lynn_olson
Responses from lynn_olson
| 300b lovers Something both transistor and tube amps share are performance limitations set by current available to drive a capacitance. In a transistor amp, that will be the dominant pole capacitor associated with the second voltage-gain stage. The current ava... | |
| 300b lovers Interesting SET that harks back to the original Western Electric 91A, which also used feedback to get the desired performance. I have mixed feelings about cathode follower drive: the output impedance of the CF is low (probably 100 ohms or so), bu... | |
| Spatial Audio Raven Preamp The most dangerous of all are DC-coupled preamps and power amps. If the DC servo system in a preamp fails, the failure can propagate all the way to the loudspeaker. I saw this happen when I was visiting the home of a reviewer. It took out one chan... | |
| Spatial Audio Raven Preamp Another small note: conventional tube preamps can be dangerous for transistor amps unless they have an automatic muting relay with a timer circuit. A conventional tube preamp with cathode follower output typically has the output node (the cathode)... | |
| Spatial Audio Raven Preamp Don and I are pleased that Raven owners have an equal choice between RCA-input power amps and XLR-input power amps. The Raven treats both the same, so the sonic choice is on an equal footing. Classic vacuum tube amps almost always have RCA inputs... | |
| Spatial Audio Raven Preamp Although Don and I optimized the Raven and Blackbird to deliver their best performance with each other, we went to considerable trouble to make sure they add sonic value to other systems, too. For the Raven, this means optimal performance when mat... | |
| Spatial Audio Raven Preamp Thanks for the review, phono2024! Always good to hear compatibility reports as well, much appreciated. | |
| Spatial Audio Raven Preamp That’s the logic of inflation. Buy Now, because it will cost more tomorrow. Once this gets baked into everyone’s consciousness, it affects pricing (and expectations) throughout the entire economy. Deflation is the reverse, but is far more dangero... | |
| Spatial Audio Raven Preamp I started as an audio designer at Audionics in 1973, so I’ve seen a few ups and downs in the audio industry. Don’s been doing his thing in Canada since the early Eighties, so between the two of us, we’ve seen what’s been happening in the North Ame... | |
| Spatial Audio Raven Preamp Electronics in particular are globally sourced. Here’s a simple example: say there’s a circuit board that AtmaSphere, or Spatial, buy in small quantities, say in the low hundreds. That’s a lot of circuit boards for a high-end manufacturer. The ci... | |
| Spatial Audio Raven Preamp Don and I are not part of Spatial’s pricing decisions. We just design the things and provide technical support, and show up on the forums when people have questions. He’s in British Columbia, Canada, while I’m in Colorado, USA, while the preamps a... | |
| Spatial Audio Raven Preamp Transformer coupled line amplifiers were the recording, broadcast, and television-audio standard from the Thirties through the Seventies. After that, discrete-transistor op-amps (discrete output transistors have enough power to remain in Class A w... | |
| Spatial Audio Raven Preamp The Raven will drive any power amp with an input impedance between 10K to 220K, in either RCA single-ended mode (which uses half the transformer secondary) or XLR balanced mode (which uses the full secondary). The output transformer is optimized t... | |
| 300b lovers Well, I know more people than Whitestix bought the Blackbirds. My guess they are not on this forum (yet). | |
| Spatial Audio Raven Preamp Same here. Post removed. But ... now is the time to make a substantial purchase, if you're sitting on the fence. |