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How did you get into valves?
Two visitors this afternoon who dragged themselves to mine (from Nottingham, no less) to hear my Triode amp wre obviously deeply impressed and asked me 'How did you get into valves, then? Answer: Easy - I tried dozens of ss amps and none of them hit the mark. The minute I swapped a Parasound 5 channel arc welder (HC1205A ??) for a valve amp, I never looked back! That's two kids in their 20's into valves *already* - one to get a triode amp next week and the other sometime in the near future! Ya hafta larf!! :-) |
How did you get into valves?
"Keith G" wrote in message ... Two visitors this afternoon who dragged themselves to mine (from Nottingham, no less) to hear my Triode amp wre obviously deeply impressed and asked me 'How did you get into valves, then? Answer: Easy - I tried dozens of ss amps and none of them hit the mark. The minute I swapped a Parasound 5 channel arc welder (HC1205A ??) for a valve amp, I never looked back! That's two kids in their 20's into valves *already* - one to get a triode amp next week and the other sometime in the near future! Ya hafta larf!! :-) Where are you based, Keith? |
How did you get into valves?
"JustMe" wrote in message ... "Keith G" wrote in message ... Two visitors this afternoon who dragged themselves to mine (from Nottingham, no less) to hear my Triode amp wre obviously deeply impressed and asked me 'How did you get into valves, then? Answer: Easy - I tried dozens of ss amps and none of them hit the mark. The minute I swapped a Parasound 5 channel arc welder (HC1205A ??) for a valve amp, I never looked back! That's two kids in their 20's into valves *already* - one to get a triode amp next week and the other sometime in the near future! Ya hafta larf!! :-) Where are you based, Keith? Eaton Ford, St Neots, Cambs (Chav Central, UK :-) See: http://www.chavtowns.co.uk/modules.p...=print&sid=369 |
How did you get into valves?
Keith G wrote:
Two visitors this afternoon who dragged themselves to mine (from Nottingham, no less) to hear my Triode amp wre obviously deeply impressed and asked me 'How did you get into valves, then? Answer: Easy - I tried dozens of ss amps and none of them hit the mark. The minute I swapped a Parasound 5 channel arc welder (HC1205A ??) for a valve amp, I never looked back! That's two kids in their 20's into valves *already* - one to get a triode amp next week and the other sometime in the near future! Ya hafta larf!! :-) Aye, nab 'em while they're young! I've only got into the valve thing quite recently having shown a passing interest for many years. Curiosity sated as a result of having the money and the current choice - ebay in particular. And I'd have to add Keith G and his advice and photo journals (and others on this ng). I now have SS and valve amps and I prefer the way valve amps deal with the music. There's the sound (the physical amplification) which quite surprised me - not 'lush', limited (in loudness and dynacism) or distorted as I'd been led to believe. The main asset is the sense of depth they manage to relay, while losing very little in terms of detail. I don't think this phenomenon measures - you'd just have to listen. Then there's the 'hobbyist' thing - the look, feel, and almost manageable understanding of how the things work and relative ease of maintenance. And there's a tangible sense of 'built to last' - i'd bet that by proportional sales valve amps occupy far less landfill than SS cousins (even given valve replacements). I quite often get friends ask me about hifi and I never recommend valve amps at the outset. I try to figure out what they want and what they have to spend, and most of the time it just involves a trip to Richer sounds - amp, tuner, cd chosen by look/price, and usually a bit extra for speakers depending on their room (two fundamentals IMO). My point here is that valves are not for all - Keith made that clear to me (not sure if he meant to!) - there are costs of ownership related to heat/exposed valves (kids and animals) and valve replacement every few years. And it has to be said that a lot of people don't care about the sound quality of an amplifier at this level - they'd detect 'difference' without judging either better or worse - except perhaps on extended listening when (of course!) they'd choose valves. Rob |
How did you get into valves?
