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RE: Solid State Power: MOSFET vs. Bipolar?

Posted by Karma16 (A) on October 13, 2010 at 18:39:24

In Reply to: RE: Solid State Power: MOSFET vs. Bipolar? posted by pictureguy on October 13, 2010 at 16:50:27:

HI Picture,
Good. Thanks for filling out your system profile. It's helpful to me so I can choose the right terminology with which we can talk. It also gives some idea of your experience and sonic tastes. I find it very helpful and I think others do too since I find forums a difficult medium to communicate complex ideas.

I think you are expecting too much. The finest minds in audio have been fighting with your questions as long as hi fi has existed. I will give you my view about amps and sound. Take it for what it is worth.

I do not believe in mixing technologies. IOW, I belive that a system should be all solid state or all tubes. The entire equipment chain is involved in this monoculture. This becomes more important when great and expensive equipment is under consideration. More than technologies, one must gain an appreciation of the sonic tastes and goals of the equipment desgners. The great ones always develop designs that have their own personal signature sound. At this level one buys the designer rather than the technology.

It is also true that each great designer also has a pet technology. For example, Audio Research is known as a tube company. Krell is known as a bipolar solid state company and Jeff Roland has excelled with FET designs. Each of these companies have a characteristic sound unlike any other. So, can we talk of the technology or the designer? In truth the two go together. We must talk about them together.

In the cases above, each of the companies produce excellent sounding designs but they are all different from one another and different from any other using the same technology. So, if one were to say that Krell is their favorite amp then that same person would also say that bipolar solid state is their favorite technology. The same would hold for me when I say my favorite technology is tubes. What I am really saying is my favorite sound is from Audio Research who happens to use tubes. Thus, by this logic, I prefer tubes.

I have heard many tube amps that I don't like. I have also heard many solid state designs that I would not own. Conversely, I have heard solid state designs that I prefer over most of the tubes I have experience with. The conclusion I have come to is the execution of the design is more important than the technology. I currently own Audio Research (my main system), Krell (my HT system) and Levinson (drives the subwoofers in my main system but used to be the amp I used in my main system). So, as you can see, I am an equal opportunity hi fi fanatic.

But, at the far frontier of hi fi, I choose tubes for my sonic nervana. I think tubes ultimately offers the best potential. At this level of performance, trying to describe the sound is almost beyond what the language is capable of describing. But, my ears know it even if I don't have the words to properly describe the experience. And I'm not going to try here.

My suggestion is to expose yourself to as many amps as you can always using the same demo material. Try to eliminate as many variables as possible. You will develop a sensitivity for certain characteristics of the sound. As your listening skills develop you will hear commonalities. Then you will decide what you like. Discipline yourself to write down what you hear. You need to develop your own sonic vocabulary. Be careful to maintain a balanced outlook and not get caught up with a particular characteristic that you may reject in a few weeks. Remember, we have all made this mistake and this can get expensive.

Study the amplifier topologies and correlate them to what you hear. With time you will hear the answers to your questions. This is the only way. Hi fi is a learing, self-involving experience.

Sparky

Edits: 10/13/10

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