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question from a newbie!!

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Posted on April 22, 2000 at 18:54:37
austin


 
What is a SET amp technically speaking???? I am interested in tube amplification and i recently realized that the little integrated tube amp I plan to buy right now is a SET one......

Also, what is the difference betwen KT88 tubes and EL34 one's??? All the affordable integrated tube amps that i have seen so far une EL34 tubes for the power stage except this Antique Sound Lab amp (stricly nothing to do with Antique Sound USA despite the fact that both those companies produce tubes amps....) which use 2 KT88 tubes in the power stage.

Thank you all for your support
sincerly

austin

 

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Re: question from a newbie!!, posted on April 23, 2000 at 11:04:59
Joe


 
Dear Austin,
You asked alot. Very simply, an SET means the output stage is single ended (one output tube), handling the entire audio signal vs. pushpull (two output tubes) with one tube handling the positive portion of an audio signal and the other tube handling the negative portion of the audio signal. The pushpull requires what is called a phase splitter to produce two out of polarity signals to drive the two output tubes.
The difference between an EL34 and KT88 is an EL34 is a pentode with three grids in between the cathode and plate while a KT88 is a beam tetrode with two grid spiral wires and two beam confining plates
instead of the third grid spiral. The two grids are wound on the same plane (example: on a flat table place two circular wires with one larger diameter and encompassing the smaller wire. Both on the same plane). The KT88 has a plate dissapation of 42, 50 watts while the EL34 has a plate dissapation of 25, 30 watts. Hope this helps.

 

Re: question from a newbie!!, posted on April 23, 2000 at 18:34:19
austin


 
Thank you for your imput. It explain why there is only 2 tubes in the power stage of a SET amp rather than four. However, i would like to know (generally speaking of course...) if there is typical differences in the sound of a SET amp vs a pushpull one and the sound of EL34 tubes vs KT88...

I know that it come to personals tastes and design used by various companies but I suppose that SET amps might have amp a "typical" sound since they are technicaly very different from other designs.

Thank again for your useful imput

austin

 

EL 34 or Kt 88, posted on April 24, 2000 at 18:48:48
Tazsmonn


 
I prefer the sound of the EL 34's more musical. The Kt88's sound sterile.

 

Re: question from a newbie!!, posted on April 25, 2000 at 20:05:35
joe


 
Dear Newbie,
For most practical amps., yes, there is a difference in sonics, but the difference depends on the manufacturer/designer. The EL34s can sound different than KT88s, but it depends on the designer, and how the output transformers are designed for each tube. You can actually change the distortion characteristics of each tube by the transformer design. Unfortunately, "standard" transformers are usually designed for the general public and therefore makes it hard for the average individual to test different designs. Hope this helps.

 

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