Posted by akhilesh [ 129.244.120.34 ] on December 09, 2004 at 15:06:22:
In Reply to: An alternate take posted by DRCope on December 09, 2004 at 10:13:31:
HI DR,
YOu are right. THe other two (the zen and the ASUSA) use pentodes wired in single-ended triode mode.
I am not sure if the extremely low levels of distortion in ss amps are at all audible. I think some scientific studies have shown about 0.5% THD is audible for pure sine waves, much higher for music. So, if an amp is producing THD of 0.2%, it's components (whether odd or even order) may not matter.
I think SETs produce more involving sound becuase of the 3 reasons I mentioned in my post above. In a sense, they offer equalization that is preferred by many of us. As a fond SET owner & listener, I am obviously on your & John's side. I just don'think that SETs actually provide better fidelity, in fact I think they provide appreciably worse fidelity...they just SOUND better, in other words they manipulate the signal so it sounds good. For example, audible second order distortion actually makes a signal SOUND "fatter" or weightier....which I persoanlly like....makes the illusion more real! But if the goal is fidelity, then I at least have to go with solid state. IF the goal is enjoyment, then it doesn;t really matter. AS i said, i usually lsiten to my SET 45, which probably measures god awful, but who cares?
-akhilesh