Amplifier tuning Software????

[HiTech]

You're living in your own little dream world! - valves have the highest distortion figures of any amplifier, by a LONG, LONG way - mosfets are OK though, and offer similar sorts of distortion figures to bipolar designs.

I said QUALITY tube amplifiers. Names like McIntosh, KR Audio, Luxman, Audio Research are just a few of the superb amps available at a cost that rivals the GNP of small nations. Their specially designed output transformers add to their cost and specs. Remember that tube amp afficionados are looking for a warm, hi-fi sound. With my little 60w McIntosh connected to one speaker cabinet, and a 600w solid state amp connected to the other cabinet, an aural A/B comparison clearly has the McIntosh in the lead. It has a musical/tonal quality along with a bass punch that even that big 60lb. 600w amp will never emulate. Some of those tube amps have distortion specs of .8% at full output (250w/ch) and .05% at <10w. Yes, I agree that it's far from the near pefect specs of power mosfets and other industrial quality bipolar designs.

 

[audioguru]

A tube amp has a low damping factor so a speaker without much bass will ring at resonance and sound like it has bass, although it will sound boomy (your bass punch?).

A tube amp clips "gracefully" unlike the harsh clipping from a solid state amp. Just avoid clipping by turning down the volume or use a higher power amp.

Frequently one output tube loses some gain before the other. Then the tube amp adds even-numbered harmonics which sound musical because they are exactly one octave above the music sounds.

A tube amp has high frequency rolloff for people who like AM radio sound.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Yep!, poor frequency response, lack of bass, lack of treble, high distortion, MUCH higher price tag - valve amps are just so desirable!

Still, if you can con idiots into parting with more money for inferior products?, you've got to admire the marketing men!.

 

[Hero999]

Some of those tube amps have distortion specs of .8% at full output (250w/ch) and .05% at <10w. Yes, I agree that it's far from the near pefect specs of power mosfets and other industrial quality bipolar designs.

That's not very impressive, solid-state amps can achieve that for a fraction of the cost.

 

[audioguru]

I remember going to the corner store evey week or two to test many vacuum tubes from radios and TVs. Replacements were very cheap.
They are expensive now because they are rare and hardly anybody uses them.

 

[HiTech]

Yep!, poor frequency response, lack of bass, lack of treble, high distortion, MUCH higher price tag - valve amps are just so desirable!

Still, if you can con idiots into parting with more money for inferior products?, you've got to admire the marketing men!.

Have you really listened to a hi quality tube amp like the brands I mentioned above? There is plenty of bass, highs and dynamics... plenty. Played through the same set of speakers, my McIntosh still sounds better than a professional Ramsa amp, a Crown amp, and a Sony Mosfet amp. The key to tube amp longevity is keeping everything cool via a whisper fan. Solid State amps sound harsh and on-edge to my ears.

 

[audioguru]

The OP has disappeared after his single post. I wanted to know what he is trying to tune.

 

[Hero999]

Do you have any evidence such as THD figures?

I think it's probably just physiological, you believe the valve amp sounds better so it does. This is similar to the placebo effect, because a patient believes that sugar tablet will make them feel better it does.

 

[Gayan Soyza]

Oh my God all the experts have already discussed.I'm Sorry I'm so late for the Class.......

I read all the replies....Amplifiers no need to tune....Ya Thats Correct.The IC's I mentioned all comes in a package with proper design........and having only few external parts...

Here I missed the word tuning......It means the power amp works well but having only the volume ctrl......When I added a preamp with tone ctrl cct The power amp & the preamp wont match well...Some times the gain in the preamp too much so I'm reducing the gain..like that..

I put this thread bcuz I made a amp cct in a original sanyo stero system.Both the ccts are same same manufacturer in both IC's, same pre amp & gave to the same 3 way original Speakers.Sounds Coming different...

anyhow I Really learned lot of things from u guys...Thankx a lot.......

 

[audioguru]

Two circuits and speakers are the same but produce different sounds.
Each power amplifier IC number has a different amount of gain. But the same ICs in the same circuit should have identical gains.

One channel sounds different:
Distortion?
Not enough or too much Bass?
Not enough or too much Mids?
Not enough or too much Highs?

 

[Gayan Soyza]

Two circuits and speakers are the same but produce different sounds.
Each power amplifier IC number has a different amount of gain. But the same ICs in the same circuit should have identical gains.

One channel sounds different:
Distortion?
Not enough or too much Bass?
Not enough or too much Mids?
Not enough or too much Highs?

Oh Now I understood..Even if it is same IC & the same manufacturer
it has different gains.....

