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In Reply to: RE: No I won't talk about distortion... posted by PAR on June 26, 2016 at 17:02:26
You can't know.
But, everything else being equal (and they never are) the Class A design will have less inherent harmonic distortion and therefore can be run with less (or no) negative feedback.
So I would say if you have a Class A/B design that's really good (the designer really knew what he was doing) then if that same designer took the same care and designed a Class A version, the Class A version should be better.
But in the end you can't know.
Tre'
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And yet I heard the Berning BA150 with variable feedback and it sounded best with no feedback where the harmonic and IM distortion were highest and the frequency response from the speakers the poorest.
The VAC 30/30 also has variable feedback and it is strongly preferrble to listen to it with that setting on Zero.
That said, as good as it is for a push/pull amp, it gets beat everytime against good SETs.
And yet a good push/pull amp is probably more linear than an SET due to the non-symmetry of SET output into reactive loads like speakers, which is the source of the high second order harmonic distortion in SET amps.
By the way, more for trivia, the BA150 is a class B amp, with about as little class A bias as anything. And it sounds very good(it is a triode hookup of the EL509 tubes).
And yet a good push/pull amp is probably more linear than an SET due to the non-symmetry of SET output into reactive loads like speakers,
Not subjectively and not as long as neither are overdriven into a compatible speaker.
I had one of the better push/pull triode amps, the VAC 30/30, and it was handily outperformed by several good SETs that I and my friends had on hand. I bought to try out the theory that a good push/pull triode amp would be as good or better sounding than a SET but sadly it just wasn't to be and I found the VAC better than just about every other PP amp I have heard, tube, hybrid or otherwise.
That means you like it more, totally valid. which amp is more linear is another question. and, of course, mu comments can apply to me too.
It also depends on how you like sound. I recall Gordon Holt telling me he was bothered by audio people always wanting smooth sweet sound when reproduction wasn't always that way. He hated systems that made brass pretty saying real brass blared at you. I'm not assuming what kind of reproduction you like but this is an example of how much things can vary in audio.
"which amp is more linear is another question. and, of course, mu comments can apply to me too"
Linear with regard to what? An oscilloscope or a listener? The two requirements are not equivalent and it is a fallacy to talk about accuracy with regard to what a meter says without the all relevant correlation to what listeners find more correct.
Absolute numbers are (almost) meaningless unless put into the context of what they MEAN to the listener.
Obviously if 90% of listeners prefer a given sonic pattern over others that means there are still 10% that for whatever reason prefer something else...that is nature of the beast.
"I recall Gordon Holt telling me he was bothered by audio people always wanting smooth sweet sound when reproduction wasn't always that way"
I would more or less agree with him and good SET doesn't sound only smooth and sweet regardless of the recording...there is very good contrast between recordings of different quality. What good SET doesn't do is exaggerate defects on the recordings that often have flaws in the high frequencies, which is right where a lot of so called "detailed" electronics have similar flaws.
"hated systems that made brass pretty saying real brass blared at you"
Depends on how far away the microphone is from the horn actually.
I like a very wide range of recordings from big bombastic classical symphonies to single instruments to driving rock to all types of Jazz and even some electronic music.
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