My VAC Avatar SE tube integrated 60 watt/ch amp seriously benefits from PS Audio regenerator in every performance aspect. It makes the regenerator work hard, though, the regenerator gets much warmer than with previous solid state equipment, sometimes fan in it turns on too for half a minute or so. But sound is incomparably better than going straight to the wall, and I use Purist Dominus power cord with the amp. More powerful tube amp might shut the regenerator down, I don't know.
Would a tube amp generally do better on power conditioner than a SS amp?
If I have understood the posts on the subjects correctly (and it is quite possible that I haven’t) most tube amps do not double their WPC when the impedance drops from 8 ohms to 4 ohms and therefore do not meet the criteria to be a high current amp. If I have that part right, would that also mean that having a tube amp plugged into a device or component that potentially inhibits or limits current would not effect them as much as it would a high current ss amp?
Okay. What made me wonder is that from the threads I have read on the subject, the main objection to power conditioners is that they may limit current. I would think that current limiting would have more of a negative effect on a high current amp that I am thinking must thrive on drawing a lot of current from the wall?
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I probably didn't word my question as well as I should have: what I was getting at was that if a tube amp doesn't pull as much current from the wall as a ss amp does, would the tube amp be less likely to be adversely affected by a component such as a power conditioner that might have a current limiting effect? |
@inna , a few weeks ago I was curious about how one would know if one had a high current amp or a not high current amp so I started a thread asking that very question. What I think I got out of it was that if your amp doubles its WPC when the load goes from 8 ohms to 4 ohms it is a high current amp. And I also got out of it that generally with most tube amps this does not happen and the WPC remains constant. My Cary is one that does not double its WPC with a 4 ohm load. That is what prompted my question. |
Look at it this way, one way or another, tube or SS you have to produce the same amount of voltage and current through a speaker to get the same volume. Whatever theories there are about a conditioner limiting current you are going to have exactly the same issue no matter what. The physics say that to maintain current you must maintain voltage, so a power conditioner with built in voltage regulation like a Furman AR series unit is the way to go if you want rock solid voltage year in year out at all times of day regardless of your AC running or not. The next step up from that would be a PS Audio power plant. |
immatthewj, I don't understand physics, so I'll leave it to those who do. Regenerators are different devices, not usual power conditioners, and I only tried my amp with PS Audio, though I have an old Furman in my second system. But power tubes definitely draw a lot of power/current, you can almost feel it - just kidding. |
No PC or regenerator for me with any amps, tried both through auditioning process at CableCo, this with push pull tube and 845 SET amps. Continue to run my present 300B monoblocks on this same dedicated amp line, this same phase on breaker box as the other components using balanced PC. Always have great sound quality amps sans PC, quality power supplies in amps should suffice, lesser ps in amps may benefit from PC. |
But apparently not as much current as ss amps that double their WPCs when the impedance halves, @inna . At least that's what I got out of that thread that I previously alluded to. |