John Curl's Blowtorch preamplifier part II

[Ultima Thule]

This thread is showing its bright side again, ahem.. may I consult with the placebo peddlers whether it would be good to skip the whole PCB* stuff altogether and going components wired on p2p-turrets with silvery byBuzz, air is after all a good dielectric though am already envisioning a gas tight case filled with Argon, good stuff huh?

Ok I'm peddling back into my comfy chair turning up the volume to Ennio Morricone...

ps. * etymology quiz for tonight on PCB, ie. Printed Copper Board VS. Printed Circuit Board, which one came first?

 

[davada]

It was a joke that even if you had a matched noise output from a discrete and IC circuit (or lower noise in the IC), the IC would still sound noisier. Nothing serious about it.

Didn't need to be answered. "It was a joke"
So was my response.

 

[john curl]

I was hoping to slow down interest in silver wire, rather that promote it in my earlier input, today.
If you think that there is very very little or no practical difference in different hookup wire, be my guest to use what is available to you.

 

[Markw4]

Most of the sentences in that last post started with if or but

Maybe I should use a thesaurus to mix up word choices a little?

Or maybe choose an easier, more cut and dried, subject to talk about? But, those things are so boring!

 

[davada]

Or we could start the litany again, lead is dull and heavy sounding...

What about mercury?

 

[scottjoplin]

YouTube

 

[scott wurcer]

What about mercury?

That should be obvious, I wonder how KBK's galinstan cables are doing? Oh for that liquid midrange.

 

[scottjoplin]

Why is it called PRINTED copper/circuit board?

 

[31697B]

A few thoughts in response:

But getting back to a description of bright, edgy, or detailed, if multiple people independently come up with similar descriptions, there is probably something measurable going on..

 

[scottjoplin]

You could say that about absolutely anything

 

[31697B]

I don't think these MOSFET cascades are useful. It always looks so obvious, at first glance. Until you start to figure out the details, the power dissipated in the bias strings, the dynamic behaviour of such a string which basically is a bunch of R-C's with source followers, and cost, just to name a few.

With MOSFETs and IGBTs available with breakdown limits of 4.5kV, you don't need those cascades either. With those devices you can build a class B output stage that swings 4.2kV pk-pk at 20kHz across 1200pF from just 12mA bias current. Way to go.

Jan

You were worried about dissipation? even 2 in series could help that situation.

-RM

 

[billshurv]

JC says only one guy who used a certain type of wire built the best sounding preamps. If there is a mistake in that description, it is probably attributing any difference in sound to what seems salient in the mind: the wire. What about the solder this guy used, acid core? Silver solder? What else may have been different? Did he overheat the capacitors while soldering? Who knows? We only know about wire, so the brain says that must be the only possible explanation.

Not quite. One of John's business partners ( it was called the CTC Blowtorch due to the initials of the 3), now sadly departed was the component selector. He hand picked (or is that ear picked) the parts that went into the Blowtorch, John did the circuit design and Mr Thompson did the PCB layout.

But getting back to a description of bright, edgy, or detailed, if multiple people independently come up with similar descriptions, there is probably something measurable going on.

Occam and his shaving accessory would suggest that this is unlikely to be the case and far more likely that some magazine monkey wrote that silver was bright and it entered the collective conscience of audiophiles.

 

[Tournesol]

You're too new here to know. Come back next year or read the previous few 1000 pages.

Thanks for your welcome

I did. Silently. Enough to make-me an idea of the level of competence, openness and certainties of the regulars of the forum.

I had read various and redundant J.C. posts about silver wires, Bybee magic plugs etc...
It made me smile, nothing more.
Unique thinking and politically correct is soooo boring, at least it makes a change.

On my side, I'm not in charge of any crusade and think everybody is free of its opinions and preferences as long it does not hurt somebody else or contradicts the laws of physics ... for what we know.
And that kindness and indulgence is more important than anything else.

Oh, BTW, i used a LOT of "8 legs" in my life, and I will continue because it worked *for me*. I don't see why i should impose op-amps to somebody who prefer discrete.

Do Bybee's magic plugs contradict the laws of physics ?

How to answer, I have no idea what they are made of. All I can say is that it has the color of snake oil and the smell of snake oil. And expensive enough to not risk my money on what looks like a placebo.

But i don't see any reason *to be agressive* or to believe J.C. is not sincère. At least he is faithful to his friend.

 

[scott wurcer]

Do Bybee's magic plugs contradict the laws of physics ?

I guess that's a loaded question, the claims certainly do explicitly but if they don't actually do anything no laws are violated.

 

[anatech]

Hi Scott,
Now you have it! It's really that simple.

-Chris

 

[Tournesol]

I guess that's a loaded question, the claims certainly do explicitly but if they don't actually do anything no laws are violated.

Anyway, we can try to violate the laws of physics as much as we can, they will not make us a baby ;-)

I was on the Bybee web site. Spend a good moment in the marvelous world of magic and literature:
"The Plug-In Speaker Bullets deliver stunning improvements in detail retrieval, ambience and spatial presentation, vocal and instrumental color, transient and dynamic impact, and harmonic completeness."

 

[Ultima Thule]

You were worried about dissipation? even 2 in series could help that situation.

-RM

It's an anomaly on the cell structure level called Spirito Effect or Electro-Thermal Instability Boundary, here's a condensed fact sheet from various sources on the matter.

BTW, if anyone can find the following paper it would be great!

A. Kwan, K. Teasdale, N. Nguyen, J. Ambrus, & T. McDonald,
“Improved SOA analysis for trench MOSFETs using the Spirito
approach”,
9th Annual Automotive Electronics Reliability Workshop,
Nashville, TN, April 21, 2004

 

[scottjoplin]

"The Plug-In Speaker Bullets deliver stunning improvements in detail retrieval, ambience and spatial presentation, vocal and instrumental color, transient and dynamic impact, and harmonic completeness."

And some people won't be able to resist the pretty words

 

[Tournesol]

And some people won't be able to resist the pretty words

Even placebos often play a role in healing.

They will buy-it.
- Find the expected improvement ? They get what they had expected ;-)

- Not ? I imagine the lesson is worth the money. Do-you buy an audio gear without listening to it before ?

 

[scottjoplin]

Yes, but the operative words are "audio gear" they were things that I knew would make a sound and after much research concluded were a minimal gamble and not excessive cost.