Giovanni, nothing I wrote was with bad intentions, not in my few posts back nor in my previous posts
I was simply stating - if one guy didn't do it properly (whatever objective or subjective reasons), logic is simple - find another one
If you can't, then it's up to you - either abandon everything, or search further
Same situation as you're dealing with car repair, or anything else
As always - Proof is in the Pudding ....... and, for the record, I'm fully aware that there are many Puddings for which I have no slightest clue; that's why I'm commenting only on things for which I can say I have some experience
I was simply stating - if one guy didn't do it properly (whatever objective or subjective reasons), logic is simple - find another one
If you can't, then it's up to you - either abandon everything, or search further
Same situation as you're dealing with car repair, or anything else
As always - Proof is in the Pudding ....... and, for the record, I'm fully aware that there are many Puddings for which I have no slightest clue; that's why I'm commenting only on things for which I can say I have some experience
ZM is omnice and omnigenerous. And he loves Italy. In fact, Giovanni, he might be wanting to travel there right now. It is possibly a hidden invitation. If you accommodate him he will sort out your amp issues in a jiffy. And then for pizza and wine. Or perhaps at the same time as amp tinkering 
🍕 🍷 
🍕 🍷 
My mom and I went to Capri once. Mid 1960s.
The seas were rough... I lost my guts on the way out, over the side....
Then when we got to the island, the tide was up and we couldn't go sightsee the caves. Just our luck.
Oh well, it was a nice day. Nice place, good food.
On the way back I didn't get sick.
And I'm sure ZM knows the pizza in Napoli is the best in the World. Seriously, much better than NYC pizza.... perhaps California Pizza Kitchen is the closest... you know... feta cheese, pineapple, pine nuts... Yum...
But anyhow... back to this thread.... I'm still looking into the balanced BA3 and a second F4.... True, I took a detour with the used Conrad Johnson ET3.. soon to be shipped to the factory for the ET3SE upgrade. You know, it drives the F4 very well... and it has a REMOTE CONTROL... wow! Oh, it sounds really good. I'm concerned that the BA3 will be the limiting factor from my Conrad Johnson preamps: PV9 (Russkie Svetlana, Teflon cap) and ET3 (Russkie Tube, soon to get Teflon caps and Vishays on its volume ladder). But, the F4 by itself is a beauty... if only the SITs didn't sound so damn good.
Moderators.. this is an interesting thread for those of us with an F4 and the notion of going bridged.
Perhaps the BA3 might sound better with a volume resistor ladder?
The seas were rough... I lost my guts on the way out, over the side....
Then when we got to the island, the tide was up and we couldn't go sightsee the caves. Just our luck.
Oh well, it was a nice day. Nice place, good food.
On the way back I didn't get sick.
And I'm sure ZM knows the pizza in Napoli is the best in the World. Seriously, much better than NYC pizza.... perhaps California Pizza Kitchen is the closest... you know... feta cheese, pineapple, pine nuts... Yum...
But anyhow... back to this thread.... I'm still looking into the balanced BA3 and a second F4.... True, I took a detour with the used Conrad Johnson ET3.. soon to be shipped to the factory for the ET3SE upgrade. You know, it drives the F4 very well... and it has a REMOTE CONTROL... wow! Oh, it sounds really good. I'm concerned that the BA3 will be the limiting factor from my Conrad Johnson preamps: PV9 (Russkie Svetlana, Teflon cap) and ET3 (Russkie Tube, soon to get Teflon caps and Vishays on its volume ladder). But, the F4 by itself is a beauty... if only the SITs didn't sound so damn good.
Moderators.. this is an interesting thread for those of us with an F4 and the notion of going bridged.
Perhaps the BA3 might sound better with a volume resistor ladder?
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that's separate issue, having nothing with BA3 per se
attenuator issue is simply separate can of worms
to properly rephrase your sentence:
"Perhaps (any) preamp might sound better with a volume resistor ladder?"
and then there is matter of context - with what sort of volume attenuator you're comparing it
in general - resistor ladder attenuators are having superior tracking comparing to "normal" pots
but, as everything in physics - when something is done properly - it is good; there are great sounding "normal" pots but none of them are cheap
anyway, enough material for entire article ........... with short conclusion - take your pick and enjoy in it
Can a bunch of high quality Vishay resistors be bettered by a potentiometer?
