Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: Tube vs. SS article and seems legit

  1. #1
    Senior Member JBLAddict's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Lower Cali
    Posts
    651

    Tube vs. SS article and seems legit

    popped up in one of my trade publications for semiconductors. maybe one of you smart guys can summarize for the rest of us

    http://electronicdesign.com/article/...n-Sand-Part-1-

    "Conclusion

    I wanted to delve into the subject and try and explain some of the sound differences that were wrongly perceived as being purely related to the vacuum tube in both the purist extreme application and that of live audio and guitar amplifiers. We proved that the active devices are a fairly small portion of the observed audible differences by a drop-in experiment, which led to investigating the rest of the signal path and the output damping factor.

    You can easily approach the “tube-amp sound” by simply placing a substantial resistance in series with the output of a modern voltage-source audio amplifier. This decreases the damping factor and allows the bell modes on the transducer cone and dust cap to radiate as opposed to being clamped by an output impedance that is effectively zero."
    Performance Series 5.1/1990s L1.L5.L7/L100A
    http://adsoftheworld.com/media/tv/ac...cuses_tube_amp

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Leesburg, VA
    Posts
    322
    That article is a good start, but a bit incomplete, although I can believe that damping factor is a big contributor to sonic differences. He played with a push-pull triode amp, but as anyone who spends time on audio forums is aware, SET amps are considered the Holy Grail. Now, I'm willing to believe that once again the active device is only part of the equation; the output transformer, especially for a SET where it has to withstand heavy DC bias, is probably another contributor. The transformer is gapped so it has a large leakage inductance, and the DC bias most likely leads to even-order magnetic distortion.

  3. #3
    Dang. Amateur speakerdave's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Northern California
    Posts
    3,734
    Quote Originally Posted by fpitas View Post
    That article is a good start...."
    Yes, then there are drivers with no woofer cones or domes, tube preamps . . .
    "Audio is filled with dangerous amateurs." --- Tim de Paravicini

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Stereo Sound Article
    By Don McRitchie in forum Lansing Product General Information
    Replies: 23
    Last Post: 11-04-2010, 08:29 PM
  2. Interesting article on Beryllium
    By Andyoz in forum General Audio Discussion
    Replies: 13
    Last Post: 08-24-2009, 02:17 PM
  3. Subwoofer Article
    By kevinkemp2001 in forum Lansing Product General Information
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 02-09-2005, 06:37 PM
  4. Japanese 4343 article
    By Guido in forum Lansing Product General Information
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 12-09-2004, 02:25 AM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •