That what I have. A good tube pre amp with Nelson pass mosfet gfa 5500 and a tannoy d700 speakers. A delicious recipe that I can eat everyday if I can.
The MOSFET transistor was invented by Egyptian engineer Mohamed Atalla with Korean engineer Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs in 1959. One of the great inventions of all time.
Back in the 80's I had imported from England a Grant G60s MK2 integrated amp. Designed by Roy Grant (Of the Grant Lumley fame). I discovered it in ads in Gramophone magazine. Tube preamp and Mosfet outputs- sounded fantastic. It was one excellent sounding amp with its tube preamp. Who cares if it sounded 'different' than tubes? Its sounded excellent. And, I had owned all tube equipment in previous years. So, I know some of the benefits.. Sometimes "sounding different' is not a bad thing.
Excellent point about not relying purely on measurements for divining audio quality. In my pre audiophile days that’s how many of us shopped for HIFI gear, by simply looking at buying guides and looking at specs like frequency response and THD. That ended once I began visiting high end audio stores and listening for myself. Unfortunately many audiophiles shopping for DACs nowadays succumb to the same pitfall and go purely by how DACs measure or the DSP chip used.
Paul , in one short sentance, you have stated the obvious that so many tech heads (people who rekey on spec's, more that the actual sound of the product. You are absolutely right, regurdless of spec's, your ears have to be pleased with the out put of any sound producing device. Example, after 15 year with a mid level Marantz Reciever(2265 black dail)I decided to supposedly upgrade to a better Reciever with surround sound capabilities, back then it was pro-logic, I tried Pioneer, Onkyo, Kenwood, Philips EU model, etc. Nothing sounded as good IMHO as my old Marantz. So I did what I should have done in the first place, I purchased a 2325 Reciever, had it refurbed by a former Marantz employee from the Long Island facilities for my music need , and eventually purchased a 5.1 slime line Marantz for SS. The new unit still do not have the 70s sound. But close. Dam the spec's, it what sounds best to my ears and no one else's.
As for warmth , as one would expect you are spot on imho , and mosfets are typically more warm than bipolar output stages but there are some vintage ss amps out there that use bipolar stage designs , resolve very well and are quite tube like in warmth to my ear.
Yes, if you want the tube sound without buying a tube amp, the closest you will get is a First Watt Amplifier by Nelson Pass. His amps are truly awesome. I have had several. I highly recommend you check them out!
Do you know if anyone has done any proper characterisation and modelling of valve gear? Provided all the effects are properly quantified, identical sound should be achievable through DSP. It's not the same (I for one LOVE the glow of a good valve), but should sound identical
My fav SS are MOSFETS Class H a friend played his 16 watts stereo tube amp he just built and it was kinda like that has an ease of reproduction that is unmistakable excellent. On the Jimi Hendrix live album you can hear were his tube amp is fuzzing out while breaking down and when they switch in a new amp the sound of his guitar becomes more sharp and defined. I might just commission him to build me a little tube amp. (might means will in Audio)
Tubes will always be around. Beyond how they sound people leave out how visually appealing they are. It’s certainly a factor for some. Even VU meters and lighting can play a part as to what some like. Others may choose them also because they produce heat and they live in Canada. Others stay away from Tubes like myself because they indeed produce too much heat and are delicate and degrade over time. Weight and size of amps and pre amps play a role also. Even room characteristics can and should play a part. Some rooms are carpeted and some hard wood floors. Choosing the right equipment takes a lot of planning and thought process. There are just compromises too. Music preference should also be factored in.
I worked in plenty of restaurants, and one didn't allow cooks to taste the food... (They thought they were losing profits 🙄) Sometimes you can't A/B everything you'd like to do with your audio setup, but as you learn to cook, you can predict what your sound needs without 'tasting'. That said, the best advice I ever heard about playing in a live band is 'listen'. Listen without listening, and taste without tasting
I have the M 700s and they do have a bit of a tube flavor, But they also have the accuracy of solid-state. Just an enjoyable pair of amplifiers there’s nothing to really complain about
I've been layed off since march 23rd due to the virus and I have had A LOT of time surfing the web.. I have a pair of Vintage Polk Audio SDA 1A's from 1985 that needs an amplifier, and that's how I came a cross this channel :) Thank you for your uploads Sir, I'm learning new stuff..
I recall in the later 1970's Hitachi was the first company to use powered MOSFET's in some of their amps as they designed them. I've read some reviews in Stereo Review, High Fidelity and Complete Buyers Guide to Stereo/Hifi Equipment magazines that praised powered MOSFET technology.
@@MrJasonfromcanada- fantastic score my friend. The MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor, field effect transistor) is said to give transistor amps the sound of tubes. I think it's a class G amp too but where normal class G is AB/AB the HMA-7500 is A, A/B and runs warmer. I have a full page review of the HMA-7500 in my 1980 issue of High Fidelity magazine. Also have a "capsule" review (one paragraph) in a 1979 Complete Buyers Guide to Stereo/Hifi Equipment. The HF review says...."whether the clarity, brilliance and extraordinary imaging we experienced with this amplifier can be attributed to the use of powered MOSFET's we cannot say. It is enough to say that the superb Hitachi HMA-7500 comes as close to perfection as any power amp we've heard". You gotta tell me, what pre-amp, speakers will you use with the 7500?? I've been using a class G Hitachi SR-804 (50wpc) as my main amp since 1979. No regrets. Running my SR-804 to loud levels for hours at a time and the cabinet top is barely warm, fuhgeddaboudit.
@@martyjewell5683 Right now because I’m just getting into HiFi equipment I recently purchased a new in box untouched Marantz NR 1711 av receiver for half price that I’m using as a preamp to the hma 7500. The speakers I’m running off the hitachi are Fyne Audio F301’s with plans to upgrade to the F303’s as my main fronts and use the F301’s for surrounds. The source i’m using right now is Tital streaming. I’ve been playing around with switching between the speakers hooked directly to the marantz and then with the 7500 hooked up and I can say there is a noticeable improvement in that warm detailed sound quality. Even when turning up the volume at higher levels the sound just doesn’t get fatiguing. Its just really fantastic sound from low to moderate to higher volumes. Note do to the F301 speakers being book shelf speakers I do have an old cheap vector research 10” sub hooked up as well. I keep that between -2db - 0, just enough to fill the bottom end a bit
@@MrJasonfromcanada- googled your Marantz and F-301 speakers. For power the 1711 should do well with it's 50wpc. I like the feature of Pre-out/Main-in. It makes a component soooo much more useful. Sadly my SR-804 lacks it. But I've never needed it. One disturbing facet of this Marantz is its inability to drive 4 ohm loads, seemingly a current (no pun intended) trend in amplifier design. This deprives the listener from using some truly fine vintage 4 ohm loudspeakers. The F-301 is ported and listed as bass to 44Hz (-6dB's). I wonder what the -3dB (which is more useful to bass performance) rating is?? Probably around 55Hz. Still though, for their size, very respectable. Seems all gods chillin's got vented speakers nowadays. My kitchen speakers are the Boston Acoustics A-40 with bass -3dB @ 68Hz and bass does satisfy in my 900+ cu/ft kitchen. I checked Stereophile.com and read a glowing endorsement review on the F-301's. Your idea to use a 10" sub for augmented bass is a swell idea. I remember the early 1970's when bass-reflex speakers sucked and AS ruled. Into mid 1970's two companies were using Thiele/Small equations for venting speakers. They were Electro-Voice and Ohm Acoustics, with spectacular results. I purchased Ohm Acoustics (4 ohm) model L's in 1978 and still use them. Also getting popular into mid 1970's were satellite/sub woofer systems. EPI built a very good mini in their model 60. No Rogers LS3/5A fer sure but very good. My dinning room speakers are Ohm Acoustics model H with a 12" passive radiator (drone cone) venting and bass to 32Hz (+/-3dB's). One of my favorite music songs for speaker testing is Renaissance's "Trip to the Fair". It really shows HF speaker ability and is a freakin' boss cut.
My Hafler DH-220 has mosfets in the output stage and I have always loved the sound with my B&W DM2000's. David Hafler designed the amp and previously was involved with Dynaco tube amps. I am about to do a check out of the Hafler's capacitors and add an upgrade kit from Musical Concepts.
@@sunnohh It's just engineering, the Pass amp exhibits lots of distortion that's why people like the sound of it and, yes, you can make mosfets sound like tubes. Oh, and you can do it a much better than the 25% efficiency of Pass amps. Class A is basically a joke today with semiconductors. Fifty years ago when cross over and notch distortion in AB was a problem class A had some merit, not today. You can buy an LM3886 chip for $5 that exceeds most peoples listening needs, those chips are extraordinarily well designed by the best engineers. I'm listening to $50 class D amps interfaced with tubes for hours at a time without fatigue that sound very good. Put your money in speakers you like. Buy bookshelf speakers with a subwoofer, it will do everything most people will ever need. Amps? In a couple of years class D will rule the market, you just can't make transformers that impedance match to speakers better than class D amps. Clean, precise, detailed and accurate. Color it with a tube for the sound you like, can't be beat and cheap.
When i turned 70 I realized i was getting on towards the short end of the stick so it was time to treat myself. i decided it was time to upgrade my stereo system to something special (no that special - I'm not rich). My old system was ok but the newest component was well over 20 years old. I knee what kind of sound I wanted and picked things up as I found them. When it came to the preamp, as much as I liked thee idea of your BHK preamp it was hard to part with that much cash and I wasn't sure about the interface. I found a ye ar old tube based Rogue RP5 preamp tat had great reviews and a more traditional interface, it was less than half the cost of a new PS Audio so I pulled the trigger and ordered it. I set it up and was very pleased with the sound, it seemed to be quieter and more extended than my 20year old Conrad Johnson and the interface was a bit similar so I fell into using it quite easily. The RP5 has a built in solid state phono preamp that was ok but I already had a home built jFet peamp I was very fond of so chnged some jumpers to change the RP5's phono input into a line input and now have the sound i've enjoyed for a while nut even cleaner. Don't get me wrong some solid state preamps can be very good but I found the jFet phono preamg to be better than the Rogue's solid state implementation. Differdnt strokes for different folks.