In article ,
Rob wrote: And there's a tangible sense of 'built to last' - i'd bet that by proportional sales valve amps occupy far less landfill than SS cousins (even given valve replacements). You jest? I had Quad II valve equipment for quite some time - say near 10 years. Needed one mains transformer, one output transformer, several paper capacitors and countless valves. The 303 that replaced it is now living out its life driving my subs. And is well over 30 years old. With no repairs ever needed. Even the light still works. ;-) I daresay its performance could be improved with a smattering of new electrolytics, but until I hear some burbling or whatever, they'll do. -- *I love cats...they taste just like chicken. Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
How did you get into valves?
Rob wrote: Keith G wrote: Two visitors this afternoon who dragged themselves to mine (from Nottingham, no less) to hear my Triode amp wre obviously deeply impressed and asked me 'How did you get into valves, then? Answer: Easy - I tried dozens of ss amps and none of them hit the mark. The minute I swapped a Parasound 5 channel arc welder (HC1205A ??) for a valve amp, I never looked back! That's two kids in their 20's into valves *already* - one to get a triode amp next week and the other sometime in the near future! Ya hafta larf!! :-) Aye, nab 'em while they're young! I've only got into the valve thing quite recently having shown a passing interest for many years. Curiosity sated as a result of having the money and the current choice - ebay in particular. And I'd have to add Keith G and his advice and photo journals (and others on this ng). I now have SS and valve amps and I prefer the way valve amps deal with the music. There's the sound (the physical amplification) which quite surprised me - not 'lush', limited (in loudness and dynacism) or distorted as I'd been led to believe. The main asset is the sense of depth they manage to relay, while losing very little in terms of detail. I don't think this phenomenon measures - you'd just have to listen. Then there's the 'hobbyist' thing - the look, feel, and almost manageable understanding of how the things work and relative ease of maintenance. And there's a tangible sense of 'built to last' - i'd bet that by proportional sales valve amps occupy far less landfill than SS cousins (even given valve replacements). I quite often get friends ask me about hifi and I never recommend valve amps at the outset. I try to figure out what they want and what they have to spend, and most of the time it just involves a trip to Richer sounds - amp, tuner, cd chosen by look/price, and usually a bit extra for speakers depending on their room (two fundamentals IMO). My point here is that valves are not for all - Keith made that clear to me (not sure if he meant to!) - there are costs of ownership related to heat/exposed valves (kids and animals) and valve replacement every few years. And it has to be said that a lot of people don't care about the sound quality of an amplifier at this level - they'd detect 'difference' without judging either better or worse - except perhaps on extended listening when (of course!) they'd choose valves. Rob You either like em or dismiss them. But this issue of reliablity crops up time and time again. But most SS amps will need a fix sooner or later like all boxes full of electronics costing a grand or two. My 1982 Phillips tele has needed 3 fixes worth an average of $100 each since I bought it in 1982. It now needs fix no 4, and it lies dormant and useless since it went phut again before the last olympics. I am better off without the brain interference of TV. I fix amps for a living, and the shed is often cluttered with SS amps whose output stages have fused. Then there is the constant stream of noise faults, intermittent drop outs, and switch failures. Nothing lasts forever. There are constant phone calls for service for 3 in 1 stereo systems where the complexity is fragile and the CD player mechanisms give up or malfunction. I try to avoid fixing them, since owners don't like paying much. An ARC SP8 preamp came in the other day. In 1/2 an hour I was able to check the whole circuit out easily. One half of a 12AX7 had stopped working. I just plugged another in, and it should last 20 years. Many of the ancient amps made by Quad, leak etc have fragile output transformers. These are indeed expensive to rewind to the original spec, so its better tp replace the OPTs with something made recently, because the quality of the old OPTs wasn't very good. There was no active protection fitted to old amps so they would sometimes sustain a fused OPT winding if a tube decided to run red hot and saturated with say 300 mA instead of the usual bias current of 50 mA. This wasn't enough to cause a fuse to blow. This was often caused by loose grid connections or stuffed coupling caps. Old gear needs all the caps and resistors changed, and all the plug and socket joints tightened up. There are many Quad II amps still being used after 50 years. I have never seen a faulty switch in a Quad 22 control unit, but I have seen plenty of rotten carbon comp resistors and lousy Hunts caps. I wonder how many average quality SS amps made now will still be in service in 2054? Will anyone be carrying the workshop manuals then? Will anyone be able to fix anything or have the spare parts? Will anyone need to fix it? Maybe there won't be any need for audio visual equipments except a brain implant device to convey it all by RF digital signals to suit our brains own digital signals. ( I assume there will be people with brains, but since I see a few about now without a brain, there will always be samples where there is room for what would be a manufactured improvement). Perhaps far more breathtaking experiences can be sold to folks to pipe directly to the brain cells. Maybe we won't need a PC either. Patrick Turner |
How did you get into valves?
