you have anything to say about those cheap 1 or 2 tube preamps that are popping up all over the place now to give you a "warmer" sound? to my mind, they work in some limited contexts with big speakers where muddying the sound up a big helps, but mostly it's just a useless gimmick.
they even have ipod dock/speakers with a tube now, which htey have mounted in the subwoofer. On Dec 29, 2007 5:52 PM, Tom Hargrave <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The vacuum tube radio in your 63 falcon sounded great because all of the > space behind the speaker helped with the base. I also probably had a 3X9 > oval speaker in the dash that helped some. These days, everyone wants to > build round speakers but they don't have the same dynamic range. > > There have been some new amp designs with vacuum tube finals & they > sound great for the same reasons the old ones sound great (re. prev. > post). There are also FET based designs. FETs are voltage controled > transistors & share some tube characteristics but they still don't sound > the same as tube amps. > > > Tom > www.kegkits.com > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Robert Rentfro <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Received: 12/29/07 5:43 PM > To: Mercedes Discussion List <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > CC: > Subject: Re: [MBZ] The death of high fidelity > > Isn't all the wicked high-end audiophile stuff still tube? Like > MacIntosh > for example? > Heck, the vacuum tube radio in my '63 Falcon sounded great! > > Bob R. > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > On Behalf Of Tom Hargrave > Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2007 3:31 PM > To: mercedes@okiebenz.com > Subject: Re: [MBZ] The death of high fidelity > > Peter, > > I'm an old vacuum tube guy and I still restore vacuum tube radios and > amps today. > > Some corrections & additions: > > Vacuum tubes will & do clip. A vacuum tube is a voltage controlled > device while a transistor is a current controlled device and either can > be driven to clip. Clipping is nothing more than the device being turned > all the way on or off before the input signal reaches full potential. > Transisitor clipping is sharper than vacuum tube clipping. > > Vacuum tube amps distort more than transistor amps and the vacuum tube > distortion is interpreted as a "warmer sound". Transistor amp > manufacturers have not been able to duplicate this distortion because > it's mechanical - it's in the physical tube design itself. I can still > hear the difference in the old radios & amps I work on today. You > believe the sound from a vacuum tube amp is "higher quality" because it > actually sounds better. Put a scope on the output of a tube amp & a > transistor amp and compare the difference and it's obvious that the > transistor amp output is cleaner. > > > Tom > www.kegkits.com > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Peter Frederick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Received: 12/29/07 5:13 PM > To: Mercedes Discussion List <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > CC: > Subject: Re: [MBZ] The death of high fidelity > > Fidelity = true to source. Not today! > > Vacuum tube amps always sound much better than transistor amps, as they > don't clip (covert too high an amplitude sine wave to a flat topped > wave, with extra harmonics). Takes an enormous capacity transistor to > not clip, and tubes never do. Other than the background hiss of > electrons flying an inch or so, they are much nicer. Some problems > with exact reproduction due to internal hysteresis, but that's present > in transistor amps, too. > > Given that MP3 compressions are rather extreme (and everyone has crappy > amplifiers in their iPods and etc turned up way beyond ear damage level > --why anyone MAKES an amplifier that puts out more than 80 dB in those > things is beyond me), the norm now is really bad reproduction, mostly > of really poor musical quality stuff to start with (a stick on a > plastic trash can over one's head, sort of). No one remembers what > real sound was, nothing is live anymore (rock concerts are mostly tape, > I believe), and most listeners have hearing damage, there is no hope. > > It's been going downhill for a long time, every since orchestral music > was no longer recorded with a pair of mikes in the auditorium and was > instead "mixed" from one stuffed up each instrument. Digitization has > markedly degraded things since, as it's way too easy to fiddle it > later. > > I'm all for live and recordings ON TAPE IN ANALOG with unchanged > reproduction. Not a chance in the bad place, I guess. > > Ditto for photography, by the way -- digital is easier, but I'm > unconvinced that it's better. > > Just the old curmudgeon here. > > Peter > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ > For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.12/1202 - Release Date: > 12/29/2007 1:27 PM > > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ > For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ > For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.12/1202 - Release Date: > 12/29/2007 1:27 PM > > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ > For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