You can artificially introduce a little bit of even-order harmonic distortion in the preamp or driver stage to very closely simulate the tube sound. this is usually accomplished by diagonal clipping through a long-time-constant AVC circuit.
Paul is correct...It's about the Chop's of the Designer...The Magic of Tube sound will also be in the Tube and the designer...I own 60's Fisher, Scott and Marantz...Current Main system is PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium HP and it's bliss. Keep the video's going Paul!!!!
Tim de Paravicini argued that he could get the same sound out of both technologies - the trick was the circuit and transistor amps tend to use different circuitry as they are current driven as opposed to voltage driven for valves. I don't know if that is true but he argues that he created two amplifiers - one valve, one transistor (class A?) and no one could distinguish between them.
@David Miller there was another amp designer who made two sets of amps. This wasn't long after the original Audio Note Ongako from Japan so 1990's.. This genius was none other than Tim de Paravicini. So he said this if I make two sets of single ended mono block amps one valve and one solid state they should sound the same. So he did and they were the start of the Yoshino brand. These amps caused a bit of excitement at the time being close to the Audio Note price tag @ £40000 for each set then.. So to cut this pile of drivel short not even Tom could make a solid state single ended mosfet amp sound like a valve amp and why would you.. I have no idea why I've mentioned this but it's history and one that's important in the HiFi world
So Tim/Tom built a mosfet version of a tube amp, and people didn't like it as much? I would be amazed if tubes could sound like mosfets, simply because EM fields affect the function of both devices quite differently
@@mississippijohnfahey7175 Tim and they did..And all who heard the 30K amps were in agreement that the both sounded very similar..If I remember correctly they all favoured the solid state version..I'm a valve guy and always will be..However GAN FETS are sounding very promising
According to David Berning, FET devices have transfer linearity comparable to that of pentode tubes. Many years ago, he had a preamp that used a patented circuitry that used a FET in series with a triode to attain transfer linearity superiority superior to that of a triode alone. Unfortunately, FET device failure due to user careless in switch input jack assignment while powered on caused him to return to tube only stages. BTW what ever happened to Sansui’s attempted at feed-forward design?
Having been an owner of tube McIntosh equipment (years ago... they were refurbished trade-ins) I must say tubes do have a very pleasing effect with good speakers and good recordings. Solid state at that time could not compare. Now, engineers of quality thinking can produce good sounding solid state. As long as you do not compare? You could be happy with either. Also, along my journey, I found in the British Gramophone magazine an ad for an integrated amp with a tube preamp section, and Mosfet outputs. I had it imported. It was designed and manufactured Mr. Grant of Grant Lumley fame. It sounded fantastic. After that finally bit the dust.. I wandered into the world of high quality D class amplification. Also, having a fantastic sound. Its not tubes. But, it still is great sounding. The key to enjoyment is finding the right combination of speakers.. cables, power purification... and staying away from Ethan Winer. ;)
That's the kind of thinking that makes people with more money than brains spend insane sums of money chasing the delusion of sonic perfection. There is no such thing as sonic perfection so just listen to the music instead of the gear.
Love that old "weed scale" on the shelf. Always remember (..and never forget) Weed will get you through the times of no MOSFETS better than MOSFETS will get you through the times of no WEED. :)
...freewheelin' Paul says... now there's a reference only a lucky few will know. my dad had the aluminum printing plates from that poster... in fact he had the printing plates from everything the Rip-off Press did: when they got a new press decades and decades ago, the president/CEO (Fred Todd) gave my dad all the old printing plates... he used them all up as flashings and other things requiring sheets of aluminum over the years. man, I bet some collector would have paid a fortune for those. he saw them only as sheets of aluminum, unfortunately. peace be upon you, sir.
The first time i heard a Tivoli Audio model One tableradio i thought it was a tube radio...that bassy rich warm tube sound...but no..it is solid state. Solid state can sound like tubes.
Great Analogy ! In comparing Mosfet Linear Amplifiers for use in Ham Radio the Sound difference between Bipolar transistors & Mosfets is remarkable. The Mosfet Amps are the closest sounding to a tube in comparison. Now add a Vacuum Tube to a Bipolar & Your sound changes the recipe all together. I have not tried a tube/mosfet combo yet. Hmmm wonder what that tastes like.
hmm. Nahh i don't think mosfet will replace tube/valve amps. Tube amp can something with the sound that mosfet can't but yes mosfet come close to tubes because of their charateristic in the harmonic distortion there like tubes mostly is in the 2 harmonics. Mosfet give like tubes a much more 'warm' natural sound so indeed many will prefer mosfet , mainly because the maintenance is easier , where tubes need tube replacement / bias adjustings ect. Others ( like me ) like to spend time trying out different Tubes and modify to get the right sound. I have spend last 10 years modify my Guitar amp and trying out different tubes , changing the circuit ect ect. I finally got the ' sound' I wanted. I like your way of using food and taste in your description , spot on it's correct. the preperation..the care for..yes. The designer play the big role here , you can have a bad sounding tube amp and a good mosfet amp or of course a bad mosfet and a good tube amp. In the end it's what our ears like that make us choose (hopefully ) So my personal view on this is ' Tube amp will continue simply because their is people who prefer them ' Personally I use both mosfet amps and tube amps but for different situations. In my HiFi/Studio I use mosfets and my guitar amp is a good old all tube amp with no semiconductors at all. ( Still im like , should I find my old , schematics , recalculate a bit , just a bit more designing and... rebuild... I have built RIAA , preamps and power amps with tubes years ago and somehow want to do it again ) damn want to change one of the HiFi/Studio amps to tubes.... Nah it must wait until I have a better house with more space for the studio. As usual a great video from you thumbs up from here.
MOSFETs operate on a square-law transfer function, like tubes do, while BJTs operate on a logarithmic transfer function. If there's a difference in 'sound' between MOSFET and BJT amplifiers, part of the reason why is because of that. A square law transfer function is nowhere near as linear through zero-crossing as a log function is, and never can be. Some designers run high bias, at least 10X as much, on MOSFET amps to try to get some of the linearity back, but it's only partially effective.
I wish fet amps would replace opamp guitar amps. the clean channel soft clips and more of treble is cut. Fet preamp generally round out a square wave because of the miller effect which makes any thing you play through sound little warmer. most audio amps do not use fets in the preamp stage because it never goes into clipping. also for audio why they do measurements because idea amp is 100 transparent which means the amp does not color the sound.
Aha!!. I have finally been vindicated. An expert that clearly knows a lot more than the average Joe when it comes to the workings of audio amplifiers also must know a thing or two about what constitutes good practices in the culinary world. If you can bare listening for just a moment I will tell you where I am going with my drivel. I nearly fell out of my chair laughing when Paul said his mother boiled peas until they were grey/gray in color. When I was just a kid I couldn't leave the dinner table until I finished all my boiled peas and getting the dessert that I craved was definitely not happening until those nasty greyish green things were no where to be seen. Not even the family dog that I know loved me unconditionally could save me from his position under the table. He bless his soul didn't want anything to do with the grey-green matter either....lol. Keep up the great work Paul I very much enjoy your PS Audio channel. It's very informative and occasionally hilarious for wannabe audiophiles like myself.
There is only one type of sound that i like ( besides the sounds of silence LOL): it's the sound of the original music,instruments and vocals on their original *timbre* (the "tonal color") with no coloration,like the live performance; also, a violin does not come at you from 2 places,left and right,Jim Morrison did not have 2 sets of vocal chords,from the L and R, so i like 1 amp,1 speaker box; i will soon purchase a M700, heard one the other day and it too i found to be faithful.
If a stereo system is well designed and well placed you will never have two violins or Jim Morrisons. You will have a phantom center signal that is centered between the speakers. If I play mono music I have an imaginary speaker in the middle of the room playing the music. I do not hear my right and left speakers.
Faluda Butt; Ok, i know, but not so much my ears and my brain; the 2 speakers are still there, but because we were told so , we do try to convince our brain that they sound as one, and they do come close , but to me it's *never* the same as *being* one; When i have to use a stereo amp ,after a while i like to experiment and tie both speakers together,that too works well-
A double blind test shootout for both amps and DACS would be the final say in the measurements vs hearing argument. I wonder how many manufacturers would be able to correctly identify their own products...
@@HareDeLune If it is set up correctly (scientifically) the goal of the organizer doesn't matter. That's the beauty of the scientific method: It reduces human influence on the answer to the question of what is real. Because humans create their own reality in their head and try to bullshit everybody (including themselves) to believe in it.
