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In Reply to: RE: What's your opinion on newly built tube gear? posted by airtime on February 09, 2015 at 07:02:41
OK, I'll bite (carefully).
There are sort of 2 camps in modern tube audio gear manufacturing.
Camp 1 could be called the recyclers. They build circuits that are relatively unchanged from what you would've seen in the 60's. You can recognize these companies easily, as their equipment tends to have an inordinate number of 12AX7's in everything they make. Compared to the equipment they are copying, you should get power transformers that will be happy on the 125V that's coming out of your wall (shame on them if you get a piece of gear with a 117V transformer, which still does happen). You'll also get way, way better electrolytic power supply capacitors, and more reliable coupling capacitors. Hardware, connectors, and wire quality will also be improved a bit, though output transformer quality has dropped a bit overall. In terms of design and sound signature, these are very traditional.
Camp 2 goes in a different direction, recognizing that modern hifi systems and their gain structures call for different topologies. You'll see solid state diodes, current sources, and biasing parts scattered in this gear, which offends some, but offers easily measurable/audible improvements. You may find class AB2 push-pull amps using fet followers to source grid current, or to eliminate output transformers all together.
There are pieces of gear that certainly fit in the middle here too.
Follow Ups:
Ditto great post
“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten”
What He said!
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