What makes an amplifier "bright", "warm", or "neutral"?

[Bose(o)]

I have the BOSE Spatial control receiver from the late 70's and early 80's. This baby is Saaaaweeeettt Sounding. Well, at least the nicest sounding solid-state amplifier that I've heard. I've also hear a denon and Marantz, however, the speakers connected had terrible shrill so I couldn't really listen to the amp, just shrill.

[hugobross]

Adding higher harmonics is what they describe in maths fourier analysis, visit this site to hear and to have an idea what upper harmonics can do to your signal:

http://www.jhu.edu/~signals/listen/music1.html


related to fourier:
www.univie.ac.at/future.media/moe/galerie.html

[nigelwright7557]

Originally Posted by JohnS

Which component, components, or circuits make an amplifier "bright", "warm", or "neutral"?

Basically everything !

For my guitar work I prefer a good overdriven valve amp.
For disco work I prefer a SS amp for a clean powerful sound.

For guitar work I use a 4 by 10 inch cabinet.

For disco work I use a 2 by 12 inch full range plus an 18 inch woofer.

[Key]

Speaker.

[CBS240]

Its MOSFET not MOS fet. MOSFET are mainly used in digital circuits. MOSFET may look good on graphs but they a far from being linear. They waste to much energy to produce the given wattage. Transistors on the other hand are linear and very predictable.

Mosfets are not a drop in replacement for BJT's, they are fundamentally different and don't work in the same way. Many people don't like them because they don't know how to use them. I once felt the same way. Mosfets, especially the hex type used for switching are exactly what you want to drive a motor, transformer, speaker, or any other reactive load. When it comes to SOA, effective bandwidth, and high conductance, the BJT just can't compete. The issue of a few extra watts from the little bit higher bias requirement is negligible. Of course they are quite non-linear by comparison, especially around the cut-off region but that is really the only drawback. The lack of linearity can be nullified by using error correction techniques. If done properly, the result is better linearity and SOA than any BJT. The downside is a having a bit more complexity.

My EC hexfet amp sounds ******* wonderful. Not harsh at all, but full and crystal clear. Even as a single monoblock, it is easy to hear the separation of instruments in the music. Having low overall distortion, particularly PIM and IMD really do the trick when it comes to "sound". IMVHO, a bandwidth of >400KHz and very high damping (by-product of the EC) really helps too.

[destroyer X]

But really, serious, the speaker can make that..not kidding.

of course there are other reasons, but i think, mainly the speakers can do that, some of them have better trebles, or mids, or bass.

There are things in this life that we go searching for sophisticated and complicated reasons, when the real thing, the real answer for our needs, is easy to see..we are addicted to complicate a lot.

I am making some experiences here and i could see i can make any amplifier brigth, warm or everything you want, only tweaking passive crossovers

Simple that way.

regards,

Carlos

[jaycee]

Sheetrock is better known as Plasterboard (in the UK), or Drywall in the US.

Drywall - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Greg Erskine]

nigelwright7557, I think you may have set the record for dragging up an old posts - seven years six months.

[Ltralus]

It's the cables

[wahab]

assuming that the speakers are matched to the amps outputs,
an amp will be warmer than another if even order harmonics are
favoured...if odd harmonics are favoured, then, it will sound bright..
a musical instrument produce both even and odd harmonics, the odd
one give brillance...