@@bened22 Of course we create our own reality. It's human nature. It's also what makes us good artists and storytellers. It's why we have classic literature, movies, and music! It isn't necessarily BS either. In regards a home stereo system, if something sounds better to you, why question it? That smacks of neuroses. Furthermore, it has been scientifically proven by smarter persons than I, that when it comes to quality of sound in home audio equipment, *everything* must be taken into account, from circuit board mountings to the humidity in the room. I cannot believe that these 'blind tests' some people go on about ever take enough things into account to produce accurate enough results. In short, to put it as nicely as I can because I believe you mean well and are trying to be helpful, I remain unconvinced. However, I thank you for your comment. : )
@@HareDeLune Thank you for your polite answer. Yes, it's perfectly fine that we all create our own reality. I also agree that we should just enjoy our audio systems and if we do, no measurement positive or negative can change that. However when it comes to products and recommendations (what to buy? What's better?) it would be good to separate that personal perception from the actual objective facts. Because it's unfair to advise other people to spend a lot of money for something that's only better in your own little world. What science has shown us is that human hearing is very, very flawed. Especially our ability to remember sound is very limited. That's generally not a problem, we get by just fine. But that means that our ability to hear differences between sound systems and specific audio components is, again, very limited. But when we are so sure that we can hear all sorts of fine details and every component has a whole different sound our brain produces a kind of placebo effect. Differences we actually can't hear we invent in our brain. A double blind test frees us from this illusion machine that is our brain in that sense that we actually have to concentrate on the audio itself and nothing else. Double blind tests are a confusing experience because they let us experience our own limits in a clarity that we don't have in everyday life. All the context that guides us (and fools us) is removed and all we are left with is our actual limits. I think it would be good for audiophiles to once in awhile get this experience and to check their perception with this method. It would save a lot of money, give much needed clarity about actual differences (vs imagined ones) and would free up the mind from decade old misconceptions about audio. That's the perspective that I am coming from. :)
It's really interesting that there's always talk about how an amp sounds, when High Fidelity is about reproducing the sound the mastering engineer listened to in his studio. (Yes, the sound in the studio!!! It's impossible to capture the sound of the room with a mic exactly as if you were there. None of you have ever listened to a band and heard how they really sound in a rehearsal room! Even a concert is mic'ed and reproduced through a PA system that is probably not as good as your Hi-Fi!) In my understanding, the amp should not color the sound in any way. It's like going into the Sistine Chapel with sunglasses on. I guess we're all used to listening to impure music through bad earplugs, phones, and other devices that have a lot of bass and compression, etc. I think that's why most people don't like flat and linear neutral sound. It's the same as how C, G, Am, F are the chords for pop music, and "complicated" music with surprises, tension, and release is considered noise by most people (like progressive metal), because there are used to it. I'm used to the flat sound in a mixing studio, and every time I listen to stuff that is colored in any way, it's a pain in the ass. Tube is not HiFi. Coloration is not HiFi by definition!
It is really interesting. Something in 70s last century, we asked ourselves - why tube amplifiers sound better than transistors one? One guess was that tube amplifiers have only even harmonics, like 2, 4 and they get away quickly. When transistor amplifiers have odd harmonics and they do not go away, like 3, 5, 7... MOSFET amplifiers behave similar as tube amplifiers. What are new findings?
I absolutely support your opinion that the ear is the ultimate judge of a design is good or not. BUT ... this only works, if this ultimate test is organized as a double blind test with a very carefully layed out arrangement. I'm afraid that by doing that a lot of excellent amps all of a sudden will turn out to be just another amp ...
Paul, Audio Snobs who first have a conclusion before testing a new piece of equipment really Grind My Gears! I guess Subjective Tests and Critical listening are Passé. Oooooohh! Shiny!!!
I like tubes. I like solid state,/FET's. I like good sound. Both can do it. Both, when properly set up, I am sure you will not be able to point out which is which blindly. I laugh, I just made a OD Boost guitar pedal that has a 12AX7 tube, a LM741, and a LM386 driving a 2" speaker inside it, sounds awesome, and runs on 12.6 VDC :)
The thing is , either flavor is a matter of taste Done right ,. I actually prefer SS to tubes . The high end extension , sparkle of ss to my ear resolves better than tubes . The lows are also better defined , more authority. People talk about tube mids and they are right but there are ss designs with excellent mids as well.
A good amplifier is a wire with gain. IF the THD, IM, noise floor, and damping factors are identical, the only thing left to color the output is the microphonic nature of the tubes. I'm a retired Technician, and have measured these criteria personally, For me, the gobs of wasted power involved in tubes is a non-starter. Cheers, --bd
It's amazing to me, for some time and still today, how so many folks fail to realize that we humans have ears sticking out of the sides of our heads, not meters.
All that does x,y,z affect tone could be easily solved with a FFT graph, Meters don't tell you if it is good, it just shows you what it was. it is up to you to decide of you like it, but if you find something you like, you can at least try to understand what you liked about it. I am so sick of this one is chewy or this one sounds fizzy crap about guitar things.
@@anthonybeers FFT is not going to help in any way, you can't measure musicality. It's a waste of time, you can't "try to understand" music by scientific analysis. What a boneheaded idea. You can't use a meter to tell you how good a novel is. There's no sensor to tell you how good a painting is. Guitar players and others use valid descriptions to communicate and advance their ability to shape sound. That you are sick of that, means exactly nothing, and no one will ever give a damn.
@@dougrobbins5367 What your ears perceive *is* measurable, but the audiophool marketing wanketeer isn't really interested in that unless it sells gear. I agree, 99% of this is a matter of preference, but it is still measurable. For example the "warm" tone of valves is a direct result of their dodgy frequency responce, and that of the output transformer. They just happen to sound good in combination.
@@anthonybeers FFTs are great for measuring frequency responce, but they don't tell you everything. For example any secondary emission in a triode (electrons re-emitted by the plate as a result of their excessive momentum) is something that you can hear, but not something that will show up in the FFT. Neither will the difference in distortion between a beam tetrode and a pentode. You need more sophisticated tools to analyse and model (should you wish to) these effects. That's why a simple EQ built from an FFT of a valve amp still just doesn't sound the same ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Let's start from a real engineering basis. BJTs are current amplifying devices(current-in/current-out) . MOSFETs are transconductance amplifying devices (voltage-in/current-out). Triodes are voltage amplifying devices (voltage-in/voltage out). Pentodes are transconductance amplifying devices (voltage-in/current-out). Check all their output curves to realize the device-level differences. Amplifier circuit design with such amplifying devices is another story. You can make a BJT operate as a tranconductance or even as a voltage amplifier, but that would lead to an "unnatural" behavior of the amplifying device itself. This means that the linearity distortion will not be the best possible.
If you need to compare to tube amps....well that pretty much sums it up. IMHO, you can’t beat the Smooth mid-range & treble of tube gear esp you pair the tube mid & treble with a nice self powered sub.
It depends on the MOSFETS. If you use "Depletion-mode" MOSFETS (or a combination of Depletion and Enhancement modes) in an solid state build, you have the best chance of coming close to Vacuum Tubes. They are much more expensive but they are similar to how tubes actually work. N-channel Depletion-mode MOSFETS operate as a normally “on” switch when the gate-to-source voltage is zero... similar to JFETS.
I think that when you are designing an amp and working out the sonic recipe to get it to sound the way you want that you should have a reference amp to compare it to. I think I have a reference tube and solid state preamp and amp.
I’m debating on whether or not to build a vacuum tube cathode follower or a MOSFET source follower. Seeing that source followers and cathode followers don’t amplify and if they don’t amplify when they not affect the sound as long as there is no clipping I mean if they’re biased properly - it might be worth my while to save my money and build a mosfet source follower. Do you agree?
there is another thing that I haven't seen mentioned yet- now this is in regards to tubes, and also to instrument amplification... where the amp is often driven into clipping and feedback and other things on purpose. it's more than just the way it sounds; a lot is about the way it responds... think of it this way: the player of an electric guitar plays her amp with her guitar (think Jimi Hendrix)... and thus the way an amp clips and it's feedback characteristics, and a myriad of other things are of Paramount importance. I've never seen anything respond the way tubes do. additionally there is another feedback loop- the player is hearing what they play, and that directly affects the playing of their music. so tiny differences in response can be, well, Amplified. very subtle and often unconscious things that have a gigantic affect overall on the music are in play here. peace be upon you, sir.
I would no use PWM type power amplifiers for midrange and tweeters yet.Lc audio and Midgard audio was early out and developing a pwm amplifiers and LC audio have some of the best.I use older design by LC audio,a power amp called :The end XP millenium(they also had a class A version called Zapsolute.Since i use sensitive tweeter section type AMT 96db 1M 1W.midrange section 3 Neo 10 planar magnetic total sensitivity around 98db 1M 1W.in active system i need quiet amp,s.The 4 channels with The end Xp i can hear a faint hiss with ear close to tweeter.The other thing soundwise is they dont have negative feedback correction,local or global.Itsound the same at low volume as at high volume.They are nautral flat smooth and detailed with varmt i hear in good tube amp.The no feedback design are a big part in this as the overall design do to,and they last.240 000 uf on 4 channels 100wartt each.Woofers are driven by a modified pa amp called Cerwin vega 1.5KW but is a rebranded amp with some changes made to it from spain sold only by High fi club here in Norway back in 2004.Like some ps audio gear But the prices are high.More a diy and repair guy anyway.Fun with stereo sound.
At the end Paul, thanks more than a bunch for the videos, they solve our excruciating doubts with zero effort, thanks again. There's any chance to enlighten if we can buy "any" AV receiver that can bring some honest and decent stereo sound for music? Once again thanks, JB
Only insofar as valves are typically socketed. Replacing a mosfet isn't a big deal. The standard SOT23 package has 3 pins and _may_ have its body soldered to the board too (though that's more often attached to a heatsink). If it's fucked and needs to go, it's much easier to just cut it off and then desolder the pins individually. The main advantage of mosfets is that they're jellybean parts. Today's state of the art, much like valves were 50 years ago. That makes them DIRT cheap and it means that any big electronics supplier either stocks them or can get them. You can buy enough mosfets to rebuild your entire amp for the cost of a single 6L6 or 12AX7, with the added bonus of guaranteed uniformity in performance (because modern mass production). Given that every old amp and radio NEEDS to be rebuilt before it's safe to operate, I'd say it's less hassle to run a mosfet amp. That said, I agree, valves are no less reliable. Typically if a valve dies it's because something else in the circuit killed it. Most commonly it's a leaky paper and foil capacitor from the '30s. They usually forget how to be capacitors and become resistors as their barriers break down. In the case of a grid coupling capacitor, this has the net effect of applying full B+ (usually of the order of 300-600V) to the grid of the next stage, causing that valve to draw very heavy current until something fails. Typically the failure point is a bond wire in the rectifier (which is hereafter FUCKED. They tend to be hard to come by and expensive), but permanent damage is done to the valve connected to the leaky capacitor too. In cases where a high voltage filter capacitor fails closed, B+ gets directly shorted to ground. This causes the same failure in the rectifier. In other words - recap your old gear. Use quality capacitors (again, jellybean parts, even the really good ones are inexpensive), make sure everything conforms to the original schematic and your old amplifier (or radio) really will last forever.
