Sonic your drill has a display. You're not at the CNC level yet, but you're definitely pretty close.
My drill has a handle and a cord. No display!
Now I want to use 4 of those EL12 spez as power tubes and the Telefunken EL11s as drivers.
This is when my contemplation starts.
Decent curves, to my eyes very pretty envelopes. Availability is a bit concerning though. EL11 has a µ of about 20, hopefully that's enough.
That's interesting. So because of the special OT hybrid design, the sharp transients are electrically clipped, but done in a way that does not audibly degrade them? Dynamics have been often said to be one of the strengths of these amps, so it must be doing something the right way there.
Essentially yes. To be precise, the clipping behavior I was describing has nothing to do with the OT as such, it has to do with the circuit being either
1) open loop (no gNFB)
2) using gNFB.
This is the relevant thing here. If an amp using heavy gNFB clips, the loop destabilizes, and there is audible distortion for a long time, longer than the transient itself would last.
If there is no loop, there is nothing to destabilize. Clipping lasts as long as the transient lasts.
There are also other things to consider, but this is the main point, the most important thing to understand.
Just worth quoting again. I love it. That would certainly solve a lot of problems in the hobby if all headphones sounded better and more transparent.
Indeed. Once you try out Sonic's amps, you'll gain a completely new understanding of your signal chain as a whole. It's difficult to describe with words, other than "the source" becomes more important. In my personal opinion of course, perceptions may vary.
That's great not being able to clip the speaker. I thought the min. power requirements for speakers had more to do with being able to give better control of the driver with transient response, but if the Oblivion and Citadel amps are able to drive slightly higher demanding speakers and still get good sound, even if at a somewhat lower volume then that widens the speakers as well that can pair well.
No, it is about safety. The handling capability which you mention is not contingent on power, but rather impedance. If your amp's output impedance is too sluggish for a certain speaker, it will "not handle it well". Result will be dimished highs and boomy and "one note" bass; the classic low power SE amp retro sound. (Some like it, preferences may of course vary.)
While Sonic's amps will not reach direct drive 200W SS amp output impedances, they are completely out of the "tube amp output impedance" category. Within volume limits discussed earlier, the amps will provide excellent (in my and many reviewers opinion) control of even a little bit difficult speakers.
But control is not about power per se, if we are outside clipping territory. Loudness IS always about power.
I was interested to see a custom Ultrasonic Studios amp using the 6L6 series because these are some of the absolute highest acclaimed series such as I have experienced myself with my GEC KT66 tubes, and because I currently have and building a solid collection of top-tier tubes of this class for use with my upcoming Glenn OT SET amp. I would like to buy one of these amps also but funds permitting.
I see. You didn't comment on my tech posts about tube selection, but I assume you read them and understood them. Feel free to ask any questions or clarifications I'm happy to elaborate.
Are you not worried about having significantly higher distortion with 6L6 tubes? This will as a matter of fact provide you with less transparency, less atmosphere and 3D imaging, less clarity and separation between voices etc etc. The amp will still be a GOOD AMP, but why not get it as even better?
You have a stash of 6L6 eqs, okay, but think about this: you can get a HUGE stash of EL81's or EL36 eqs very very cheap. Then you'd have a huge stash of those as well.
Or is it about the social aspect? You mention 'acclaim'.
Tubes are just components. They are inherently, well, nothing. They only become 'something' when put into a circuit.
What they become is as much (or sometimes more) contingent on what the circuit is, than what the tube is.
The whole is always the tube in a circuit, the tube in itself is not "good sounding". Now if you only use similar circuits, say the retro classic circuits, then yes, the circuits are similar enough to each other that the tube's "inherent properties" in themselves might stand out.
But understand that this circuit is fundamentally pretty much completely different than the retro circuits. So the 'acclaim' collected from those retro circuits doesn't carry over there, in terms of actual performance ability.
Not that acclaim has much to do with performance ability anyway.
I'm not trying to be provocative here, just to bring new perspectives to think. Ask yourself, what is the purpose of your hobby? There is no right answer here, only your own answer.
For me, it's transparent sound, for maximal realism and liveliness of sound, to enjoy music I like. Whatever components achieve this, I will use.
RE cables: though I don't want to start a cable discussion, myself and a good cross section of users across all of Head-Fi have noticed first-hand how different conductors color the sound differently.
Oh I've experienced it myself. With guitar amps.
Guitar amps are not very much dissimilar to the oldies goldies classic retro circuits. From a modern technical perspective they have lots of problems, one of which is too much reliance on component quality.
My personal opinion which I am ready to explain if anybody is interested: if a circuit is too reliant on a single component (tube curves excluded), it is not a very good circuit.
It's like a house of cards. Move one card a bit and it all comes down.
This circuit is not like that. It will not come down (as in experience sound quality lowering) if you use "regular" wire. It is not reliant on the wire's properties. They will not have any effect.
