I just setup my mimiwat n3 with a pair of Energy cb-20 speakers

[jerrynsr]

wow! The energy cb-20 speakers sensitivity is 92db. My miniwatt n3 in the bedroom upstairs sounds better than my 26 year old Kenwood driving a pair of JBL 350s downstairs (I bought the Kenwood when I was 20 years old)
First tunes were Van Morrison "Precious Time" , "Domino" then some Bruce Springsteen "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" I play sax... The sax never sounded like this when I played these tunes on my Kenwood. I am gonna listen to my blues collection on this tomorrow night. I can't believe the sound imagery, stuff that you couldn't hear through a decent quality solid state amp comes alive through this small single ended amp! Now I am saving for a tube amp to replace the old Kenwood.

[dabbler]

Originally Posted by jerrynsr

..I can't believe the sound imagery, stuff that you couldn't hear through a decent quality solid state amp comes alive through this small single ended amp! ...

I bought an N3 recently on ebay and was also surprised by the diffuse and "larger than life" sound stage artifacts. Its the first time I heard sound coming WAY outside the confines of my speakers location and instruments sounding bigger than they really are. Its not exactly accurate but a neat trick all the same. Does anyone know how an amplifier can create such an effect?

[jerrynsr]

I believe what actually is happening is solid state amplifiers have more filtering in order reduce hiss and wine. Tube amplifiers don't have that, the result is you hear more of the actual recording. For instance I listened to a live recording of
Jeff Healy play "I'm Torn Down" from the Mess of Blues album.. wow! You can hear the stage presence! I also listen to this on my old kenwood and it don't sound nearly as good. From what I've experienced so far I'd say tubes are better suited for music than solid state. There is a market for this. Especially since even an affordable tube amp sounds much better than an solid state amp consting 4 times as much!

[planet10]

Within its power expectations i would fully expect the miniwatt to out perform the old Kenwood sonically.

Now you need to look at getting some speakers that really complete the miniWatt

dave

[jerrynsr]

I think I found the pair. the Energy CB-20s really sound great! Bar Room Boogie
(Jeff Healy, Stevie Ray Vaughn, B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy) wow.. sounds incredible. I'm going to take out my old vinyl tonight and test with my old Technics turntable that I purchased when I bought the Kenwood 26 years ago.


7 watts never sounded so good

[planet10]

Originally Posted by jerrynsr

7 watts never sounded so good

2x3.5 Watt is normally how that would be speced

dave

[jerrynsr]

The N3 has banana plug connections for 4,6,and 8 ohm outputs.
My speakers are 4 ohm speakers. The amplifier is 2x3.5 @ 8 ohms.
with a 4 ohm load I've got 2x7w

[planet10]

Plugged into the 4, 6, or 8 ohm taps it will still be 2 x 3.5 w. if the speaker deviates from the tap rating power will decrease.

dave

[jerrynsr]

The ohm is the unit of measure for impedance, or electrical resistance. What does this have to do with your amp? It affects how much power your amplifier produces. Power = voltage^2/resistance. Anything that is fed an electrical signal provides resistance. The higher the number in ohms the higher the resistance. Many loudspeakers are rated at 8 ohms. This rating is usually listed as “nominal” because resistance changes over the frequency range. It is usually not too high resistance that we have to worry about, but too low resistance. Say you have an amp that will produce 25 watts (power) into 8 ohms. If you show the amplifier a 4 ohm load, you decrease resistance and increase power because any given number will be larger when divided by a smaller number (80/8 < 80/4). As the resistance decreases and power will increase (a theoretically perfect amplifier would double in output) the current will also increase because Ohm’s law states that current = voltage/resistance (power = voltage^2/resistance). If the amp has the capability to produce this much current and dissipate the heat, you will be fine, but if not, you will over heat the amp and may ruin it or at the least trip the protection circuitry. You should always know the limits of your speakers and amplifier to avoid damage.

I am sure that when I measure the signal with my oscilloscope across a speaker I will see @ 7watts rms and @ 10Watts peak.

[kevinkr]

Originally Posted by jerrynsr

The N3 has banana plug connections for 4,6,and 8 ohm outputs.
My speakers are 4 ohm speakers. The amplifier is 2x3.5 @ 8 ohms.
with a 4 ohm load I've got 2x7w

Nope, you got 2 x 3.5W, the output voltage scales as the square (root) of the impedance ratio of the taps. Tube amps need to matched to their load so that the output tube sees a certain impedance for optimum performance - so each tap on on the OPT is calculated to reflect approximately the same impedance to the tube's plate for its intended speaker impedance. Tube amps have a relatively constant maximum output capability that is relatively independent of load impedance since the load is matched to the output stage. (Albeit inflexibly)