I got a MOSFET. Its a Jaycar DigiTech amp and only cost $300, brand new. Would it be a true MOSFET at that price? They are ment to be like an extra zero on the price. That particular Jaycar amp is discontinued now. It KILLS my $900 NAD hands down! The cymbals sound like metal more (even on non metal drivers).
Some people buy Stradivarius violins. Many double blind tests have proven virtuosos violinist cannot confirm if they are plying the masterpiece or other violins. Amplifier sound is very similar. I prefer single ended vacuum tube preamps. My perception is they sound better, period.. Others may differ, it’s their money, they can buy whatever they like.
But the question remains, if an amp should "sound". If I giva e rectangular impulse to the amp input, I expect a rectangular output. If this occurs, the amp can transmit all waveforms and frequencies. I know - this is pure theory - maybe not real. But what means "an amp sounds warm"? This means that the amp works also as an analog auto tune processor. But that´s not the original sound. So maybe a tube amp sounds well, but it dont reproduce the source. I have an idea: The best amp would use two inputs for its work: At first the source of the music as analog or digital signal and the music measured by a mic in the room. The amp now must bring the difference to zero. Then we have the original sound. Regards from Germany.... WoW
Hi Paul, not sure if I should ask here but nonetheless I will. What are your experiences with nuvistors? They are small (mil spec) vacuum tubes made during the end of the tube revolution. It is said they are stable very long and produce great sound. Currently have some in my pre-amp and I just wanna know all about it!
I listened to this video on a Sony TA-F606ES integrated amp, which has BJT drivers and MOSFET outputs, perfect mix of clarity and warmth. Are any audio manufacturers still making amps with MOSFET output transistors?
I've always known this :) Mosfets sound beautifully warm and fluid, and also fast. No secret that best sounding amplifiers are Denon for low end hifi and Accuphase for high end hifi.
Electric guitar amp builders have been trying to ‘get close’ to the sound of valve amps using solid state technology for years. There’s a very good reason why none have ever managed it fully: only valves sound and react like valves. That’s why value guitar valve amps are still held up as the panicle, but it still remains subjective and personal. If you like the sound of a valve amp, get a valve amp. If you’re happy with solid state, be happy. Trust your ears. Like what you like.
Well I am amp builder and fet so very close to tubes. I played a tube amp in the stores honesty I can not hear the difference. the problem is hard to get right components for higher wattage amps. also one amp builder wasted jfet sound using diodes. with me I just do not get why not all ss amps have a jfet or mosfet stage for the clean channel. if over dive the clean channel it soft clips.
Hi-fi is a strange pursuit really. As although I appreciate measurents are an important consideration when designing, manufacturing and marketing any products I have to admit that they rarely impact on me or what I buy, as we are all primarily chasing for sounds that hopefully get close to match our ears, tastes and wants. So for some tubes will always be king while others will favour, love and prefer their fets and Solid state systems. So there is no real need to copy or equal as most amps even with similar topologies sound different from each other..so just different flavours to choose. But maybe that is why the cocktail mix appeals to me. Although it is really hard to notice the tube effect or any difference on my trusty old peachtree Nova?
I was wondering have you ever tried Paul snubber filter on the output of the transistor replacing the resistor for a bulb at 10 ohms and the capacitor 0.1 polystyrene sounds like it would sound nice ever tried it?
Extroverts during lockdown> Oh dear god I have to stay home and cannot go into the office? I'm going to go crazy! We need daily walks. No... HOURLY walks! Introverts during lockdown> You mean I get to stay home AND still get paid? Sweet!
I went and listened to mine, but they're not making any sound at all. However, the JFETs are much more comfortable in my ears, so I do prefer wearing them. As far as the sound quality of circuits using the devices, it really depends more on the designer's skill and goals for their design, than on the specific device choice. It's all about balancing various compromises against the chosen priorities. MOSFETs are available in a much broader range of types and voltage, current and power ratings. There is relatively little choice in JFETs and they are principally small-signal devices; power JFETs are almost as rare as hen's teeth.
With all this discussion about what amplifiers sound like, few people ever mention that they're not supposed to sound like anything. In other words, a good audio power amp is supposed to be "sterile"--it's completely transparent, and contributes none of its own sonic characteristics at all. It only increases the power of the signal to drive the speakers, without changing the sound of that signal at all. Any characteristic of an amp that makes people like its "sound" is... Distortion :) Regardless of circuit topology or choice of components, they're all supposed to sound exactly the same. So, whether you use BJTs or MOSFETs shouldn't make any audible difference at all if the circuits are well-designed. Thanks for the video, your delivery is always entertaining :)
Yes theoretically, but in reality every component does contribute to the sound, hifi companies just tried their best to make transparent gears, but every gear doesn’t the same, an d at the end what you mean transparent is different to what I think transparent :)
I'm using a car stereo as my home stereo cause I lov the sound of mosfet but I'm not good at wiring so it's finicky and sometimes doesn't work what is a good mosfet home stereo with Bluetooth and dac
I should be quiet, but I can't resist. No one can hear the difference between good quality amplifiers (tube, or any other), unless you want to run them into distortion. That's why you never, ever, see any blind comparison surveys. There is a small possibility that people with great hearing could detect the effect of damping factor. You know what you can hear? The room and the speakers. That's it folks. 16 bit vs 24 bit? I'll buy that, if the recording takes advantage. 44khz vs 96khz? Maybe dogs can hear that difference. Audiophiles, invest in the latest speakers with room tuning technology.
I disagree with the cooking analogy. When you did not account for the humidity and the oven temperature then there is a big hole in your measuring protocol. Also cook could have catched some kind of virus (starts with "C") and do not taste things right at the moment. Also I'm sure that if amp gives out cleanest sound theoretically possible then it would not sound good for everyone, where do we go from there then? Start distorting the signal until it sounds good?
The hard thing about the lockdown is dealing with not moving forward on my goals. Business owns must feel like they are going backwards. I'm trying to be creative and find opportunities to move forward in some way. The audio tube market seems to be a questionable thing, especially with the loss of one of the main factories in China (not to mention all the other stuff with China). I truly hope tubes don't go away and that someone, somewhere, invests in preserving their existence (in a high quality way). Have you considered experimenting with the NuTube (made by Korg IIRC)?
![Megan Thee Stallion - Neva Play (feat. RM) [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/TpYTyAaTRts/mqdefault.jpg)
Tube preamp coupled with Class A power amp with MOSFET output stage is my favourite ingredients for a tasty recipe!
That what I have. A good tube pre amp with Nelson pass mosfet gfa 5500 and a tannoy d700 speakers. A delicious recipe that I can eat everyday if I can.
I have a tube preamp and diy Class A/b mosfet power amp.
Counterpoint had this design sa 20 sa 220
The MOSFET transistor was invented by Egyptian engineer Mohamed Atalla with Korean engineer Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs in 1959. One of the great inventions of all time.
Still loving my 40 yr old Perreaux PMF 180 watt MOSFET amp. It powers my JBL S3100 horns into tube magic. I hope it never dies!
Back in the 80's I had imported from England a Grant G60s MK2 integrated amp. Designed by Roy Grant (Of the Grant Lumley fame). I discovered it in ads in Gramophone magazine. Tube preamp and Mosfet outputs- sounded fantastic. It was one excellent sounding amp with its tube preamp. Who cares if it sounded 'different' than tubes? Its sounded excellent. And, I had owned all tube equipment in previous years. So, I know some of the benefits.. Sometimes "sounding different' is not a bad thing.
Excellent point about not relying purely on measurements for divining audio quality. In my pre audiophile days that’s how many of us shopped for HIFI gear, by simply looking at buying guides and looking at specs like frequency response and THD. That ended once I began visiting high end audio stores and listening for myself. Unfortunately many audiophiles shopping for DACs nowadays succumb to the same pitfall and go purely by how DACs measure or the DSP chip used.
Directly from Brazil - please, continue with your videos! They are really nice, instructive, and fun! Thanks!
Paul , in one short sentance, you have stated the obvious that so many tech heads (people who rekey on spec's, more that the actual sound of the product. You are absolutely right, regurdless of spec's, your ears have to be pleased with the out put of any sound producing device.
Example, after 15 year with a mid level Marantz Reciever(2265 black dail)I decided to supposedly upgrade to a better Reciever with surround sound capabilities, back then it was pro-logic, I tried Pioneer, Onkyo, Kenwood, Philips EU model, etc. Nothing sounded as good IMHO as my old Marantz. So I did what I should have done in the first place, I purchased a 2325 Reciever, had it refurbed by a former Marantz employee from the Long Island facilities for my music need , and eventually purchased a 5.1 slime line Marantz for SS. The new unit still do not have the 70s sound. But close. Dam the spec's, it what sounds best to my ears and no one else's.
As for warmth , as one would expect you are spot on imho , and mosfets are typically more warm than bipolar output stages but there are some vintage ss amps out there that use bipolar stage designs , resolve very well and are quite tube like in warmth to my ear.
Yes, if you want the tube sound without buying a tube amp, the closest you will get is a First Watt Amplifier by Nelson Pass. His amps are truly awesome. I have had several. I highly recommend you check them out!
