set amps

Tubes Asylum

Questions about tubes and gear that glows. FAQ

208.166.133.193

Re SET amps SLAMMING out an entire watt or maybe two... unless used as tweeter amp on a 130 db Western or James B. Lansing horn, these amps are no more than pleasant, euphonic compression units. The physics of this is simple: let's be generous and assume 93 db speaker efficiency. Thus, sitting three feet away from the speaks a single ended 2A3 amp will produce an average volume roughly the level of impolite conversation or a very quiet garbage disposal. Of course, any decent platter or (God help you) CD will have peaks 10, 15, perhaps 20 db above average listening volume. With a one watt transistor amp these peaks would be sheared off squarely and cause bleeding from the ear canal to any audiophile. What SET amps do best, off course, is overload smoothly; the peaks are rounded off gently and euphonically. With each 3 db increase in power, the amp must double its output. With a 15 db peak, that corresponds to a 24 watt demand on a 1 watt unit. Save the trouble and install roll-off filters at 12k and 60k in a Dyna 70, and live in false Nirvana.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Parts Connexion

Topic - set amps - Trademark of Quality 19:41:59 07/07/01 (2)

Guess you must be trolling, I'm not gonna bite. (nt) - twystd 15:12:22 07/10/01 (0)

Re: set amps - minder 21:37:21 07/07/01 (0)

You can not post to an archived thread.