On Sun, 21 Nov 2004 13:38:40 +0000, Rob
wrote: I now have SS and valve amps and I prefer the way valve amps deal with the music. There's the sound (the physical amplification) which quite surprised me - not 'lush', limited (in loudness and dynacism) or distorted as I'd been led to believe. The main asset is the sense of depth they manage to relay, while losing very little in terms of detail. I don't think this phenomenon measures - you'd just have to listen. It does measure - it's reverberation due to valve microphonics. -- Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering |
How did you get into valves?
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How did you get into valves?
In article , Dave Plowman (News)
writes In article , Rob wrote: And there's a tangible sense of 'built to last' - i'd bet that by proportional sales valve amps occupy far less landfill than SS cousins (even given valve replacements). You jest? I had Quad II valve equipment for quite some time - say near 10 years. Needed one mains transformer, one output transformer, several paper capacitors and countless valves. The 303 that replaced it is now living out its life driving my subs. And is well over 30 years old. With no repairs ever needed. Even the light still works. ;-) I daresay its performance could be improved with a smattering of new electrolytics, but until I hear some burbling or whatever, they'll do. I'd upgrade it Dave I've done the one that the wife uses in her study driving her new Quads and she's well pleased:) Only cost about 20 quid, a bloke in somersham up our way makes a simple kit of parts for them. Apart from that its a good idea to catch them before the spew electrolyte all over the boards!.. The LF performance is likely to be down from what it should be too.... -- Tony Sayer |
How did you get into valves?
"Tony Gartshore" wrote in message t... In article , says... Two visitors this afternoon who dragged themselves to mine (from Nottingham, no less) to hear my Triode amp wre obviously deeply impressed and asked me 'How did you get into valves, then? Answer: Easy - I tried dozens of ss amps and none of them hit the mark. The minute I swapped a Parasound 5 channel arc welder (HC1205A ??) for a valve amp, I never looked back! Many years ago I bought a box at a big jumble sale (Pre boot sales). Inside it was a Garrard 301, 12" SME arm and what appeared to be a home built copy of a Leak design valve amp with a Mullard pre.. How about that for a Reality Check? - Just how *annoyed* would you be to buy a similar 'box' for the same money (equivalent) today and find *exactly* the same things inside it?? Answers on a postcard please.... I used the amp with a Sugden BD1 deck build on a slate slab, Goldring Lenco arm/cartridge and a pair of Leak sandwich speakers. Sounded sweet as a nut. Yebbut, was it 'accurate'....??? ;-) The 301/SME I swapped for a QUAD2 / 22 which I used for a few years. Still have the IIs but the 22 vanished in a house move some years back. . Switched to a Nait2 and then to an Audiolab 8000S. Very tempted to try one of your Chinese amps, or maybe get the Quads refettled.. There is always 'Option C' that's both options A *and* B (My lifetime 'modus vivendi'...... :-) |
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