Also, if building a fully balanced BA3, end to end, wouldn't it be better to have TWO parallel resistor ladders with such Vishay components?
That's where I'm going... Balanced... 40Vrms.
Just saying...
Meanwhile, the CJ ET3 is sounding fantastic.... maybe the BA3 needs a tube in there, somewhere.... BA3VT ( because BA3T would be a Turbo )... Maybe a Korg.... BA3K. But, will the Korg have enough voltage? If not, we will need an autoformer too... BA3KT..... Ultimately, a BA3KTB to drive the pair of bridged F4 amps.
Have you ever tried California Pizza Kitchen?
Also, if building a fully balanced BA3, end to end, wouldn't it be better to have TWO parallel resistor ladders with such Vishay components?
That's where I'm going... Balanced... 40Vrms.
Just saying...
Meanwhile, the CJ ET3 is sounding fantastic.... maybe the BA3 needs a tube in there, somewhere.... BA3VT ( because BA3T would be a Turbo )... Maybe a Korg.... BA3K. But, will the Korg have enough voltage? If not, we will need an autoformer too... BA3KT..... Ultimately, a BA3KTB to drive the pair of bridged F4 amps.
Have you ever tried California Pizza Kitchen?
Why would just sticking a tube into a BA3 improve it? What parameters are you suggesting that it's lacking?
Also which tube? Or is it just stick anything in there because the pretty glow sounds better?
With P3 the harmonic balance can be altered to give very different sounds.
This can be done by making alterations to P3 and listening, picking the sound profile that you prefer
It does not need distortion measurement tools, just ears to listen with..
Also which tube? Or is it just stick anything in there because the pretty glow sounds better?
With P3 the harmonic balance can be altered to give very different sounds.
This can be done by making alterations to P3 and listening, picking the sound profile that you prefer
It does not need distortion measurement tools, just ears to listen with..
My CJ PV9 and ET3 sound really good.... so does the B1K. I'm running the OEM tubes... Svetlanas from Russia (with love). The PV9 has got a bunch, the ET3 (line stage) only one.
The B1 sounds good but it's missing some of that 2nd harmonic.
I've tried taking some solid state stuff.... the DACs with preamp features and they don't sound good... but if I put those units through the tubed preamps... they sound better.
The combination of the PV9 and ET3 with the F4 and SissySIT are intoxicating. I'm afraid that going to a full solid state, balanced BA3 and the bridged F4s they will drive the Maggies well, but they will be missing something.
The thing is that SS preamps I've heard, just don't have that thermionic glow to the music. IMHO, a PVC preamp with a 150 wpc SIT amp would be The End System.
Perhaps a balanced tube preamp with bridged F4 too... but I can't find a balanced tubed preamp with sufficient 40Vrms to drive them. All I can think is a 1:2 autoformer that takes single ended to balanced but that might affect other things. The CJ preamps are good for 20Vrms, they drive a single F4 extremely well.
So what can we do with SS preamps to make them sound like a good tube preamp. Not an ARC, those are too "withish" for my taste.
It may end up like my Xmas gift... an ACA Mini with a clever switch in the back that "selects" between 2nd and 3rd order... we'll see. I got a few months before we get there. Biggest issue so far is making it fully balanced with the features I want ( balance control, tape monitor, triple outputs, four inputs... )... But once I committ to building it there will be no turning back. When the money spigot is opened, we got to see it to the end, whether I like it or not.
Indeed, my B1K was built with the test points brought out to the back panel so I can plug a DMM easily... but I still have to remove the top cover to do the adjustment.
If this BA3 preamp works... fantastic, there's a new design for everyone that sounds good. If it doesn't work, well, it's my loss. And, I'm not the builder... so I sure hope it sounds good because I hate to waste someone's time on it. His skills are too valuable otherwise, IMHO. But, again, if it works, it could be fantastic.
