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Propeller Head Plaza Technical and scientific discussion of amps, cables and other topics. |
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Propeller Head Plaza Technical and scientific discussion of amps, cables and other topics. |
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In Reply to: Re: the guy's asking some good questions posted by morricab on June 15, 2006 at 05:19:06:
I don't "grudgingly" admit OTL amplifiers can be good, I've always said it and am not in the least bit reluctantly. I always said the NY Audio Labs amplifier sounded to me just like a fine solid state amplifier and I heard it 23 years ago. As for early SS Mcintosh designs, they were laughable. They tried to retain the same characteristic sound (and distortion) of tube amplifiers by retaining their transformers and they succeeded. The impedence matching transformer was a horrible device but one which had to be endured (with very rare exception) until the arrival of transistors. It is undoubtedly responsible for most of the distortion in amplifiers and is the single worst component in the circuit. The obsolescence of tubes stems from their other drawbacks. Lack of efficiency, need to dissipate enormous amounts of heat, extreme sensitivity to changes in filament current and to a lesser extent ambient temperature, susceptability to microphonics, physical fragility, just to name a few. Their one real advantage is that they can be overloaded to hell and back and still survive although not always completely intact.Among the many limitations of most SET amplifiers is their extremely low power rating. This restricts their use to a small percentage of the loudspeaker universe and makes them poor choices for driving acoustic suspension loudspeakers which are often very inefficient. There are exceptions. Insofar as crossover notch distortion is concerned, all class AB amplifiers including tube designs are vulnerable to it but it can and has successfully been designed out. And then there are those like the amplifier in my venerable old JVC RX500b receiver which switch from class A to class AB on each cycle when they reach a predetermined threshold. Again, a seamless transition is the key to successfully eliminating distortion.
BTW, it was interesting about McIntosh. I asked their demonstrators at the VTV show that considering their employer manufactured both tube and ss amplifiers which they preferred. And to my amazement, they all agreed ss amps. Not that it really matters (their preference I mean.) They also felt their current line of high end tube amps had taken the performance of tube amplifiers as far as it could go. I'm not sure I agree with that (they were not OTLs.)
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Follow Ups
- Re: the guy's asking some good questions - Soundmind 14:48:39 06/15/06 (0)
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