Do you know if anyone has done any proper characterisation and modelling of valve gear? Provided all the effects are properly quantified, identical sound should be achievable through DSP.
It's not the same (I for one LOVE the glow of a good valve), but should sound identical
Love that old dope scale on the shelf. !!!!!
My fav SS are MOSFETS Class H a friend played his 16 watts stereo tube amp he just built and it was kinda like that has an ease of reproduction that is unmistakable excellent. On the Jimi Hendrix live album you can hear were his tube amp is fuzzing out while breaking down and when they switch in a new amp the sound of his guitar becomes more sharp and defined. I might just commission him to build me a little tube amp. (might means will in Audio)
Tubes will always be around.
Beyond how they sound people leave out how visually appealing they are. It’s certainly a factor for some. Even VU meters and lighting can play a part as to what some like.
Others may choose them also because they produce heat and they live in Canada.
Others stay away from Tubes like myself because they indeed produce too much heat and are delicate and degrade over time.
Weight and size of amps and pre amps play a role also.
Even room characteristics can and should play a part. Some rooms are carpeted and some hard wood floors.
Choosing the right equipment takes a lot of planning and thought process. There are just compromises too. Music preference should also be factored in.
I worked in plenty of restaurants, and one didn't allow cooks to taste the food... (They thought they were losing profits 🙄) Sometimes you can't A/B everything you'd like to do with your audio setup, but as you learn to cook, you can predict what your sound needs without 'tasting'. That said, the best advice I ever heard about playing in a live band is 'listen'. Listen without listening, and taste without tasting
I love the comparison with cooking, taste taste taste! that's how you become a good cook !
PREACH!
I have the M 700s and they do have a bit of a tube flavor, But they also have the accuracy of solid-state. Just an enjoyable pair of amplifiers there’s nothing to really complain about
enjoying my system every single day of the week. im loving this time off work.even though im a gas engineer doing callouts etc..
RESPECT. HOBART TECH.
Yeah I envy you people with jobs deemed useless by the government. Free time is something I would never get bummed about.
I've been layed off since march 23rd due to the virus and I have had A LOT of time surfing the web.. I have a pair of Vintage Polk Audio SDA 1A's from 1985 that needs an amplifier, and that's how I came a cross this channel :) Thank you for your uploads Sir, I'm learning new stuff..
I recall in the later 1970's Hitachi was the first company to use powered MOSFET's in some of their amps as they designed them. I've read some reviews in Stereo Review, High Fidelity and Complete Buyers Guide to Stereo/Hifi Equipment magazines that praised powered MOSFET technology.
I just picked up a 1978 Hitachi hma 7500 mosfet amp.
@@MrJasonfromcanada- fantastic score my friend. The MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor, field effect transistor) is said to give transistor amps the sound of tubes. I think it's a class G amp too but where normal class G is AB/AB the HMA-7500 is A, A/B and runs warmer. I have a full page review of the HMA-7500 in my 1980 issue of High Fidelity magazine. Also have a "capsule" review (one paragraph) in a 1979 Complete Buyers Guide to Stereo/Hifi Equipment.
The HF review says...."whether the clarity, brilliance and extraordinary imaging we experienced with this amplifier can be attributed to the use of powered MOSFET's we cannot say. It is enough to say that the superb Hitachi HMA-7500 comes as close to perfection as any power amp we've heard". You gotta tell me, what pre-amp, speakers will you use with the 7500??
I've been using a class G Hitachi SR-804 (50wpc) as my main amp since 1979. No regrets. Running my SR-804 to loud levels for hours at a time and the cabinet top is barely warm, fuhgeddaboudit.
@@martyjewell5683 Right now because I’m just getting into HiFi equipment I recently purchased a new in box untouched Marantz NR 1711 av receiver for half price that I’m using as a preamp to the hma 7500. The speakers I’m running off the hitachi are Fyne Audio F301’s with plans to upgrade to the F303’s as my main fronts and use the F301’s for surrounds.
The source i’m using right now is Tital streaming.
I’ve been playing around with switching between the speakers hooked directly to the marantz and then with the 7500 hooked up and I can say there is a noticeable improvement in that warm detailed sound quality. Even when turning up the volume at higher levels the sound just doesn’t get fatiguing. Its just really fantastic sound from low to moderate to higher volumes.
Note do to the F301 speakers being book shelf speakers I do have an old cheap vector research 10” sub hooked up as well. I keep that between -2db - 0, just enough to fill the bottom end a bit
@@MrJasonfromcanada- googled your Marantz and F-301 speakers. For power the 1711 should do well with it's 50wpc. I like the feature of Pre-out/Main-in. It makes a component soooo much more useful. Sadly my SR-804 lacks it. But I've never needed it. One disturbing facet of this Marantz is its inability to drive 4 ohm loads, seemingly a current (no pun intended) trend in amplifier design. This deprives the listener from using some truly fine vintage 4 ohm loudspeakers. The F-301 is ported and listed as bass to 44Hz (-6dB's). I wonder what the -3dB (which is more useful to bass performance) rating is?? Probably around 55Hz. Still though, for their size, very respectable. Seems all gods chillin's got vented speakers nowadays. My kitchen speakers are the Boston Acoustics A-40 with bass -3dB @ 68Hz and bass does satisfy in my 900+ cu/ft kitchen. I checked Stereophile.com and read a glowing endorsement review on the F-301's. Your idea to use a 10" sub for augmented bass is a swell idea.
I remember the early 1970's when bass-reflex speakers sucked and AS ruled. Into mid 1970's two companies were using Thiele/Small equations for venting speakers. They were Electro-Voice and Ohm Acoustics, with spectacular results. I purchased Ohm Acoustics (4 ohm) model L's in 1978 and still use them. Also getting popular into mid 1970's were satellite/sub woofer systems. EPI built a very good mini in their model 60. No Rogers LS3/5A fer sure but very good. My dinning room speakers are Ohm Acoustics model H with a 12" passive radiator (drone cone) venting and bass to 32Hz (+/-3dB's). One of my favorite music songs for speaker testing is Renaissance's "Trip to the Fair". It really shows HF speaker ability and is a freakin' boss cut.
Arcam use them as well.
My Hafler DH-220 has mosfets in the output stage and I have always loved the sound with my B&W DM2000's. David Hafler designed the amp and previously was involved with Dynaco tube amps. I am about to do a check out of the Hafler's capacitors and add an upgrade kit from Musical Concepts.
The outro, sounded a bit like a slowed downed version of riders on the storm. Cool.
Nelson Pass Amps does a great job in sounding like a Tubes Amps. I am sure PS Audio sounds good too.✌️.
Dio Dio i was pretty hard against tubes until I heard their dual mono btk hooked up to Paul’s IRS V setup, best speaker system I have ever heard
@@sunnohh It's just engineering, the Pass amp exhibits lots of distortion that's why people like the sound of it and, yes, you can make mosfets sound like tubes. Oh, and you can do it a much better than the 25% efficiency of Pass amps. Class A is basically a joke today with semiconductors. Fifty years ago when cross over and notch distortion in AB was a problem class A had some merit, not today. You can buy an LM3886 chip for $5 that exceeds most peoples listening needs, those chips are extraordinarily well designed by the best engineers. I'm listening to $50 class D amps interfaced with tubes for hours at a time without fatigue that sound very good. Put your money in speakers you like. Buy bookshelf speakers with a subwoofer, it will do everything most people will ever need. Amps? In a couple of years class D will rule the market, you just can't make transformers that impedance match to speakers better than class D amps. Clean, precise, detailed and accurate. Color it with a tube for the sound you like, can't be beat and cheap.
@@mosfet500 "Color it" is the operative phrase. Thank you.
That bookshelf comment was gold!!
When i turned 70 I realized i was getting on towards the short end of the stick so it was time to treat myself. i decided it was time to upgrade my stereo system to something special (no that special - I'm not rich).
My old system was ok but the newest component was well over 20 years old. I knee what kind of sound I wanted and picked things up as I found them. When it came to the preamp, as much as I liked thee idea of your BHK preamp it was hard to part with that much cash and I wasn't sure about the interface.
I found a ye ar old tube based Rogue RP5 preamp tat had great reviews and a more traditional interface, it was less than half the cost of a new PS Audio so I pulled the trigger and ordered it. I set it up and was very pleased with the sound, it seemed to be quieter and more extended than my 20year old Conrad Johnson and the interface was a bit similar so I fell into using it quite easily. The RP5 has a built in solid state phono preamp that was ok but I already had a home built jFet peamp I was very fond of so chnged some jumpers to change the RP5's phono input into a line input and now have the sound i've enjoyed for a while nut even cleaner.
Don't get me wrong some solid state preamps can be very good but I found the jFet phono preamg to be better than the Rogue's solid state implementation.
Differdnt strokes for different folks.
You can artificially introduce a little bit of even-order harmonic distortion in the preamp or driver stage to very closely simulate the tube sound.
this is usually accomplished by diagonal clipping through a long-time-constant AVC circuit.
Paul is correct...It's about the Chop's of the Designer...The Magic of Tube sound will also be in the Tube and the designer...I own 60's Fisher, Scott and Marantz...Current Main system is PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium HP and it's bliss. Keep the video's going Paul!!!!
Tim de Paravicini argued that he could get the same sound out of both technologies - the trick was the circuit and transistor amps tend to use different circuitry as they are current driven as opposed to voltage driven for valves. I don't know if that is true but he argues that he created two amplifiers - one valve, one transistor (class A?) and no one could distinguish between them.
Thanks for all the videos. I look forward to watching them every day. It is something to look forward to every day. 🙂
Loftin White circuit, direct heated triode, 2A3, 12ax7, GZ34 with a passive preamp (transformers with no resistors) is the best system for me...