Your point, though is good... there's another item in the bucket list in there... a switch to select the harmonic envelope. Put it in the front panel. Not quite like NP's SIT-1 but close.... It could be awesome to go full SIT-1 like with a meter and knob.... but, I think that will be overkill... just two sound profiles should be enough.
I think that given how clean the F4 is, the harmonic profile selection belongs in the preamp.
Do you recall those ARC amps that allowed you to select Triode or Pentode? I wonder why we don't do such things in our day to day audio components?
The B1 sounds good but it's missing some of that 2nd harmonic.
I've tried taking some solid state stuff.... the DACs with preamp features and they don't sound good... but if I put those units through the tubed preamps... they sound better.
The combination of the PV9 and ET3 with the F4 and SissySIT are intoxicating. I'm afraid that going to a full solid state, balanced BA3 and the bridged F4s they will drive the Maggies well, but they will be missing something.
The thing is that SS preamps I've heard, just don't have that thermionic glow to the music. IMHO, a PVC preamp with a 150 wpc SIT amp would be The End System.
Perhaps a balanced tube preamp with bridged F4 too... but I can't find a balanced tubed preamp with sufficient 40Vrms to drive them. All I can think is a 1:2 autoformer that takes single ended to balanced but that might affect other things. The CJ preamps are good for 20Vrms, they drive a single F4 extremely well.
So what can we do with SS preamps to make them sound like a good tube preamp. Not an ARC, those are too "withish" for my taste.
It may end up like my Xmas gift... an ACA Mini with a clever switch in the back that "selects" between 2nd and 3rd order... we'll see. I got a few months before we get there. Biggest issue so far is making it fully balanced with the features I want ( balance control, tape monitor, triple outputs, four inputs... )... But once I committ to building it there will be no turning back. When the money spigot is opened, we got to see it to the end, whether I like it or not.
Indeed, my B1K was built with the test points brought out to the back panel so I can plug a DMM easily... but I still have to remove the top cover to do the adjustment.
If this BA3 preamp works... fantastic, there's a new design for everyone that sounds good. If it doesn't work, well, it's my loss. And, I'm not the builder... so I sure hope it sounds good because I hate to waste someone's time on it. His skills are too valuable otherwise, IMHO. But, again, if it works, it could be fantastic.
Your point, though is good... there's another item in the bucket list in there... a switch to select the harmonic envelope. Put it in the front panel. Not quite like NP's SIT-1 but close.... It could be awesome to go full SIT-1 like with a meter and knob.... but, I think that will be overkill... just two sound profiles should be enough.
I think that given how clean the F4 is, the harmonic profile selection belongs in the preamp.
Do you recall those ARC amps that allowed you to select Triode or Pentode? I wonder why we don't do such things in our day to day audio components?
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Giovanni ,
I totally agree with the recommendation that only 1 thread is created so that people can make informed decisions and recommendations
to help you out .
Think its a good idea to plan out an entire system .
The first thing to establish is what speakers are you using ?
I ask this because its critical that an amp be able to effectively drive the speaker's impedance curve .
If your speakers have an impedance curve , that has easy swings in the phase angle , then a second F4 may not be needed .
Also , what type of music do you listen to , and what are the dimensions of your listening room ?
Are you using a TT or do you have a digital source with a balanced output ?
Knowing this , people can make informed recommendations .
The BA-3 you have has amazing building blocks. I highly recommend you focus on this as a preamp ,
and resolve any issues it may have . I may have missed this , but where is the star ground node in the wiring ?
.
Gio needs to send his drek to someone who can build, and appreciate the ones trying to help him.
I have the utmost confidence that he will get there. Maybe even get the gumption to sling some solder himself. Which reminds me, I got a hankering to build.
It is hopeless. The only pizza worthy of the name came out of the North Shore Long Island NY 60 years ago. Time has killed it. It was said it was the water. It MUST be thrown. The skills are lost. It is sad... 😡