(in case you don't know)
A Single Ended Class-A Amplifier is a class-a audio amplifier in which the output is controlled by a single device conducting through the entire 360 degree of the input signal... i.e. only a single Tube, power BJT or power MOSFET at a high bias current does the final amplification, making it the simplest audio reproduction circuit topology.
As everyone knows, these amplifiers are VERY inefficient(15%-25% or even as low as 4%), generate a LOT of heat, need costly power supply and BIG heatsinks to work properly.
HOWEVER, numerous claims say that this topology, often using NO global negative feedback, sound most natural and is above any and all amplifying topology used in audio amplifier designs.
A Single Ended Class-A Amplifier is a class-a audio amplifier in which the output is controlled by a single device conducting through the entire 360 degree of the input signal... i.e. only a single Tube, power BJT or power MOSFET at a high bias current does the final amplification, making it the simplest audio reproduction circuit topology.
As everyone knows, these amplifiers are VERY inefficient(15%-25% or even as low as 4%), generate a LOT of heat, need costly power supply and BIG heatsinks to work properly.
HOWEVER, numerous claims say that this topology, often using NO global negative feedback, sound most natural and is above any and all amplifying topology used in audio amplifier designs.
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It's not like you must actually vote. You expressed your opinion and it says clear what it says- "but my favorite so far is Class A PP EL85 (triode)". Thanks for the opinion.
This poll is not public. Nobody knows who voted on which choice.
That said you could actually choose "No".
I do think SE amps are special, and no other PP amp but that one has surpassed a pile of SE amps. No is too harsh a response.
A more appropriate poll answer would be "it depends:
dave
This is the case for people like you who has that PP Class-A amp at home. I understand the situation. For those who know that SE Class-A is inferior in as many ways as it is superior to other amps, but don't want to hurt it, there is a third option, choosing which will be as great a contribution to this poll as choosing any other.
misc:- The fourth option is almost unnecessary, but as it is also almost necessary to know who didn't hear about such an amp I kept it there, like "just another option", clicking which may contribute almost nothing. But there are people whose situations fall in that criteria; I made it an option to choose too.
Thanks.
same here.
as with most polls, the options are limited.
and yet, the results so far, are quite informative .
this may be the most important factor, for what we are trying to achieve .
and,
what should be recognized, and gently ingrained into the 'noobs.
Yeah, he should have included an option that had something to do with EnABL'ing things
Dave, if you never found a combination that sounded better than one in which a class a se was, than isn't it equal to answering YES?
viceversa giving that everything can be made sound bad by the wrong chain, is just another question.
i should check my logic's book... it should be somewhere there covered by the jigsaw and the glues...
viceversa giving that everything can be made sound bad by the wrong chain, is just another question.
i should check my logic's book... it should be somewhere there covered by the jigsaw and the glues...
An amp in isolation can not be evaluated. speakers, amp and wire that connects them are a system. As a generalization the small Class A PP is my favorite, but it does depend on the speakers. The SE amps are also good and can do things the PP can't (depending on the speakers)... i also just came into possetion of a really nice Class AB PP amp. It works better on some speakers.
There is no yes or no answer, because the question has no context.
dave
This is the same way the world's biggest audio magazine thinks. This is the problem where we've got two(or more) amps which, in custom speaker/interconnect/belief config for each, sound just the same.
There are 100+ pluses in SE's bag; there are 100+ pluses in the PP's bag too; even AB-PP has the same 100+ pluses and D-PP's recently got 100+ pluses and they all are here to stay.
Is the choice really that hard? Blame nature.
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Lets see.
1.)AudioPrism PP EL 34 Williamson derivative 40 watts
2.)Wright Sound SE 300B 7 watts
3.)SAE Mk3A SS germanium 134 watts
4.)Karna PP Class A 300 B 30 watts
5.)Pimm Acoustics hi voltage PP transformer connected SS 20 watts
1.) Clean, clear, musical, quiet accurate and low distortion
2.) Clean, clear, incredible musical beauty, medium distortion
3.) Clean, clear, harsh transients, low distortion
4.) Clean, clear, astounding definition, extrordinary accuracy, low distortion
5,) Clean, clear, musically beautiful, accurate, no distortion.
Out of all of them, I want the Wright Sound 300 B beauty and all of the rest to be Pimm Acoustics characteristics.
So, a current to voltage, push pull, high voltage SS driver stage, using a CCS for input splitter and a nickle core inter stage from PP to SE, and a 300B tube to a level three SE OPT. Plate choke loading optional.
