added a 3rd Studer A-820 Mk2 with both 1/4" and 1/2" heads, guides and hubs

[christensenleif@msn.com]

actually I ordered his 10K OPT for a GM70 mono project when we met
Just shipped from Serbia on dec 2nd

 

[DasguteOhr]

I completely disagree with that notion, as today we know how to design better circuits. If you look closely, the state of the art of the sixties was not exactly advanced in many areas.

This is not about being cocky. The simple fact is - the development of tape electronics stopped 40-50 years ago. We can only guess what it would look like now, had it continued. The real areas of advancement and state of the art since then has been the instrumentation.

completely correct In 1967 the last newly developed tube el 503 was manufactured, saba tried to defy the transistor with this amplifier. the distortion values are still so good today, there is nothing better.
I would look at the circuit diagram of the phono stage, suitable for rebuilding tapehead

 

[bonzo75]

actually I ordered his 10K OPT for a GM70 mono project when we met
Just shipped from Serbia on dec 2nd

When do you expect to build the GM70

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

Soon. Have ordered wood cabs and drawn metal parts in Schaeffer cad
have all parts ex umbilical plugs

 

[andromedaaudio]

I completely disagree with that notion, as today we know how to design better circuits. If you look closely, the state of the art of the sixties was not exactly advanced in many areas.

This is not about being cocky. The simple fact is - the development of tape electronics stopped 40-50 years ago. We can only guess what it would look like now, had it continued. The real areas of advancement and state of the art since then has been the instrumentation.

I dont know if its that straightforward / easy .
There are several people on this forum who like old horn designs .
I suppose these are 50 s / 60 s designs i m not exactly sure .
Those are people that can buy anything they want , incl modern horns with "better " technology and still they buy the old ones , how do you explain that ?

And what about NOS tubes , people pay a lot of money for tubes that were made in certain old ( now closed down ) manufacturing plants and are not available anymore .
The tube types are still made but in a different factory with a different manufacturing process and apparently the old ones sound better for some reason

 

[Foxbat]

I dont know if its that straightforward / easy .
There are several people on this forum who like old horn designs .
I suppose these are 50 s / 60 s designs i m not exactly sure .
Those are people that can buy anything they want , incl modern horns with "better " technology and still they buy the old ones , how do you explain that ?

That is not the point... there will always be people who love vintage stuff, be it music, movies, or sound. I myself love tinkering with my old Ampexes - one is dated 1958... but I will never say they produce better sound than the ATR-102 with external preamp.

Regarding the horns you need to separate the idea from the implementation. Yes, the idea is over 100 year old, but the horns I am currently using were designed in the 80's, using that era technology.

Old, romantic, sound does have particular appeal, hence the demand for refurbished old amplifiers is not going anywhere. Heck, there are people who fly very old airplanes... for the same reason. I fully understand them.

But when I want to hear the best possible sound I reach for the best possible technology, and without any exception, that is modern technology.

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

Mostly agree, unless it includes dsp which I've never been impressed by....

 

[Foxbat]

Of course, no Devil's toys, such as dsp, "room correction", EQ, etc.

The whole chain transducer-to-transducer should consist of nothing besides the simple and clean gain blocks, tubes, preferably.

 

[Atmasphere]

The scientific opinion is that global and local feedback theoretically are the same. My tube amplifier practice shows that this is certainly not the case.

There is for instance a major difference if the output transformer is inside or outside the feedback loop. To briefly summarize my observations on tube amps: Global kills details while local keeps those alive. Therefore, my present design strategy is: per amplifier section, first cure its “faults” by means of local feedback. This article shows how to do that. One extra remark: No feedback at all keeps details alive, however, it can sound uncontrolled. Local feedback keeps all the details alive and sounds clean and controlled."

First, the opening statement here is false; no wonder he came to a different conclusion.

The real problem isn't with global feedback; its getting enough feedback so that it can do its job properly. While it might be possible to do this at 100Hz, any amp with high feedback (for example a Futterman OTL) at that frequency will not have enough of it at much higher frequencies. This is because the amp lacks the gain and bandwidth (Gain Bandwidth Product) to support the feedback at higher frequencies.

With insufficient feedback at higher frequencies, one result is more higher ordered harmonic distortion, which is audible as brightness and harshness. That is why feedback often has a bad rap. Its not that feedback doesn't work so much as its application, especially in a tube amp, often results in a compromise.

 

[Foxbat]

Just for clarity - the words, quoted above, belong to Menno, not me.

 

[Atmasphere]

Just for clarity - the words, quoted above, belong to Menno, not me.

I totally get that.

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

He was quite good at demonstrating his points in practical listening session at ETF

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

hi folks..back in business with new ss hip joint kit
went like a dream.....running smooth as an A80 already...

 

[Solypsa]

wow then you will be a superman 'once the component breaks in'

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

wow then you will be a superman 'once the component breaks in'

ready for sailing season in april.....will focus on getting M15 up and running and my GM70 amp project
also readying an extra A80RC for a bloke in UK....

 

[Foxbat]

hi folks..back in business with new ss hip joint kit
went like a dream.....running smooth as an A80 already...

Happy for you! It is incredible how well developed some of those procedures are today.

Are you walking with a stick, or all by yourself?

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

first with 1 or 2 crutches, out with snow studs, then soon without when muscles are back from shock....
feels a little numb after some hours, but then some rest and all good again......stitches out dec 27....
my hearing is intact..... as well as my soldering skills

 

[Two-Track Analog]

Presumably, we are talking about someone who already has the A810.

I think I would consider such an option.

Correct.

 

[Tango]

Have any of you ever experience your studer cannot both rewinding or fastforwarding the reel? And the stop button keeps blinking. I hit rewind or forward the machine seemed to respond a fraction of a second. Then stopped and not tensioning the tape. Stop button started blinking after. Seem like sensor was sensing something.

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

sry have to ask....sure you threaded the tape correctly?