On 4 Jan 2006 14:59:25 -0800, "Bret Ludwig"
wrote:


Ted Edwards wrote:
Tim Williams wrote:
Ya, because they have that fun little exponential Vbe curve. Beta is to
transistors what Gm is to tubes and FETs, and you know it...

I've seen your posts here and elsewhere. They all seem to be of similar
quality. I have been designing, building and _listening to_ audio
amplifiers for about 60 years and the plain fact is that tube amps just
don't do a good job especially at very low or very high frequencies.
Almost acceptable THD is possible at 1 KHz maybe even up to 5 or 10 but
then maybe you can't hear anything above that.

Bull**** on stilts. McIntosh, ARC, Julie Labs and many others have
made tube amps with THD and intermod specs comparable to any popular
solid state and bandwidth up to at least 25 or 30 kHz, surely you can't
hear above that.

Indeed they have, but those are rare and honourable exceptions, and
diametrically opposed to the designs favoured by most in this forum,
which appear to majotr on restricted bandwidth and high distortion. It
must of course also be pointed out that what distinguishes these
excellent tube amps, is that they sound exactly the same as any good
SS amp..............................


Tube amps do a good job from perhaps 16 Hz (they are
down some there usually)

They are down about 10dB typically in power response.........

to 20-22 kHz (and if they are down a little
over 15 kHz that's OK as long as it is not too sudden a slope) and
because the type of distortioon differs. .1 THD is OK on tube amps
whereas .01 may NOT be on solid state.

Hooey, this is typical flimflam uttered by tubies because hardly any
tube amps are *capable* of 0.01% distortion.

Subjectively tube amps of a
given specification often (not always) sound better than solid state
amps of better spec.

In your humble opinion.

Russ Hamm proved it in 1973 with his paper which
appeared in JAES and it has not been contradicted. Arny talks a lot but
he knows it's true and will be until they change the laws of physics.

Hamm's paper was not peer-reviewed, and it was written so long ago
that it is irrelevant to modern amplifiers. The laws of physics have
not changed, but our ability to manufacture excellent SS devices
certainly has.

We got Cal a copy of the book "An Evening with Marilyn" by Douglas
Kirkland for Christmas. There's a hi--fi system in the background in
the loft where the shoot takes place. (Looks like an Altec amp and a
big Altec bass driver-the horns are out of the picture. There's a big
dust cap-it's not a 604....but who would have cared?) You know when
Frank Sinatra, Arthur Miller, JFK, and DiMaggio were on top of THAT
situation the music was playing just fine with no silicon involved. You
know what? It still does. (The music. The people, they're dead.)

So are tube amps..........................

--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering