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Trevor Wilson Trevor Wilson is offline
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Default I just am not satisfied

On 5/09/2018 9:09 pm, wrote:
I just am not satisfied with the sound from any solid state amplifiers.
I have tried high end home amps and even some top of the line amps made
for commercial use. (Stage equipment).


**Then you need to listen to some different (SS) amps.


I miss my old tube system that I had years ago. Those tube amps pumped
out 300W (RMS) and had more actual power than my current 1200W (RMS)
solid state system..


**Just a nit: There is no such thing as 300 Watts RMS. I suspect you
mean 300 Watts (continuous). In any case, I'd be curious to know which
valve amps you had that could deliver 300 Watts (continuous). Also,
1,200 Watts, continuous, is impossible, unless you are operating on a
multi-phase power supply. So, the questions a

* What was your valve amp?
* What is your SS amp?

IF we take you at your word (and I don't), then a 1,200 Watt amp will
deliver more power than a 300 Watt amp. However, that only tells part of
the story, as valve amps are different to MOST SS amps, due to various
factors, such as Voltage limiting (clipping), current limiting, the way
the two different technologies operate into a varying load impedance
(like a speaker system). That said, it is feasible to construct a SS amp
such that it responds much like a valve amp, if that's what you desire.
So, it's not the technology (SS or valve), but it is more related to the
topology.


Semiconductors are made from sand, and that is what they sound like.


**Nonsense. Like all such things, there are some pretty ordinary
sounding SS amps and some pretty decent sounding ones. Same a valve
amps. There's good and bad there too.


I
like the warm sound of the metal elements and the heat of the filament
inside of tubes.


**Nope. More likely, you are focusing on other aspects of the
amplifiers. Things like:

* The lack of extension at both ends of the frequency spectrum.
* The excessive levels of even order harmonic distortion.
* The lack of hard Voltage limiting.
* The lack of current limiting problems.
* The excessively high output impedance, which leads to frequency
response errors that please you.

All of which can easily be duplicated with transistors, should a
designer desire it.


Plus I miss watching the dancing purple glow (purple
haze) inside of the tubes. (You dont see anything in solid state amps).


**Can't argue that, but you could plonk one of these on the front of
your amp (looks nicer than a gassy valve):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQxXD6dpaCo


I had no real reason to post this other than state my opinion and get it
off my chest.


**Fair enough.


--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au