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Tubes Asylum Questions about tubes and gear that glows. FAQ |
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Tubes Asylum Questions about tubes and gear that glows. FAQ |
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In Reply to: Don't encourage that! posted by Ralph on January 28, 2025 at 09:15:19:
Very true, two Solid State amps wired in parallel "CAN" be high risk.
I've had an amp with a "DC coupled output" smoke when an impedance matching transformer was hooked up to it. The DC offset from the amp caused a moderate DC current to flow in the transformer and thus also flow through the amp's output stage. This DC current made the amp hotter. The hotter amp's DC offset got larger thus making the amp get even hotter and eventually "Poof", a dead amplifier. In this case, the solution was to put a very large non-polar cap in series with transformer.
Two "DC coupled output" amps wired in parallel can have a similar risk. If the outputs had different "DC offsets" or different voltage gains, one amp will drive power into the other amps that is lost as heat.
There are solid state amps "made" to be used in parallel. These amps won't have this issue.
Moral of the story: Know thy circuit and carry a big soldering iron. ;-}
Play safe and play longer! Don't be an "OUCH!" casualty.
Unplug it, discharge it and measure it (twice) before you touch it.
. . .Oh!. . .Remember: Modifying things voids their warranty.
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Follow Ups
- Related: Solid State amps can "smoke" when driving a Transformer. - VoltSecond 09:58:08 02/19/25 (0)
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