Home » Audio » Thermionic Emissions » Tubey Amps?
Tubey Amps? [message #8490] Fri, 01 October 2004 14:04 Go to next message
GarMan is currently offline  GarMan
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Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (2nd Degree)
Do they still make tubey sounding tube amps? It seems that the trend these days is towards amps that are clean, transparent and distortion free. But what if I want the "tube" sound?

What amps or designs would give me a healthy dose of even-order hamonics and that "bloom" that only tubes can give?

Re: Tubey Amps? [message #8491 is a reply to message #8490] Fri, 01 October 2004 15:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
akhilesh is currently offline  akhilesh
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Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (3rd Degree)
DHT SETs like the 45, 300B or 2a3.
-akhilesh

Re: Tubey Amps? [message #8492 is a reply to message #8490] Fri, 01 October 2004 16:34 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Manualblock is currently offline  Manualblock
Messages: 4973
Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (13th Degree)
Hi G-man; Like playing around with circuits? I downloaded Circuitmaker 6 last night. Lots of fun making simple circuits so far but there is tremendous possibilities here, just a lot to learn! Recommended and it is free. Little complicated but it works with Tube and SS.

Re: Tubey Amps? [message #8493 is a reply to message #8490] Fri, 01 October 2004 18:33 Go to previous messageGo to next message
BillEpstein is currently offline  BillEpstein
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You would prolly have to buy a CJ-MV50 or MFA Magus 200 or some other older one. Alternatively, the Bottlehead Foreplay with the stock volume pots driving the Paramours 2A3 amps without the C4S is a little tubby in the bass, lush in the mid-range and rolled off on top.
ARC and then Counterpoint started the ball rolling toward more accuracy and detail and here we are today with tube amps that reveal inner detail, control the bass and extend well above 20KHz. Is that bad?

Re: Tubey Amps? [message #8494 is a reply to message #8490] Fri, 01 October 2004 18:50 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Manualblock is currently offline  Manualblock
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Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (13th Degree)
Well you could use an output transformer that saturates easily, then some carbon comp resistors and those old paper and wax capacitors, find a poorly constructed transformer that is unable to swing full output at high frequencies, that should do it. Since the vacuume tube triode is still the most linear amplifying device made you would have to compensate for that with old inferior components to get that"bloom".

Try these.... [message #8496 is a reply to message #8490] Sat, 02 October 2004 10:21 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Scott F. is currently offline  Scott F.
Messages: 8
Registered: May 2009
Esquire
You're right. Very few manufacturers are making warm sounding gear today. It seems the trend is to make everything forward sounding.

Mike at Jolida designs his amps to 'tame' the forward sounding speakers we all find on todays market. His transformer designs are excellent. Wide ultra-bandwidth with minimal saturation (Mike is actually a metalurgist speciallizing in transformer design by trade). Mike has hand chosen parts that give his amps a warmer presentation. You won't find any boutique parts inside.

Another warm sounding pre that I've run across is the MAD (Mapletree Audio Design) Ultra 4M. The original design (not the updated version) was a very warm preamp. Mated to a detailed piece of gear, this preamp does a nice job of 'taming' the sound.

Heres a couple of links to article I wrote about both pieces of gear.
Jolida JD1000
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/viewpoint/1004/joeaudiophile2.htm

MAD Ultra 4M
http://www.tnt-audio.com/ampli/mad4multra_e.html

(sorry, I tried to embed the links but it didn't work. you'll have to copy and paste then into your browser)

These sound like what you may be looking for.

Regards
Scott F.

Re: Try these.... [message #8497 is a reply to message #8496] Sat, 02 October 2004 10:39 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18793
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
To make clickable links, type this:

<a href="http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/viewpoint/1004/joeaudiophile2.htm">Jolida JD1000</a>

-and-

<a href="http://www.tnt-audio.com/ampli/mad4multra_e.html">MAD Ultra 4M</a>

When you type the text above, it will display like this in your post:

Jolida JD1000

-and-

MAD Ultra 4M


This is HTML. It is not very "user friendly," but the upside is you can put anything you want in your posts. Links, images, tables, whatever.

Re: Try these.... [message #8498 is a reply to message #8497] Sat, 02 October 2004 12:04 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Scott F. is currently offline  Scott F.
Messages: 8
Registered: May 2009
Esquire
Cool. Actually tried using the a ref= syntax but for some reason it didn't take when I previewed the post. Who knows, probably operator error.

Oh hey Wayne, how do I update my email address and user settings on ART? I looked around but the link didn't jump out at me (again probably more operator error).

Tx

Re: Tubey Amps? [message #8499 is a reply to message #8491] Sat, 02 October 2004 14:13 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Russellc is currently offline  Russellc
Messages: 397
Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (1st Degree)
It may be my imagination, but my tube amps sound more "tubey" ( at least on my 4 0hm speakers) when hooked up to the 8 ohm taps. However, I also tend to use my 8 ohm on the 8 ohm taps! go figure. I am now going to switch my A7s to the 16 ohm taps for a try. I also have been meaning to dig up an old issue of Positive Feedback that had an article called "tap dancing". As I recall you needed a bi-wire setup, but it utilized all the taps, 4,8,and16 ohm at the same time. It showed more than one configuration, one with a more neutral sound, and others that emphasized the frequency extremes a little more. The authours argument was that speakers do not present a steady resistance, but one that varies with frequency, so hooking up to just one tap was a compromise at best, the other outputs being wasted. Plus, you could taylor sound just a little.
If any are interested in this lunacy, I will try to locate the old issue? I have also wondered as to the effect of which tap on the output the feedback is connected to. My welbourne mod of the dyna st 70 moved this connection from the 16 ohm tap to the 8 ohm tap.

More things to drive yourself nuts with,
Russellc

Russellc

Re: Try these.... [message #8501 is a reply to message #8498] Sun, 03 October 2004 02:55 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18793
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
Hi Scott,

It's real easy to change your E-Mail address. Just type in the new one next time you post. If you have cookies enabled in your browser, it will remember your E-Mail address (and password, if you're registered) and use it for all subsequent posts. If you don't have cookies enabled, you'll just have to type in your E-Mail address and/or password each time you write a message. ART stores username, password and E-Mail address in a cookie, and uses it to fill in the user fields for convenience sake.

Wayne

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