine.  So for instance, there might  be a push button on the front panel, or meters, or even source selectors.  All just fine for ribbons that are not carrying significant current or audio signals. 

A good amplifier circuit is usually supported by some sort of relays to ensure the amplifier has stabilized before the speakers are connected, external turn on/turn off jacks, etc.

I should add, Nelson Pass has been building large Class-A amplifiers for a very long time and I've never heard anyone complain about their reliability. 

If you feel the need to start poking inside of an amp and making judgements about the parts maybe what you are feeling is a need to build one yourself?  Look up FirstWatt kits.

Op, if poorly placed or not appropriately selected, but true for all components.  Heat is bad so engineers take cooling and material selection 8nto account.

Nothing at all wrong with ribbon cables, if used appropriately. Yes, they are less expensive to assemble with but they do not signal substandard construction.

There are some who are point to point purists and even avoid circuit boards. A practical impossibility except in the simplest of amps.