atmasphere
Responses from atmasphere
| Is it a OK to leave tube pre-amps powede up 24/7 There are only so many electrons in a vacuum tube.There might be a limit to how many electrons can **flow** through a vacuum tube... I've seen some 6SN7s go over 50,000 hours in our gear. Admittedly, that's an outsider number but some tubes have ... | |
| EAR vs Audio Note preamp Do you have a budget?If you are considering an ARC Ref 5 maybe that's a dumb question... you do know that the ARC doesn't have a phono section, right?I'm puzzled how it boiled down to these choices. Some others to consider: the CAT Signature, cj A... | |
| New Mag-Lev Turntable When the base of the arm and the surface of the platter are not rigidly coupled, the result is that any motion in which both are not a party will be interpreted by the pickup as a coloration. One example could be a loss of bass. In a turntable ide... | |
| Class D Technology Today it's become a surefire tell of sad ignorance.This statement is false. Just because you heard a class D amp sound better than a tube amp in a particular situation does not mean that all class D amps sound better than all tube amps, or even th... | |
| Is it a OK to leave tube pre-amps powede up 24/7 Well, some ARC tube preamps can power up a pair of small speakers if connected to the output to significant SPL levels.That is to say that signal tubes there are driven rough almost just like power tubes.I have a set of adapters to use my preamp ... | |
| Can I convert stereo to mono for a phono input It remains a little odd to me that Phonograph cartridges which are inherently balanced devices, don't have XLR outputs. Some do (well, some **arms** do anyway). Most tone arms have a balanced connection somewhere (even a lowly BSR or Garrard); its... | |
| Experience with Tannoy Westminster Royal Gold Reference I was a few months ago considering OTL amps, but was not sure of their capacity to drive those big drivers.Just so you know, the size of the woofer has absolutely nothing to do with the ability of the amplifier to drive it. I do hear this myth a ... | |
| Hi-Fi Tunig Fuses & Parasound A21 I have also found that the sound changes with the direction of the fuse. In one way it is relaxed with a very clear mid-range specially the voice with a little loose bass. The reverse direction produces a very fast, punchy sound with a controll... | |
| Is it a OK to leave tube pre-amps powede up 24/7 I've yet to see a signal tube explode! For that matter its really really rare even for a power tube. I've been servicing consumer electronics since 1974. I've yet to see a fire in **any** preamp, tube or solid state that was not caused by a lightn... | |
| SET amp comparable to First Watt SIT 1? If you're going to stick to a 300b you do have several options. normally a 300b can only make about 7 watts. You will need more power unless your room is a small one, or if you only listen to light chamber music or solo guitar. Musical peaks take ... | |
| Is it a OK to leave tube pre-amps powede up 24/7 and says the power surge upon turn-on is harder on the tubes than 24/7 usage.This really has to do with the design! The phenomena known as 'cathode stripping' really affects power tubes a whole lot more than small signal tubes!I find that I get mu... | |
| SET amp comparable to First Watt SIT 1? We have a number of customers with that speaker that really like the combination. They use either the S-30 or M-60.Due to the efficiency of the speaker, low distortion at low power is really important and this is why SETs are often preferred. Beca... | |
| Can you leave class D amps on and not ever turn them off? **Usually** keeping filter caps charged is a good thing for their lifespan. If however that means that the caps also are running warm then its not going to help, especially if some of that warmth comes from ripple current (which tends to be higher... | |
| Leave amps on? The impedance of the speaker can easily make a difference. In some cases can change the class of operation too (lower impedance pushes the amps more towards the B region; yet another reason to avoid low impedance speakers if possible). With a lowe... | |
| Teres Illius Tonearm and the importance of the Tonearm in the analog reproduction chain My experience has been that the arm's ability to track the cartridge correctly is far more important then the actual cartridge. To that end of course the cartridge and arm should be compatible which usually has to do with size and the resulting ef... |