atmasphere
Responses from atmasphere
| Matching Power and Speakers -- Much Ado about Not-that-Much? (Tube amps and speakers) There’s also cases of speakers rated for 4 ohms which are 2 ohm speakers and they don’t need power so much as current. You tend to get higher current with bigger amps (not universally true). @erik_squires Uh, just so we’re clear: current cann... | |
| Tube amps - what 3 things… ralph, curious to know what is your take on auto biasing... now increasingly employed in high level tube amps, audio research’s newer amps for instance the feature certainly offers a major convenience factor for users, but what do you see as the... | |
| Tube amps - what 3 things… My tube amps don't care if they're running 4 ohm or 8 ohm loads, have had both, and the 4 ohm loads do not cause any issues with greater loading, heating, etc, with the tube amps I think you'll find that using a thermal imaging camera that on a... | |
| CLASS A POWER RATINGS So, if I compare, say a Pass Labs XA 30.8 (30W class A) vs a Pass Labs X260.8 (1st 34W are class A assuming 8 ohm loads) at regular listening levels on efficient speakers (so, at 1-5W power at listening levels), are they two different levels of C... | |
| Matching Power and Speakers -- Much Ado about Not-that-Much? (Tube amps and speakers) If I'm understanding the upshot of what he's saying, it's that lower-power tube amps made with quality transformers (and well made generally) have a very good shot at doing an excellent job for a much wider range of speakers than is typically ass... | |
| Tube amps - what 3 things… For example: does any manufacturer use an inductor filtered power supply instead of the much cheaper (and lighter) capacitance filtered power supply? None that I know of. @xenolith As far as I’m aware, chokes are always used in tandem with capa... | |
| CLASS A POWER RATINGS but class B operation is push/pull, not? @sngreen Class B only means that the amplifier is conducting for half of the waveform. You can build a single-ended amplifier that is class B (not that you would want to listen to it). IOW Its not an ... | |
| Considering moving to separates with a tube preamp-appreciate recommendations When sitting down to audition your line of amplifiers and without regard to price, are you able to describe what differences will be noted as we cycle through your line of amplifiers, including the new class D? I would post this as a separate t... | |
| New Class D amplifiers But the gold standard sonically remains A. Where heat/weight is not a consideration (eg., preamps) class A is the norm. This statement is false. What is the 'gold standard' is a benign distortion product, one that allows the amplifier to be smo... | |
| CLASS A POWER RATINGS This is a very good thread, but just to clarify; Class A is a single-ended amplifier. Push-pull is class A/B (even though it is often described as class A). Do I understand it correctly? @sngreen No. The Dynaco SCA35 is an EL84-based push-pull ... | |
| Considering moving to separates with a tube preamp-appreciate recommendations You could also look at the AGD Tempo Di GaN stereo amp that’s also in your price range, and I believe both amps are upgradeable for future tech innovations, which is really nice (I know AGD is but maybe Ralph can confirm his amps are too). Our ... | |
| Tube amps - what 3 things… The ability to switch between modes (triode, ultralinear, pentode) is nice. I do not agree with this statement. The problem is that to do this properly, the output transformer (and the rest of the output circuit) has to be set up to handle the ... | |
| New Class D amplifiers going from A all the way to D strikes me as somewhat extreme for one who is used to the Pass. Why not look into a good A/B first? The main reason AB exists is to reduce heat and power consumption, with some of the benefit of class A operation.... | |
| Considering moving to separates with a tube preamp-appreciate recommendations The Bel Canto EX-1 amp intrigues me too, but it's class D, and I'm not sure about it... @jpipes FWIW class D has evolved to easily compete sound-wise with any class AB or class A amplifier made. I do recommend audition though- some class D amp... | |
| What amps are out there that are Class A, 50 wpc into 8 ohms? It is probably safe to say that it is over 50 watts of Class A power. 😁 What is safe to say is that it draws 120 Watts at idle. This is a sort of 'who cares' thing since the point at which the amp goes from class A to AB isn't important; the a... |