Home Propeller Head Plaza

Technical and scientific discussion of amps, cables and other topics.

[ Follow Ups ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Propeller Head Plaza ]
[ Alert Moderator ]

Call for comments on tubes vs. transistors

Here is set of papers posted by Tom Dawson to support his opinion that tubes are superior to transistors at audio frequencies.

Could I call for technical comments on these papers, thanks.

Original post

First off all silicon semiconductor junction capacitances do indeed have the characteristics of a K=12 dielectric. There's no getting around that. I'm not talking about silicon dioxide which is an insulator used at the gates of MOSFETs, but of all intrinsic silicon junctions.
Links:

Picking Capacitors Parts 1&2:

http://home.comcast.net/~wjungieee/wsb/Picking_Capacitors_1.pdf

http://home.comcast.net/~wjungieee/wsb/Picking_Capacitors_2.pdf

These will familiarize you (if you read them attentively) with the electrical and some of the sonic consequences of dielectrics having a range of K values. These articles are about component capacitors, but the parameters apply to all capacitances sharing these types of dielectrics.

See text on charge storage effect and nonlinear base capacitance in audio power amplifiers in the following links:

http://www.audioprecision.com/publications/technical_papers/Comparison_of_Non-linear_Distortion_Measurement_Methods.pdf

http://www.tubetechnology.co.uk/faq_tube_ren.pdf

A link with a table listing dielectric properties of different materials including silicon as used in semiconductors:

http://www.inrf.uci.edu/research/posters/Microwave_Measurements_on_Dielectric_Constants_Prof_Chen_Lee_UCI_949-824-7462_Jeong_Park.pdf

There's plenty more where this came from to substantiate the facts I have been illustrating about the audible superiority of tubes over transistors. I recommend you google or read up on technical materials related to semiconductors (which being an electronics design engineer I am already well familiar with). I believe any unsubstantiated opinions remaining are yours.


Music making the painting, recording it the photograph


This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Kimber Kable  

Topic - Call for comments on tubes vs. transistors - theaudiohobby 21:59:29 07/15/06 (67)
You can not post to an archived thread.

[ Top Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]