larryi
Responses from larryi
| Power Amp or Mono blocks for JBL K2 S9900 I like these JBL speakers--they sound lively, like most horn systems, and do not suffer from excess coloration. The slight downside is that it is NOT that efficient. They may not be suited for use with small single-ended triode tube amps, for ex... | |
| Correct Way to Invert Phase Just speculation on my part, but, I bet speakers with drivers that are time aligned on their baffle and have crossovers that also do not shift phase (1st order crossovers) might make it easier to discern changes in polarity. Of course that would ... | |
| Correct Way to Invert Phase I have a Mark Levinson No. 32 preamp (on loan to a friend) that allows for inverting polarity by remote control. On most tracks, I cannot reliably hear a difference. On some, there is a preferable polarity, on others, one instrument will sound b... | |
| Never Owned a Tube Amp and Want Advice High cost as used is actually a good sign--the market demand suggests that it well liked.I have a local dealer that carries CJ equipment. It sounds good to me. That dealer also carries the Italian Synthesis brand and that brand is quite impressi... | |
| Leave tube amps always on? Tubes do not "use" more energy at turn on or turn off. That is NOT the basis for concern with turn on causing more damage to a tube than leaving it on constantly. The concern has to do with two different issues. The first is the stress from the... | |
| Leave tube amps always on? There are ways to gently turn on tube gear, such as a soft-start circuit, relays that apply full power to the B+ rail after the heater/cathode has been warmed up and emitting, etc. If a particular design is hard on startup, it really should be th... | |
| Never Owned a Tube Amp and Want Advice As I've stated above, I am a fan of low-powered tube amps. I own a pushpull 45 amp, a pushpull 349 amp and a parallel single-ended 2a3 amp. I like the sound of all of them. If forced to pick a favorite, it would be the pushpull 349 amp (5.5 wat... | |
| Never Owned a Tube Amp and Want Advice Yes, tube amps are sort of the opposite of solid state when it comes to running with no load or accidentally shorting the speaker leads (big problem for solid state, no big deal with tube gear). Another helpful hint for someone auditioning with t... | |
| Never Owned a Tube Amp and Want Advice There are trade-offs, aside from cost, with going for more power. With some brands of amps, the cheaper, lower-powered version sounds better when playing at modest volume level than the higher cost, higher priced brethren. This can be the case w... | |
| How long do high quality speakers "last" A lot of good advice given above; the rare thread that, so far, does not include crazy accusations about other comments/commentators. I have not heard any bad comments about ProAc speakers going bad, and I've seen a few older models that are in go... | |
| What is missing here? Nine watts per channel is about right for a single-ended 300b amp. I would actually be more comfortable with one rated at a LOWER output, assuming that the lower rating means that the designer is intentionally not pushing the output tubes very ha... | |
| Never Owned a Tube Amp and Want Advice I should have mentioned that you should also look at output transformerless (OTL) amps. Atmasphere mentioned, above, the the Tylers are an easy, flat load. That makes them a good candidate for an OTL amp. Atmasphere, following forum rules, did ... | |
| seeking ‘HORN’ ideas apart from Klipshc Lascalla I have heard a lot of horn-based systems (mostly DIY or custom builds) and I own a "sort-of" horn system (compression driver and horn for midrange, twin 12" drivers in an Onken bass reflex cabinet, and a bullet tweeter). The compression drivers a... | |
| Never Owned a Tube Amp and Want Advice Most tube amps are "optimistically" rated. That 60 watt tube amp might deliver that wattage at peak, but at 60 watts, it would be typically distorting quite a bit. Tube amps simply do not do well in a numbers game. Because most tube amps are di... | |
| Never Owned a Tube Amp and Want Advice Even if you don't have the opportunity to audition a wide array of amplifiers in your home, you should at least make the effort to hear one or two with your speakers to get some idea of whether tubes are really for you. I've heard Tylers (don't k... |