Are 2 watts better than 200?

[ski2xblack]

I think many people disregard the effect of the source material's frequency/harmonic/dynamic content when referring to SET vs solid state amplifiers. If the content is limited to more of the mid-range frequencies, has limited dynamics and isn't too complex, it can sound good for reproduction. Driven hard, they compress dynamics, clip and lose their fidelity. However, as a design for producing the sounds of electric guitars on recordings, they sound very good to those of us who would use them (although I still prefer push-pull Class AB for that). Most other people would just roll their eyes and walk away, muttering.

It would be interesting to use an amp like this on a desktop system, IMO.

Why is it that some say it's important that we have detailed specs for speakers, but when an amplifier's specs are terrible when compared with a Solid State amplifiers, some say "don't worry about the specs, just listen to the music"?

Maybe because most speaker's measured distortion is far greater than amps, even distortion prone SETs, when run as you described? Your reasonable questions are interfering with the voodoo!

 

[jinjuku]

IC/PC/SC? What is that?

Inter Connects, Power Cords, Speaker Cables.

 

[highfigh]

Inter Connects, Power Cords, Speaker Cables.

OK, thanks.

 

[mtrycrafts]

This is an example of an amp behaving as an EQ/DSP.

Only one word is missing Uncontrolled/uncontrollable

 

[PENG]

Exactly, thats why you want to keep the output under 1.5 watts with these units.....to avoid clipping. And, you want efficient speakers and cut back on ambient noise like chewing, toilet flushing and forced air heating and cooling systems. Keep windows closed to cut back on outside noise and use headphones when you can...

Let's assume that amp would never clip in that reviewer's room during his listening session. I have major problem with saying that it is a better amp than the Bel Canto amp he was comparing to. He even said the Bel Canto was more accurate. The way he described the 2W amp, I would not touch it even if it was free. I do not believe amps that functions as an EQ device, he even talked about changing the sound by swapping out tubes. Really silly indeed.......

 

[highfigh]

Maybe because most speaker's measured distortion is far greater than amps, even distortion prone SETs, when run as you described? Your reasonable questions are interfering with the voodoo!

Voodoo? I curse you! I practice Santeria!

Now, where did I put that chicken foot?

 

[PENG]

I'm not so sure why the objectivists care so strongly about how an end-user enjoys music in their own homes, but I fully understand their fight against folks preying on the gullible selling nonsense. But then experience confounds reasonable expectations. Logic infoms me that Decware amps are nonsense, but the ears say something else. When it comes to enjoying some relaxing music after work, I go with what the ears say.

I can agree with what you are saying, and I have not seen any one here care about how an end-user enjoys music in their own homes. They should buy whatever amps and/or processor they like but I have trouble with people, as you cited, 'preying on the gullible selling nonsense'. In the old days it may not be a bad thing to have the flexibility of changing the sound characteristic of an amp by keep swapping tubes but nowadays it makes more sense to employ all sorts of available hardware and software designed for such purposes.

 

[zumbo]

I don't think this amp would meet my needs. I have been known to play Rush YYZ at ear blistering levels. 2 watts isn't going to cut it.

When I play YYZ, I don't use any watts. Believe it or not, it's one of the few songs I can play without the music from beginning to end.(non solo version)

 

[highfigh]

Let's assume that amp would never clip in that reviewer's room during his listening session. I have major problem with saying that it is a better amp than the Bel Canto amp he was comparing to. He even said the Bel Canto was more accurate. The way he described the 2W amp, I would not touch it even if it was free. I do not believe amps that functions as an EQ device, he even talked about changing the sound by swapping out tubes. Really silly indeed.......

Tubes do sound different but it's usually because something is more "right" or "wrong" than it was with another tube. One rectifier may cause more voltage sag than another and that does make a definite difference, although I shudder to think of some of the descriptions in magazines. I just sold a Fender Black Face Vibro Champ guitar amp and described it in the auction as having a 5Y3, instead of the 5V4 I had been using. I probably should have given it more of a chance with the 5Y3 because it sounded a lot better than when it had the 5V4. I made sure it worked well before I packed it up for shipping and once I put the 5Y3 in, I started to want it back. That amp is single-ended ClassA, using a 6V6 and it really gets up and goes, but again, it's not going to be totally undistorted at high volume levels.

However, selling it the way it was described is not the way I would want to see it, as a potential buyer. If it does something different with one tube vs another, I would want to see what changed and how much it changed.

 

[highfigh]

When I play YYZ, I don't use any watts. Believe it or not, it's one of the few songs I can play without the music from beginning to end.(non solo version)

Non-solo version? Why bother?

 

[PENG]

Tubes do sound different but it's usually because something is more "right" or "wrong" than it was with another tube. One rectifier may cause more voltage sag than another and that does make a definite difference, although I shudder to think of some of the descriptions in magazines. I just sold a Fender Black Face Vibro Champ guitar amp and described it in the auction as having a 5Y3, instead of the 5V4 I had been using. I probably should have given it more of a chance with the 5Y3 because it sounded a lot better than when it had the 5V4. I made sure it worked well before I packed it up for shipping and once I put the 5Y3 in, I started to want it back. That amp is single-ended ClassA, using a 6V6 and it really gets up and goes, but again, it's not going to be totally undistorted at high volume levels.

However, selling it the way it was described is not the way I would want to see it, as a potential buyer. If it does something different with one tube vs another, I would want to see what changed and how much it changed.

I think you might have misunderstood what I said. I know changing the tubes could change the sound so I was not doubting that at all. When I said it was a silly thing I meant the act of using an amplifier like it was a sound processor. Not that it is wrong, I just thought it was silly when there are things designed to do SP and do it well.

I agree with everything you said in your post.

 

[highfigh]

I think you might have misunderstood what I said. I know changing the tubes could change the sound so I was not doubting that at all. When I said it was a silly thing I meant the act of using an amplifier like it was a sound processor. Not that it is wrong, I just thought it was silly when there are things designed to do SP and do it well.

I agree with everything you said in your post.

In an ideal world, tubes of each part number would be very consistent but they never were before, so there's no reason that they should start now. I have read that even in the prime days of tube production, they had a failure rate in the tens of percent but since they were usually cheap to produce and the, profit was high enough, it didn't break the bank. This makes using a tube as a method of tailoring the response a crap shoot and really not precise and for that reason, I agree with you that it's not an efficient way to approach this. It it was just a matter of choosing a TungSol for one result, a Mullard for another, etc, it would be a piece of cake- find the response with a known, neutral tube and an alternative could be chosen, based on the benchmark.