HiTech
Well-Known Member
Nigel Goodwin said: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.