@David Miller there was another amp designer who made two sets of amps. This wasn't long after the original Audio Note Ongako from Japan so 1990's.. This genius was none other than Tim de Paravicini. So he said this if I make two sets of single ended mono block amps one valve and one solid state they should sound the same. So he did and they were the start of the Yoshino brand. These amps caused a bit of excitement at the time being close to the Audio Note price tag @ £40000 for each set then.. So to cut this pile of drivel short not even Tom could make a solid state single ended mosfet amp sound like a valve amp and why would you.. I have no idea why I've mentioned this but it's history and one that's important in the HiFi world
So Tim/Tom built a mosfet version of a tube amp, and people didn't like it as much? I would be amazed if tubes could sound like mosfets, simply because EM fields affect the function of both devices quite differently
@@mississippijohnfahey7175 Tim and they did..And all who heard the 30K amps were in agreement that the both sounded very similar..If I remember correctly they all favoured the solid state version..I'm a valve guy and always will be..However GAN FETS are sounding very promising
@@garth56 cool, I hadn't heard of GaN FETs before. They do look promising!
According to David Berning, FET devices have transfer linearity comparable to that of pentode tubes. Many years ago, he had a preamp that used a patented circuitry that used a FET in series with a triode to attain transfer linearity superiority superior to that of a triode alone. Unfortunately, FET device failure due to user careless in switch input jack assignment while powered on caused him to return to tube only stages. BTW what ever happened to Sansui’s attempted at feed-forward design?
Tube amplifiers have an all frequency filter (AKA a transformer) at the output.
What's cool about my tube power amp is if you put it in the right part of the house, you can get AM radio!
Sir ,you are just awesome you cover each and every topic
Having been an owner of tube McIntosh equipment (years ago... they were refurbished trade-ins) I must say tubes do have a very pleasing effect with good speakers and good recordings. Solid state at that time could not compare. Now, engineers of quality thinking can produce good sounding solid state. As long as you do not compare? You could be happy with either. Also, along my journey, I found in the British Gramophone magazine an ad for an integrated amp with a tube preamp section, and Mosfet outputs. I had it imported. It was designed and manufactured Mr. Grant of Grant Lumley fame. It sounded fantastic. After that finally bit the dust.. I wandered into the world of high quality D class amplification. Also, having a fantastic sound. Its not tubes. But, it still is great sounding. The key to enjoyment is finding the right combination of speakers.. cables, power purification... and staying away from Ethan Winer. ;)
That's the kind of thinking that makes people with more money than brains spend insane sums of money chasing the delusion of sonic perfection. There is no such thing as sonic perfection so just listen to the music instead of the gear.
It will always be contingent upon the components that make up your system and your tastes.
Shaun Koreshowell/Bunds - given everything else is the same is the typical assumption.
Love that old "weed scale" on the shelf. Always remember (..and never forget) Weed will get you through the times of no MOSFETS better than MOSFETS will get you through the times of no WEED. :)
also it makes the music sound better without having to invest 10k in speakers
@@Humbulla93 haha musical scales?
...freewheelin' Paul says... now there's a reference only a lucky few will know. my dad had the aluminum printing plates from that poster... in fact he had the printing plates from everything the Rip-off Press did: when they got a new press decades and decades ago, the president/CEO (Fred Todd) gave my dad all the old printing plates... he used them all up as flashings and other things requiring sheets of aluminum over the years. man, I bet some collector would have paid a fortune for those. he saw them only as sheets of aluminum, unfortunately. peace be upon you, sir.
The first time i heard a Tivoli Audio model One tableradio i thought it was a tube radio...that bassy rich warm tube sound...but no..it is solid state. Solid state can sound like tubes.
I AM USING 15 TIVOLIS IN SPAIN THEY USE ANALOG SOURCES
@@bolsesolheim7469 Everything past the DAC is analogue. If there's no DAC (i.e. listening to your favourite LP) - it's all analogue 😁
I don't want it to sound the way I "want" it to sound; I want it sound the way it sounds. It's the philosophy that directs my listening efforts.
music is all we have that bright our days in that pendemic .i'm lucky to work hard now but still listen allday long on my cellphone to music ......
Great Analogy ! In comparing Mosfet Linear Amplifiers for use in Ham Radio the Sound difference between Bipolar transistors & Mosfets is remarkable.
The Mosfet Amps are the closest sounding to a tube in comparison.
Now add a Vacuum Tube to a Bipolar & Your sound changes the recipe all together. I have not tried a tube/mosfet combo yet. Hmmm wonder what that tastes like.
hmm. Nahh i don't think mosfet will replace tube/valve amps.
Tube amp can something with the sound that mosfet can't but yes mosfet come close to tubes
because of their charateristic in the harmonic distortion there like tubes mostly is in the 2 harmonics.
Mosfet give like tubes a much more 'warm' natural sound so indeed many will prefer mosfet , mainly because
the maintenance is easier , where tubes need tube replacement / bias adjustings ect.
Others ( like me ) like to spend time trying out different Tubes and modify to get the right sound.
I have spend last 10 years modify my Guitar amp and trying out different tubes , changing the circuit ect ect.
I finally got the ' sound' I wanted.
I like your way of using food and taste in your description , spot on it's correct. the preperation..the care for..yes.
The designer play the big role here , you can have a bad sounding tube amp and a good mosfet amp or
of course a bad mosfet and a good tube amp.
In the end it's what our ears like that make us choose (hopefully )
So my personal view on this is ' Tube amp will continue simply because their is people who prefer them '
Personally I use both mosfet amps and tube amps but for different situations.
In my HiFi/Studio I use mosfets and my guitar amp is a good old all tube amp with no semiconductors at all.
( Still im like , should I find my old , schematics , recalculate a bit , just a bit more designing and... rebuild...
I have built RIAA , preamps and power amps with tubes years ago and somehow want to do it again )
damn want to change one of the HiFi/Studio amps to tubes....
Nah it must wait until I have a better house with more space for the studio.
As usual a great video from you thumbs up from here.
MOSFETs operate on a square-law transfer function, like tubes do, while BJTs operate on a logarithmic transfer function. If there's a difference in 'sound' between MOSFET and BJT amplifiers, part of the reason why is because of that. A square law transfer function is nowhere near as linear through zero-crossing as a log function is, and never can be. Some designers run high bias, at least 10X as much, on MOSFET amps to try to get some of the linearity back, but it's only partially effective.
I wish fet amps would replace opamp guitar amps. the clean channel soft clips and more of treble is cut. Fet preamp generally round out a square wave because of the miller effect which makes any thing you play through sound little warmer. most audio amps do not use fets in the preamp stage because it never goes into clipping. also for audio why they do measurements because idea amp is 100 transparent which means the amp does not color the sound.
Aha!!. I have finally been vindicated. An expert that clearly knows a lot more than the average Joe when it comes to the workings of audio amplifiers also must know a thing or two about what constitutes good practices in the culinary world. If you can bare listening for just a moment I will tell you where I am going with my drivel. I nearly fell out of my chair laughing when Paul said his mother boiled peas until they were grey/gray in color. When I was just a kid I couldn't leave the dinner table until I finished all my boiled peas and getting the dessert that I craved was definitely not happening until those nasty greyish green things were no where to be seen. Not even the family dog that I know loved me unconditionally could save me from his position under the table. He bless his soul didn't want anything to do with the grey-green matter either....lol. Keep up the great work Paul I very much enjoy your PS Audio channel. It's very informative and occasionally hilarious for wannabe audiophiles like myself.
my Rega amp emulates class A. the best of both worlds. Terry Bateman is a genius
Great time for many of you to learn something about acoustics and sort out your listening space.
That was a topic in the 1980,s to.The awnser i guess will be the same today
"My mom boiled peas until they were grey"! LOL 🤣
There is only one type of sound that i like ( besides the sounds of silence LOL): it's the sound of the original music,instruments and vocals on their original *timbre* (the "tonal color") with no coloration,like the live performance; also, a violin does not come at you from 2 places,left and right,Jim Morrison did not have 2 sets of vocal chords,from the L and R, so i like 1 amp,1 speaker box; i will soon purchase a M700, heard one the other day and it too i found to be faithful.
If a stereo system is well designed and well placed you will never have two violins or Jim Morrisons. You will have a phantom center signal that is centered between the speakers. If I play mono music I have an imaginary speaker in the middle of the room playing the music. I do not hear my right and left speakers.
Ya, speakers vanish and sound is in the middle
Faluda Butt; Ok, i know, but not so much my ears and my brain; the 2 speakers are still there, but because we were told so , we do try to convince our brain that they sound as one, and they do come close , but to me it's *never* the same as *being* one;
When i have to use a stereo amp ,after a while i like to experiment and tie both speakers together,that too works well-
But I have personally heard them as one. I talk about heresy and forte. BUT, only few recordings, not all
A double blind test shootout for both amps and DACS would be the final say in the measurements vs hearing argument. I wonder how many manufacturers would be able to correctly identify their own products...
That depends largely upon who set up the "test", and what their goals were for the outcome.
@@HareDeLune If it is set up correctly (scientifically) the goal of the organizer doesn't matter. That's the beauty of the scientific method: It reduces human influence on the answer to the question of what is real. Because humans create their own reality in their head and try to bullshit everybody (including themselves) to believe in it.
@@bened22
Of course we create our own reality. It's human nature.
It's also what makes us good artists and storytellers. It's why we have classic literature, movies, and music!
It isn't necessarily BS either.
In regards a home stereo system, if something sounds better to you, why question it? That smacks of neuroses.
Furthermore, it has been scientifically proven by smarter persons than I, that when it comes to quality of sound in home audio equipment, *everything* must be taken into account, from circuit board mountings to the humidity in the room.
I cannot believe that these 'blind tests' some people go on about ever take enough things into account to produce accurate enough results.
