Hi Charles!
Nice to have you back
.In fairness to SY, I think there is some high-end gear out there that is not designed by engineering-adept people like you and John. At least half the tube amps I hear are not neutral in my opinion, and probably a much bigger fraction of SET tube amps are not neutral.
Cheers,
Bob
Oh, I'm always happy! (Except when I'm not...)
Thanks for not taking my post personally. But I think the point is pretty obvious. The only way to know how something sounds is to (drum roll, please) listen to it.
And not all competently designed amplifiers sound the same. If they did, we could all go home and listen to our perfect amplifiers.
Nice to have you back
Thanks! Although I'll probably get banned for lobbing a grenade. I'm sure John would have done the same except he cares if he gets banned.
That certainly could be true. I haven't listened to a tube amp for many years. Not because I don't like them -- I think in general that they are better sounding than solid state amps. Or to put it another way, it is harder to design a good sounding solid state amp than a good sounding tube amp.
But the only way we know which ones are "good sounding" or are "neutral" is to listen to them. Maybe someday someone will invent a "good sounding" meter or a "neutrality" meter. Until then we will have to rely on our ears. But that's actually a good thing.
Do not worry Charles. Your stuff measures well and sounds wounderfull. It is in the reference class here in Germany and as far as i can tell from privat comunication with the reviewers they mean it.
Endstufe Ayre MX-R - stereoplay - Magnus.de
Endstufe Ayre MX-R - stereoplay - Magnus.de
Your topology has smooth decay of harmonic components, with no high order ones, this is very important.
Attachments
I do (well, not tonight, I have a concert to go to).
And my amp probably does sound different than John's since the output impedance is higher. Works OK, though.
Also in line with a lot of good research going back to the early 20th century. One bad paper don't spoil the whole bunch, girl.
Just wondering.....is there any build info for a DIY version of the Blowtorch preamp to be found in the hundreds of pages of replies here? The topic of the thread would indicate this possibility but from what parts I have tried to review I have found no such info in this thread or Part 1 either. Just curious, sounds like a cool preamp from the name alone....
There is no DIY version of the Blowtorch amp. An official schematics of that amp was never published.
jmillerdoc, the virtual 'whole' of the CTC Blowtorch preamp has been discussed here, from input, output, and power supplies, but mostly in part 1, that was very successful and lively. Since part 2 started, I have 'tried' to expand a little on other related topics that potentially optimize audio design. This has been marginally successful. That is where it sits, I just hope to keep contributing, and encourage others to contribute something useful to the discussion of audio design, in general.
Thanks John,
I have now put two and two together....you designed most of the parasound HCA series of amps. I cracked one of mine open the other day, had a bad channel, saw your name printed on the circuit board. Keeps blowing a fuse on that one side. It's an HCA 1000, any intuitive idea of what I may need to do to fix it? Just kidding....
I really don't know much about the blowtorch preamp but I love the name. With a name like that I wanted to diy it just for the names sake....of course if it was a relatively simple schematic, I am not very advanced with this stuff yet.
I appreciate the response, maybe someday when I have the time I will read through both posts.
Sincerely,
Jeff
I have now put two and two together....you designed most of the parasound HCA series of amps. I cracked one of mine open the other day, had a bad channel, saw your name printed on the circuit board. Keeps blowing a fuse on that one side. It's an HCA 1000, any intuitive idea of what I may need to do to fix it? Just kidding....
I really don't know much about the blowtorch preamp but I love the name. With a name like that I wanted to diy it just for the names sake....of course if it was a relatively simple schematic, I am not very advanced with this stuff yet.
I appreciate the response, maybe someday when I have the time I will read through both posts.
Sincerely,
Jeff
jmiller, I, too, have an HCA1000, I blew fuses in it too, the other day, but it was MY fault. If you still have problems, call TONY@Parasound.com 415-397-7100. Good luck.
Cheever I didn't know until you mentioned him and I googled him. I'm talking about other research on the audibility of harmonics that goes back almost 80-90 years. I've posted references before.
On another site JC said Cheever's thesis was "must reading" for anyone who designs amplifiers yet it has more holes in it than a wheel of Swiss cheese. So then I take it you don't want to defend it. I wouldn't blame you. I don't know how they could defend the people who gave him an MEE based on it. I don't know why the school remains accredited.
I just said that I have not studied it, it's new to me. I was commenting on harmonic structure, the subject of Pavel's post.
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