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Re: Long Power struggles, "maddening" ........

I admit and respect the fact that they (digitally dithered chipamps) do sound very good. I really don't trust just ANYBODY's opinion about these things, especially dealers and writers. I will take builders and designers word much more seriously, they are the -makers- the ones who have the -risk- associated with creation. They're the only ones with ANYTHING on the table that they can loose.

On many levels, mainly aesthetic (is music anything but aesthetic) I think they fall quite short. Your fellow Brit, Mr. Fletcher of
Nottingham Analogue perhaps describes the problem best.

"You have a cow to cross the river, only the boat is small. And you cut the cow up and get it across, on the other side you still have a cow".

I know digital amps are using another process of using a digital circuit to switch the supply of mosfets etc. But the high freq problems remain. And compared to tubes they at this point suffer significantly. By now the sound has been obliterated into millions of particles, to be re=assembled with hopefully intact timbre and musical bits as per source? What my 40+ years as a builderphile/musician tells me is it's darn good, but no triode. I'll take the hum, the non-linearity, the lack of power, just to have the voice right, the holography, the sustain and clarity that tubes have. And in simple and direct transformer coupled circuits that maintain music energy.

I love the best digital amps out there, the ones that tranny coupling at the outputs, "gee when I grow up I'm gonna be a tube" type circuits. Not going to be long and someone is going to tube buffer a digital amp like they do with mosfets.

I am lucky, I have some nice tubed amps. However on Feb 11th there will be a pool of journalists and audiophools here in my studio to audition Paul Weitzel of Tube Research Labs ($200k tubed monoblocks) new solid-state amplifier "Transistor Research Labs" (presumably at less cost) and all digital and solid-state amplifiers are welcome. We hope to have a few others. The Passlabs Firstwatt current source amp will be the silicone amp to beat. The beautiful Electronluvs and Wavacs are not shaking. The lowly Fi 2a3 not worried the slightest. Having played cello, and attended opera my ears are cruel, honest and uncaring.

But also I am truly interested in ALL the other aspects of sound, the tangibles, the aesthetics, the art. Which digital anything fails to address, except rarely with sources, and thus far, never in amplification. Analog still rules, unquestionably for sound quality as far as sources, amplification is the same. Now if your system has no analogue, hence the limitations and probably why you feel SET has been equaled. With good or great analogue, tubes rule largely unchallenged. Swapping in digital sources the issue becomes less crystalline, obfuscated by a consistency to the sound, a sameness. The color is finite and coarser.

The cold and sterile sound I hear from every amp I hear that does not contain a tube, just leaves me, as such, seeking warmth. So you see, I want the Monet of amplification, the Monet, the Rembrandt, the Rockwell. Not the Picasso or Kandisnky and definitely not the FAX.

If there are dealers and audiophiles with enhanced experience who claim SET is bettered by digital, send them to me. BTW my speakers sound great with digital amps. Many customers use them, I should know. But they do not better SET done right, not excluding inexpensively done SET.

Terry

PS: I may have to post this


s d wrote:

Hi Terry,

Arbelos is not unique in his experience and there have been a variety of speakers, I respect your preference for the tubed sound, however I think it is a bit foolhardy to think that the digiamps play second fiddle, there is another dealer over here who has settled for the digital amp to power his Quads ESL 57s.

Anyways, I wish you have a good time at the your next show, I only intended to alert you to the sonic quality on offer in the better-sounding digital amps.

regards, xxxxx.

*/terry cain snip
"I heard the *mul*ti-k$$$ Sharp digital integrated amp on the Coincident Technologies Total Eclipse and, conversely to my (Colloms-induced) lukewarm expectations, it sounded outstanding, better than the Berning ZH 270 on these speakers, and way better than a very renowned Italian 845 SE amp, the New Audio Frontiers. Just almost audio dreamland, for me one of the less than a handful of *really* satisfying audio systems I ever heard. "

FWIW the Berning is dry, yet with the power of the sun. It needs a good preamp (tubed) to sound it's best. This is from 5 years experience using the thing. I plan to use it at the next Denver show in the Conifer 3 ballroom. Last time I used my 2 watt E-luvs and was not quite enough power for the 36x36x9 foot room. In spite of only 2 watts my room was nearly universally praised by the press as one of the best in the building. I will get great press with that amp too.

Obviously Arbelos needs to get out more, do some more revealing speakers and demanding program material IMHO.



Music making the painting, recording it the photograph


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  • Re: Long Power struggles, "maddening" ........ - theaudiohobby 17:20:24 02/24/05 (0)


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