In short, to put it as nicely as I can because I believe you mean well and are trying to be helpful, I remain unconvinced.
However, I thank you for your comment. : )
@@HareDeLune Thank you for your polite answer. Yes, it's perfectly fine that we all create our own reality. I also agree that we should just enjoy our audio systems and if we do, no measurement positive or negative can change that. However when it comes to products and recommendations (what to buy? What's better?) it would be good to separate that personal perception from the actual objective facts. Because it's unfair to advise other people to spend a lot of money for something that's only better in your own little world. What science has shown us is that human hearing is very, very flawed. Especially our ability to remember sound is very limited. That's generally not a problem, we get by just fine. But that means that our ability to hear differences between sound systems and specific audio components is, again, very limited. But when we are so sure that we can hear all sorts of fine details and every component has a whole different sound our brain produces a kind of placebo effect. Differences we actually can't hear we invent in our brain. A double blind test frees us from this illusion machine that is our brain in that sense that we actually have to concentrate on the audio itself and nothing else. Double blind tests are a confusing experience because they let us experience our own limits in a clarity that we don't have in everyday life. All the context that guides us (and fools us) is removed and all we are left with is our actual limits. I think it would be good for audiophiles to once in awhile get this experience and to check their perception with this method. It would save a lot of money, give much needed clarity about actual differences (vs imagined ones) and would free up the mind from decade old misconceptions about audio. That's the perspective that I am coming from. :)
It's really interesting that there's always talk about how an amp sounds, when High Fidelity is about reproducing the sound the mastering engineer listened to in his studio. (Yes, the sound in the studio!!! It's impossible to capture the sound of the room with a mic exactly as if you were there. None of you have ever listened to a band and heard how they really sound in a rehearsal room! Even a concert is mic'ed and reproduced through a PA system that is probably not as good as your Hi-Fi!) In my understanding, the amp should not color the sound in any way. It's like going into the Sistine Chapel with sunglasses on. I guess we're all used to listening to impure music through bad earplugs, phones, and other devices that have a lot of bass and compression, etc. I think that's why most people don't like flat and linear neutral sound. It's the same as how C, G, Am, F are the chords for pop music, and "complicated" music with surprises, tension, and release is considered noise by most people (like progressive metal), because there are used to it. I'm used to the flat sound in a mixing studio, and every time I listen to stuff that is colored in any way, it's a pain in the ass.
Tube is not HiFi. Coloration is not HiFi by definition!
The closest thing to tubes that I’ve heard would be the First Watt F3. It uses Power Jfets.
It only has one power JFET (LU1404) per channel. The other power transistors are MOSFET (IRFP240).
The First Watt F2 is an example of jfet that has tube sound
I grew up on MOSFET, but I'm mixing these days with V/M 1955 mono 12W x 4 = :)
It is really interesting. Something in 70s last century, we asked ourselves - why tube amplifiers sound better than transistors one? One guess was that tube amplifiers have only even harmonics, like 2, 4 and they get away quickly. When transistor amplifiers have odd harmonics and they do not go away, like 3, 5, 7... MOSFET amplifiers behave similar as tube amplifiers. What are new findings?
I absolutely support your opinion that the ear is the ultimate judge of a design is good or not. BUT ... this only works, if this ultimate test is organized as a double blind test with a very carefully layed out arrangement. I'm afraid that by doing that a lot of excellent amps all of a sudden will turn out to be just another amp ...
Paul, Audio Snobs who first have a conclusion before testing a new piece of equipment really Grind My Gears!
I guess Subjective Tests and Critical listening are Passé.
Oooooohh! Shiny!!!
Great Information!! Thank You!! and stay SAFE!!
All I have is two channel Onkyo integrated receiver,but it's not bad by any means.
I like tubes. I like solid state,/FET's. I like good sound. Both can do it. Both, when properly set up, I am sure you will not be able to point out which is which blindly. I laugh, I just made a OD Boost guitar pedal that has a 12AX7 tube, a LM741, and a LM386 driving a 2" speaker inside it, sounds awesome, and runs on 12.6 VDC :)
The thing is , either flavor is a matter of taste Done right ,. I actually prefer SS to tubes . The high end extension , sparkle of ss to my ear resolves better than tubes . The lows are also better defined , more authority. People talk about tube mids and they are right but there are ss designs with excellent mids as well.
A good amplifier is a wire with gain. IF the THD, IM, noise floor, and damping factors are identical, the only thing left to color the output is the microphonic nature of the tubes. I'm a retired Technician, and have measured these criteria personally, For me, the gobs of wasted power involved in tubes is a non-starter. Cheers, --bd
I use cascode preamp in place of 12ax7 and they work great
I have a Luxman amp that's uses FETs and its great combined with a tube preamp(schiit)
It's amazing to me, for some time and still today, how so many folks fail to realize that we humans have ears sticking out of the sides of our heads, not meters.
I have meters sticking out. I can't get a date.
All that does x,y,z affect tone could be easily solved with a FFT graph, Meters don't tell you if it is good, it just shows you what it was. it is up to you to decide of you like it, but if you find something you like, you can at least try to understand what you liked about it. I am so sick of this one is chewy or this one sounds fizzy crap about guitar things.
@@anthonybeers FFT is not going to help in any way, you can't measure musicality.
It's a waste of time, you can't "try to understand" music by scientific analysis.
What a boneheaded idea.
You can't use a meter to tell you how good a novel is. There's no sensor to tell you how good a painting is. Guitar players and others use valid descriptions to communicate and advance their ability to shape sound. That you are sick of that, means exactly nothing, and no one will ever give a damn.
@@dougrobbins5367 What your ears perceive *is* measurable, but the audiophool marketing wanketeer isn't really interested in that unless it sells gear.
I agree, 99% of this is a matter of preference, but it is still measurable. For example the "warm" tone of valves is a direct result of their dodgy frequency responce, and that of the output transformer. They just happen to sound good in combination.
@@anthonybeers FFTs are great for measuring frequency responce, but they don't tell you everything. For example any secondary emission in a triode (electrons re-emitted by the plate as a result of their excessive momentum) is something that you can hear, but not something that will show up in the FFT. Neither will the difference in distortion between a beam tetrode and a pentode. You need more sophisticated tools to analyse and model (should you wish to) these effects. That's why a simple EQ built from an FFT of a valve amp still just doesn't sound the same ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Let's start from a real engineering basis. BJTs are current amplifying devices(current-in/current-out) . MOSFETs are transconductance amplifying devices (voltage-in/current-out). Triodes are voltage amplifying devices (voltage-in/voltage out). Pentodes are transconductance amplifying devices (voltage-in/current-out). Check all their output curves to realize the device-level differences. Amplifier circuit design with such amplifying devices is another story. You can make a BJT operate as a tranconductance or even as a voltage amplifier, but that would lead to an "unnatural" behavior of the amplifying device itself. This means that the linearity distortion will not be the best possible.
If you need to compare to tube amps....well that pretty much sums it up. IMHO, you can’t beat the Smooth mid-range & treble of tube gear esp you pair the tube mid & treble with a nice self powered sub.
SET Follower Configuration
The same formula PS uses to wet out its D class amps
It depends on the MOSFETS. If you use "Depletion-mode" MOSFETS (or a combination of Depletion and Enhancement modes) in an solid state build, you have the best chance of coming close to Vacuum Tubes. They are much more expensive but they are similar to how tubes actually work. N-channel Depletion-mode MOSFETS operate as a normally “on” switch when the gate-to-source voltage is zero... similar to JFETS.
Designing a "tube equivalent" FET preamp sounds like a good project for me after I retire this summer.
@@marianneoelund2940 I think that would be a fun project, shoot for the best of tube amps without the worst of them (the output transformer).
I think that when you are designing an amp and working out the sonic recipe to get it to sound the way you want that you should have a reference amp to compare it to. I think I have a reference tube and solid state preamp and amp.
I’m debating on whether or not to build a vacuum tube cathode follower or a MOSFET source follower. Seeing that source followers and cathode followers don’t amplify and if they don’t amplify when they not affect the sound as long as there is no clipping I mean if they’re biased properly - it might be worth my while to save my money and build a mosfet source follower. Do you agree?
there is another thing that I haven't seen mentioned yet- now this is in regards to tubes, and also to instrument amplification... where the amp is often driven into clipping and feedback and other things on purpose. it's more than just the way it sounds; a lot is about the way it responds... think of it this way: the player of an electric guitar plays her amp with her guitar (think Jimi Hendrix)... and thus the way an amp clips and it's feedback characteristics, and a myriad of other things are of Paramount importance. I've never seen anything respond the way tubes do. additionally there is another feedback loop- the player is hearing what they play, and that directly affects the playing of their music. so tiny differences in response can be, well, Amplified. very subtle and often unconscious things that have a gigantic affect overall on the music are in play here. peace be upon you, sir.
I listen to a lot of vinyl and play guitar a lot.
Will you marry me?
LOL
@Fat Rat I'm 59.
Ain't got much time for pleastries.
LOL
@Fat Rat this thread has gone on long enough. Besides, I am already married
The comments section is cancer...
@Fat Rat RUclips comments in general. Pure cancer 🤣
Very informative.
