too many layers to make an evaluation. It is very nice though. thank you.
@DonH50 got it right.A bit condescending to suggest the attraction to tubes is the warm glow. I have had and seen tube amplification where you cannot observe the tubes from the listening position. As a matter of fact, I find the tube glow on Steves' LAMM amp somewhat annoying.
But if that's the best you got..
Why?Heartbreaking coming from you, Ralph!![]()
Not heartbreaking. Heartwarming without room warming. And not backbreaking either. No worry about where to source tubes. What's not to like?Heartbreaking coming from you, Ralph!![]()
Was there enough power? I think Ralph told a fellow Sound Lab owner that more power was needed for SLs. Waiting impatiently here for a big brother.
Surely!Audio components don’t reproduce sound perfectly — either the sound of a single acoustic instrument played live in front of us in a small room, or the overall sonic experience we enjoy in the concert hall.
We don’t achieve 100% suspension of disbelief while listening to our stereo systems.
Since our audio components collectively cannot re-create the entire experience we feel in the concert hall each of us chooses components that re-create those particular attributes of sound we hear in the concert hall which subjectively maximize our personal suspension of disbelief. Which particular attributes of sound are most important to us as conduits to maximizing our personal suspension of disbelief is subjective. Different audio components will be used by different audiophiles to achieve certain particular attributes of sound.
...audiophiles are not obliged to love music.
Microstrip
Would you care to rephrase that counselor?
My amps do!!! I have a roaring fire all year long…not just in the winter.I for one would love some tube glow.
Neither my KR's nor my Ayon glow really![]()
Every amp I have ever heard where I was told it sounded “tubelike”…didn’t …[text omitted] Ralph says, “it sounds like one of <his> tube amps.”
Holmz
One of audios greatest contradictions. Tubes are the most criticized and imitated aspect of audio. Often by the same person. Not to mention one of the most diluted phrases in audio.
It’s interesting to know that I am seeing some degree of convergence in my neck of the woods amongst people with a lot of live experience and a lot of high end experience.I agree. The lengthier exposition of my point on the dedicated thread about that subject included:
Different audiophiles have radically different levels of high-end audio experience. The different levels of live music experience, the difficulty of even finding components other than popular ones from the most advertised brands, the difficulty of auditioning individual audio components in an analytically valid way, the difficulty of attributing sonic attributes to particular components, etc., all conspire to make this whole endeavor very challenging.
There is a huge problem of people not knowing what they don’t know — and not being introspectively aware of this. And if someone learns a little more, he/she still doesn’t know what he/she doesn’t know. Analytically valid experience to aquire more knowledgeable is not easy to get.
What this means is that there will be greater dispersion in the sounds of the resulting systems then there should be if the average audiophile had a higher level of experience and knowledge. This is why our resulting audio systems sound more different system to system than what we can largely agree we all are hearing in the concert hall.
You know what sounds tubelike? Tubes.Every amp I have ever heard where I was told it sounded “tubelike”…didn’t …
Agreed! Each one had its 15 minutes of fame. Upon hearing them I didn't really get what the 'tubelike' thing was about.Every amp I have ever heard where I was told it sounded “tubelike”…didn’t …
The amps were designed around a vintage idiom. The meters are built to their original 1934 spec by the manufacturer that designed them. We did that sort of thing with the nameplates and pilot lamps as well. The giveaway that they aren't vintage was/is the connectors.If I want bling, I can go with the McIntosh or D'agostino meters. Form and function. I must admit a flagship of Atmashere tubes does warm my heart. The meters are not that pretty.
Speak for yourself! I've had my system fool me a few times. Its spooky when it does- especially when its someone singing. I like to think I don't have strangers in my house when I'm at home listening alone...We don’t achieve 100% suspension of disbelief while listening to our stereo systems.
Sounding “non-solid state like” is not equivalent to sounding tubelike.Agreed! Each one had its 15 minutes of fame. Upon hearing them I didn't really get what the 'tubelike' thing was about.
After living with any amplifier over time you really get to know what it does. That would have a big effect on how 'tubelike' you might think an amplifier is. I've had the class Ds in my system for a year and a half so far and they still don't sound 'solidstatelike'.
The amps were designed around a vintage idiom. The meters are built to their original 1934 spec by the manufacturer that designed them. We did that sort of thing with the nameplates and pilot lamps as well. The giveaway that they aren't vintage was/is the connectors.
Speak for yourself! I've had my system fool me a few times. Its spooky when it does- especially when its someone singing. I like to think I don't have strangers in my house when I'm at home listening alone...
Exactly! I hope we can agree that what we really want is something that sounds like music rather than a particular technology.Sounding “non-solid state like” is not equivalent to sounding tubelike.
You are on to something.@Atmasphere : I have atheoryhypothesis that the much wider bandwidth of modern class D amplifiers (e.g. self-oscillating) and high feedback applied across a wide bandwidth better suppresses the high-order harmonics compared to conventional designs. Thus they do not have the higher 2nd and 3rd harmonic distortion of conventional tube circuits, but neither do they have the (relatively) higher amplitude high-order harmonics of conventional SS amps. I don't have the data to back that up, however, just a few articles showing the harmonic spectra. Curious what you might think?
Professor Don,@Atmasphere : I have atheoryhypothesis that the much wider bandwidth of modern class D amplifiers (e.g. self-oscillating) and high feedback applied across a wide bandwidth better suppresses the high-order harmonics compared to conventional designs. Thus they do not have the higher 2nd and 3rd harmonic distortion of conventional tube circuits, but neither do they have the (relatively) higher amplitude high-order harmonics of conventional SS amps. I don't have the data to back that up, however, just a few articles showing the harmonic spectra. Curious what you might think?
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