larryi
Responses from larryi
| Leaving my amplifier on ok? The other concern is electrical storms, odd power fluctuations, etc., and not being there to shut down until the situation is over. Still, when I ran solid state I did leave the electronics on all of the time to avoid warmup issues (I still leave... | |
| How much hum is normal from a new tube amp This is the right thing to do, particularly if the manufacturer is not giving you grief. You should not have to live with loud noise and doubts about your gear. Good luck. | |
| How much hum is normal from a new tube amp If the hum level changes from time to time, it may be from DC offset in your power line caused by other things in your home contaminating your power. You can try powering the amp from a different circuit using extension cords, or turning off eac... | |
| How much hum is normal from a new tube amp The humming is most commonly caused by the magnetic field from the coils causing the iron core of the transformer to change dimensions--as it does so, it is vibrating, hence the noise. To some extent, all power transformers vibrate this way, alth... | |
| Leaving my amplifier on ok? It is not so much heat/cold cycling that damages caps as it is the rapid inrush of current that deforms the cap. But, any decent designs where this could be a problem would include a “soft-start” circuit that puts a high current resistor or a res... | |
| Leaving my amplifier on ok? All components have a rated life that includes the life at different operating temperatures. It is always the case that higher heat means shorter life. If an amp is run constantly, mostly at idle, I would hope that it is designed such that heat ... | |
| Leaving my amplifier on ok? There isn’t a electronic component that has its life extended by being on all of the time. Amps, in particular, have a shorter life from being left on because of hear. Tube gear should not be left on because there is a limited life to all tubes ... | |
| Perplexed on how single driver speakers can cover such a large Hz range I've heard a few systems with a single driver where I thought the sound was quite good, overall, and particularly good in certain aspects. The single driver systems I liked were the Charney Audio Companion (particularly with the AER driver) and t... | |
| Which phono stage for Garrard 401 with Shure V15 lll cartridge I have not heard it, but I like the ideas behind the Japanese Sunvalley phono equalizer. It is tube-based, including the power supply, and in kit form, costs less than $1,000. | |
| Can anyone identify these speakers? The amps are the NYC model (commemorating New York City). You don’t ‘need” amps that good, but, you will not extract all that these or ANY speakers are capable of delivering without pretty good amps. The point of this demonstration is: don’t thi... | |
| Can anyone identify these speakers? Those are the Tablettes, and the venue is DejaVu Audio in Northern Virginia. The proprietor, Vu Huong, likes to put ultra high end amps on the Tablettes to demonstrate how important is top quality amplification—even a small, lower cost set of spe... | |
| Thoughts About Turntable Upgrades Sota tables are very well made, sound good, and are reasonably priced. I don't think you will go wrong with your choice. Basis makes terrific tables, but at a significantly incresed price (I own a Basis Debut vacuum clamp table myself). Older V... | |
| The Snob Appeal Premium Yes, there is satisfaction in owning something special, and expensive, but bragging rights? I never say how much things cost, and because my gear is “ugly,” by conventional taste, most people who see it have no idea how much it costs. I would be... | |
| Best Tube Amp for High Sensitivity Speakers: 45, PX25, or 300B? I like low-powered tube amps of all designs--pushpull, SET and OTL--so I am not so wedded to a particular design. As jasonbourne71 stated, it is the particular design and parts used that matter most. In particular, the output transformers and in... | |
| Does anyone have any experience with Trenner & Friedl "ART" monitor It has been a while since I heard it. I liked the lively and vivid sound of this system. It is a really nice small box speaker. |