Tube versus SS



Since I just installed some rather expensive NOS 6922 Telefunken tubes in my Phono-preamp, that yielded outstanding results, I decided to compare CD to Phono.

From the best of "Jacintha", CD, I selected "Danny Boy". Her voice emerged deep center stage from a jet black noise free back ground. It sounded more like what I expected from the analog.

That was followed by special LP's of Dinah Washington that had recently arrived. Those LP's were everything I expected with the NOS 6922 Telefunken Tubes in the Phono, but the surprise was the fact that I couldn't tell the two apart; both were outstanding.

What may surprise you, is the fact that I attribute these outstanding results from the COVID 19 "lock-down" which has given us the quietest "grid" ever in history. That means those of us with lesser means have the same AC power as the richest who can afford expensive AC power "clean uppers".

BTW, I have made extensive comparisons to recordings made before and after, the lock-down that confirm just how much of a difference it's made. I must admit that I had doubts about expensive power conditioners, but this confirms that fantastic results come from taming the wild AC.

It's my belief that we can not achieve better results than we have from the current "quiet grid", which means power conditioner or no power conditioner, we are all presently getting the same results.

Could it be that the dominant factor when comparing tube and SS when they both are of comparable quality is "The quality of the AC"?
   
orpheus10

Showing 3 responses by david_ten

@orpheus10 Improvements in air quality ( / a reduction in airborne particulates) and a reduction in seismic activity were also widely reported and studied.

I would expect transmission of radio frequencies (etc.) to have also dropped during the lockdown, especially due to the cessation of business based activity.

If you are under flight paths, then airborne resonances as well.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00965-x (this one re. seismic activity)
@orpheus10 The Nature article linked above points out this:

"A noise reduction of this magnitude is usually only experienced briefly around Christmas, says Thomas Lecocq, a seismologist the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Brussels,"

I’d expect other widely observed and region specific religious and secular holidays to track or exhibit similar patterns.
Continuing with the 'seismic theme,' and the vibrations/resonances from human activity, here is data from the bands (and more) during the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena.

https://scitechdaily.com/new-fiber-optic-seismic-array-in-pasadena-precisely-tracked-the-rose-parade/