Earlier I satisfied with the cct..But Now I'm not satisfy with the other parts..something like cheapy resistors,caps & Transistors Which I bought from local market.Even in a small variation in the preamp it will make a big difference in the output....

 

[audioguru]

You buy cheap parts from a market and expect your project to work well?
Maybe your parts are just cheap copies of the real ones.

I order high quality parts online for a low price and they are delivered the next morning. I have ordered and used thousands of parts and not a single one was bad. All the ICs with the same part number had exactly the same gain. All the resistors were within 2% and all the capacitors were within 5%.

I had thousands of an audio EQ circuit made. They all measured and sounded exactly the same.

Oh, I forgot. I bought a package of 10 LEDs from a store owned by people from India. Half were bad. They replaced them all with better ones which were fine.

Attach the schematic of your preamp that is making the differences in the sound. Maybe we can fix it.

 

[HiTech]

Do you have any evidence such as THD figures?

I think it's probably just physiological, you believe the valve amp sounds better so it does. This is similar to the placebo effect, because a patient believes that sugar tablet will make them feel better it does.

There's no argument that most solid state amps have lower distortion over tube counterparts. However there are tube amps out there (albeit very pricey ones) that are sonically excellent. Tube amps are provided for the hi-fi enthusiast that desires a different quality to their musical listening. It's not a placebo effect. It's a matter of personal choice and taste, not of what's right or wrong, real or unreal, or better than the other. The unique transconductance of audio tubes provides for their tonal characteristics, followed by the quality and design of the output transformer. Predominantly I use solid state amps for my needs. But when I want to sit down and really enjoy warm or mellow audio, the tube amp gets used. The tube amps also work well for musical instrument amplification and interfacing to various sound effects pedals.

 

[Hero999]

Did you copy and paste that from a tube amp catalogue?

Because it sounds like you did.

Note thre is no evidence to support valve amplifiers being superiour over solid state designes, all I've read suggests the reverse is true.

 

[HiTech]

No, those are my own words. And please don't assume that my purpose here is to state that valve amps are superior to solid state ones. Each have their advantages and drawbacks. Musical instrument amplifiers that employ tubes provide the much desired natural tones and smooth distortion guitarists seek. Their solid state counterparts often are designed to include circuitry to emulate the tube amplifier. When it comes down to hi-fi listening, my ears enjoy music played through a high grade tube amp over a quality solid state one. I enjoy the aesthetic glow of the filaments along with the characteristic sonics. Not better nor right as compared to solid state designs... simply personal taste.
Now, I did come across this while at an audio web site which offers a nice explanation:

" Tubes, Transistors, and Distortion"
No tube primer would be complete without an explanation of how tubes distort in a way that is different from transistors. Tubes distort uniquely because as the signal emitting from the plate approaches its maximum potential, the tube gradually begins to react less and less to the original input signal. This results in a types of compression of the signal, and produces a soft clipping. Clipping occurs when the input signal increases but the maximum power has been reached. Thus the signal becomes cut off, or clipped. Transistors, on the other hand, react exactly the same to the input signals rights up to their maximum power; then they stop quickly, creating a sharp clipping. These different types of clipping produce different series of harmonics (overtones). When the transistor amp clips, it produces more odd-order harmonics (and in its worst case can sound hollow and dry), whereas tube distortion produces even-order harmonics. Tube distortion sounds warmer.

 

[audioguru]

The boom-boxes of kids operate at clipping, not hi-fi amps.
If your hi-fi amp is clipping then it is turned up too loud or its power rating is too low.

A tube amplifier always has distortion even when it isn't clipping, a good solid-state amp doesn't.

 

[Hero999]

No distortion sounds the best in my opinion.

A 100W solid state amp is cheaper than a 50W valve amp, so would rather only use half the power with no clipping then using the tube amp at full power and a little clipping.

 

[eblc1388]

No crossover distortion sounds best to me.

Try listen to both amplifiers at 0.1W output and see if it makes a difference.

 

[audioguru]

Crossover distortion?
They don't use LM324 opamps in audio amplifiers anymore. They have crossover distortion because their output transistors operate in class-B instead of class-AB to reduce current so they could be called, "low power".

Audio amplifiers don't have crossover distortion anymore. My old tube amplifier even had some.

 

[HiTech]

distortion issues aside, I rather enjoy the high dollar value behind tube amps. My McIntosh is worth a nice bundle of change! I was amazed to see what even the rusty, non-working amps were selling for on eBay. When it comes to guitar amps, you can't beat tubes... they provide the rich sound that many electric guitarists seek.