So, none of the choices provided work for me either....
Bud
1.)AudioPrism PP EL 34 Williamson derivative 40 watts
2.)Wright Sound SE 300B 7 watts
3.)SAE Mk3A SS germanium 134 watts
4.)Karna PP Class A 300 B 30 watts
5.)Pimm Acoustics hi voltage PP transformer connected SS 20 watts
1.) Clean, clear, musical, quiet accurate and low distortion
2.) Clean, clear, incredible musical beauty, medium distortion
3.) Clean, clear, harsh transients, low distortion
4.) Clean, clear, astounding definition, extrordinary accuracy, low distortion
5,) Clean, clear, musically beautiful, accurate, no distortion.
Out of all of them, I want the Wright Sound 300 B beauty and all of the rest to be Pimm Acoustics characteristics.
So, a current to voltage, push pull, high voltage SS driver stage, using a CCS for input splitter and a nickle core inter stage from PP to SE, and a 300B tube to a level three SE OPT. Plate choke loading optional.
So, none of the choices provided work for me either....
Bud
Don't tell me you mistakenly clicked on an option.
Sorry. That was a joke. Your reply is quite informative!
Thanks for coming with more information.
...
I'll stick to a hybrid or pure digital for most uses. (I'm the newer generation, so I believe in the newer generation of technology.) But SE-A can be startlingly efficient if used right. A long time ago, when I started playing with electronics, I built a simple one transistor SE-A amplifier (literally just two resistors and a capacitor in addition to the transistor!) to amplify the signal from a crystal radio. It only used 2mA at 3v from two AA batteries. Good luck trying to make a hybrid digital that efficient at that tiny power level. Modern low power opamps can do even better, but I did not have any at the time.
Just to revisit my younger years, I think I'll build a crystal radio and add a modern micropower opamp, supercap, and calculator solar cell to it. If I can get the Q factor high enough, I might even be able to power it from the radio waves themselves. I can then call it a solar/radio power hybrid. Nice to be able to feel younger again...
Just to revisit my younger years, I think I'll build a crystal radio and add a modern micropower opamp, supercap, and calculator solar cell to it. If I can get the Q factor high enough, I might even be able to power it from the radio waves themselves. I can then call it a solar/radio power hybrid. Nice to be able to feel younger again...
Hi Guys,
We had the pure Class A tube amps in the sound room at National along with a ton of other amplifiers. The new LME49811 power amp preamp chip in my (and also other National engineers) simple demo amplifiers beat them all hands down. (Ears down?) However my complete playback signal path was unique in that it had all LME parts in the entire signal path and also in all the power supply regulators.)
These parts are made on a Unique Vertical Process that allows NPN and PNP devices to be totally identical in every way! (Dimension, Carrier Flow, Ft) The LME49811 is a power amplifier preamp driver with a "pure class A output stage" that measures 0.00005% (or less!) THD+N by itself and 0.0003% or so in a complete amplifier! I attached a graph of THD vs Power for my 130 amp Demo unit based on the LME49811. When combined with a simple (high quality) Darlington or compound output stage the sound of this simple solution is remarkable! (See National AN-1490 for the stereo version LM4702 schematic that is very similar to the mono LME49811. The LM4702 was the first part in the series 4 or 5 years ago. After that they are all called LME parts! The E for excellence!)
Mark / Audioman54
We had the pure Class A tube amps in the sound room at National along with a ton of other amplifiers. The new LME49811 power amp preamp chip in my (and also other National engineers) simple demo amplifiers beat them all hands down. (Ears down?) However my complete playback signal path was unique in that it had all LME parts in the entire signal path and also in all the power supply regulators.)
These parts are made on a Unique Vertical Process that allows NPN and PNP devices to be totally identical in every way! (Dimension, Carrier Flow, Ft) The LME49811 is a power amplifier preamp driver with a "pure class A output stage" that measures 0.00005% (or less!) THD+N by itself and 0.0003% or so in a complete amplifier! I attached a graph of THD vs Power for my 130 amp Demo unit based on the LME49811. When combined with a simple (high quality) Darlington or compound output stage the sound of this simple solution is remarkable! (See National AN-1490 for the stereo version LM4702 schematic that is very similar to the mono LME49811. The LM4702 was the first part in the series 4 or 5 years ago. After that they are all called LME parts! The E for excellence!)
Mark / Audioman54
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