I would no use PWM type power amplifiers for midrange and tweeters yet.Lc audio and Midgard audio was early out and developing a pwm amplifiers and LC audio have some of the best.I use older design by LC audio,a power amp called :The end XP millenium(they also had a class A version called Zapsolute.Since i use sensitive tweeter section type AMT 96db 1M 1W.midrange section 3 Neo 10 planar magnetic total sensitivity around 98db 1M 1W.in active system i need quiet amp,s.The 4 channels with The end Xp i can hear a faint hiss with ear close to tweeter.The other thing soundwise is they dont have negative feedback correction,local or global.Itsound the same at low volume as at high volume.They are nautral flat smooth and detailed with varmt i hear in good tube amp.The no feedback design are a big part in this as the overall design do to,and they last.240 000 uf on 4 channels 100wartt each.Woofers are driven by a modified pa amp called Cerwin vega 1.5KW but is a rebranded amp with some changes made to it from spain sold only by High fi club here in Norway back in 2004.Like some ps audio gear But the prices are high.More a diy and repair guy anyway.Fun with stereo sound.
you explain it well, i am a filipino so i can not understand well if you speak in a fast way. you speak slowly that is good.
At the end Paul, thanks more than a bunch for the videos, they solve our excruciating doubts with zero effort, thanks again. There's any chance to enlighten if we can buy "any" AV receiver that can bring some honest and decent stereo sound for music? Once again thanks, JB
Tubes are not less reliable that solid state! They last for years, if not decades, and are much easier to replace than a SS component.
Only insofar as valves are typically socketed. Replacing a mosfet isn't a big deal. The standard SOT23 package has 3 pins and _may_ have its body soldered to the board too (though that's more often attached to a heatsink). If it's fucked and needs to go, it's much easier to just cut it off and then desolder the pins individually.
The main advantage of mosfets is that they're jellybean parts. Today's state of the art, much like valves were 50 years ago. That makes them DIRT cheap and it means that any big electronics supplier either stocks them or can get them. You can buy enough mosfets to rebuild your entire amp for the cost of a single 6L6 or 12AX7, with the added bonus of guaranteed uniformity in performance (because modern mass production).
Given that every old amp and radio NEEDS to be rebuilt before it's safe to operate, I'd say it's less hassle to run a mosfet amp.
That said, I agree, valves are no less reliable. Typically if a valve dies it's because something else in the circuit killed it. Most commonly it's a leaky paper and foil capacitor from the '30s. They usually forget how to be capacitors and become resistors as their barriers break down. In the case of a grid coupling capacitor, this has the net effect of applying full B+ (usually of the order of 300-600V) to the grid of the next stage, causing that valve to draw very heavy current until something fails. Typically the failure point is a bond wire in the rectifier (which is hereafter FUCKED. They tend to be hard to come by and expensive), but permanent damage is done to the valve connected to the leaky capacitor too.
In cases where a high voltage filter capacitor fails closed, B+ gets directly shorted to ground. This causes the same failure in the rectifier.
In other words - recap your old gear. Use quality capacitors (again, jellybean parts, even the really good ones are inexpensive), make sure everything conforms to the original schematic and your old amplifier (or radio) really will last forever.
I have a 1977 marantz 2285b that works fine...
I got a MOSFET. Its a Jaycar DigiTech amp and only cost $300, brand new. Would it be a true MOSFET at that price? They are ment to be like an extra zero on the price. That particular Jaycar amp is discontinued now. It KILLS my $900 NAD hands down! The cymbals sound like metal more (even on non metal drivers).
Some people buy Stradivarius violins. Many double blind tests have proven virtuosos violinist
cannot confirm if they are plying the masterpiece or other violins. Amplifier sound is very similar.
I prefer single ended vacuum tube preamps. My perception is they sound better, period.. Others
may differ, it’s their money, they can buy whatever they like.
But the question remains, if an amp should "sound". If I giva e rectangular impulse to the amp input, I expect a rectangular output. If this occurs, the amp can transmit all waveforms and frequencies. I know - this is pure theory - maybe not real. But what means "an amp sounds warm"? This means that the amp works also as an analog auto tune processor. But that´s not the original sound. So maybe a tube amp sounds well, but it dont reproduce the source. I have an idea: The best amp would use two inputs for its work: At first the source of the music as analog or digital signal and the music measured by a mic in the room. The amp now must bring the difference to zero. Then we have the original sound. Regards from Germany.... WoW
Hi Paul, not sure if I should ask here but nonetheless I will.
What are your experiences with nuvistors? They are small (mil spec) vacuum tubes made during the end of the tube revolution. It is said they are stable very long and produce great sound. Currently have some in my pre-amp and I just wanna know all about it!
I listened to this video on a Sony TA-F606ES integrated amp, which has BJT drivers and MOSFET outputs, perfect mix of clarity and warmth. Are any audio manufacturers still making amps with MOSFET output transistors?
John Phelps ATC use MOSFET output stages.
Parasound and the higher range of Yamaha A series integrated amps
I've always known this :) Mosfets sound beautifully warm and fluid, and also fast. No secret that best sounding amplifiers are Denon for low end hifi and Accuphase for high end hifi.
Thanks
Dad, what is a tube amp? Son, let me ask grandpa.
How true :)
Electric guitar amp builders have been trying to ‘get close’ to the sound of valve amps using solid state technology for years. There’s a very good reason why none have ever managed it fully: only valves sound and react like valves. That’s why value guitar valve amps are still held up as the panicle, but it still remains subjective and personal. If you like the sound of a valve amp, get a valve amp. If you’re happy with solid state, be happy. Trust your ears. Like what you like.
Well I am amp builder and fet so very close to tubes. I played a tube amp in the stores honesty I can not hear the difference. the problem is hard to get right components for higher wattage amps. also one amp builder wasted jfet sound using diodes. with me I just do not get why not all ss amps have a jfet or mosfet stage for the clean channel. if over dive the clean channel it soft clips.
Got both,but I'll stick with tubes.
Hi-fi is a strange pursuit really. As although I appreciate measurents are an important consideration when designing, manufacturing and marketing any products I have to admit that they rarely impact on me or what I buy, as we are all primarily chasing for sounds that hopefully get close to match our ears, tastes and wants. So for some tubes will always be king while others will favour, love and prefer their fets and Solid state systems. So there is no real need to copy or equal as most amps even with similar topologies sound different from each other..so just different flavours to choose. But maybe that is why the cocktail mix appeals to me. Although it is really hard to notice the tube effect or any difference on my trusty old peachtree Nova?
I was wondering have you ever tried Paul snubber filter on the output of the transistor replacing the resistor for a bulb at 10 ohms and the capacitor 0.1 polystyrene sounds like it would sound nice ever tried it?
Extroverts during lockdown> Oh dear god I have to stay home and cannot go into the office? I'm going to go crazy! We need daily walks. No... HOURLY walks!
Introverts during lockdown> You mean I get to stay home AND still get paid? Sweet!
Can anyone tell me the the sound difference between MOSFETs and JFETs?
I went and listened to mine, but they're not making any sound at all. However, the JFETs are much more comfortable in my ears, so I do prefer wearing them.
As far as the sound quality of circuits using the devices, it really depends more on the designer's skill and goals for their design, than on the specific device choice. It's all about balancing various compromises against the chosen priorities.
MOSFETs are available in a much broader range of types and voltage, current and power ratings. There is relatively little choice in JFETs and they are principally small-signal devices; power JFETs are almost as rare as hen's teeth.
They sound the same unless you know which one you’re listening to ;-) ;-)
Idk the touted characteristics people may hear
Sir if you know please tell us which metal use in anode and cathode in vaccum tube
With all this discussion about what amplifiers sound like, few people ever mention that they're not supposed to sound like anything. In other words, a good audio power amp is supposed to be "sterile"--it's completely transparent, and contributes none of its own sonic characteristics at all. It only increases the power of the signal to drive the speakers, without changing the sound of that signal at all.
Any characteristic of an amp that makes people like its "sound" is... Distortion :)
Regardless of circuit topology or choice of components, they're all supposed to sound exactly the same. So, whether you use BJTs or MOSFETs shouldn't make any audible difference at all if the circuits are well-designed.
Thanks for the video, your delivery is always entertaining :)
Yes theoretically, but in reality every component does contribute to the sound, hifi companies just tried their best to make transparent gears, but every gear doesn’t the same, an d at the end what you mean transparent is different to what I think transparent :)
I'm using a car stereo as my home stereo cause I lov the sound of mosfet but I'm not good at wiring so it's finicky and sometimes doesn't work what is a good mosfet home stereo with Bluetooth and dac
I should be quiet, but I can't resist. No one can hear the difference between good quality amplifiers (tube, or any other), unless you want to run them into distortion. That's why you never, ever, see any blind comparison surveys. There is a small possibility that people with great hearing could detect the effect of damping factor. You know what you can hear? The room and the speakers. That's it folks. 16 bit vs 24 bit? I'll buy that, if the recording takes advantage. 44khz vs 96khz? Maybe dogs can hear that difference. Audiophiles, invest in the latest speakers with room tuning technology.
Such language !! :) I only care how it sounds, period. I ignore all measurements.
Laughs, Everyone is changing a messy office into a study to looks more presentable.
I disagree with the cooking analogy. When you did not account for the humidity and the oven temperature then there is a big hole in your measuring protocol. Also cook could have catched some kind of virus (starts with "C") and do not taste things right at the moment. Also I'm sure that if amp gives out cleanest sound theoretically possible then it would not sound good for everyone, where do we go from there then? Start distorting the signal until it sounds good?
What are shelves behind you? And do they contribute to the room acoustics? If so, what are the dimensions?
That shelves are the speakers. Top secret at now, just wait some few months...
@Fat Rat Ahahhahaha
@Fat Rat Thanks, intelligent and fun brother, peace and love, wherever you are in the world, expecially in those dark times. Respect to you!
The hard thing about the lockdown is dealing with not moving forward on my goals. Business owns must feel like they are going backwards. I'm trying to be creative and find opportunities to move forward in some way.
The audio tube market seems to be a questionable thing, especially with the loss of one of the main factories in China (not to mention all the other stuff with China). I truly hope tubes don't go away and that someone, somewhere, invests in preserving their existence (in a high quality way).
Have you considered experimenting with the NuTube (made by Korg IIRC)?