Any SS I amp I'll own must be stable into 2 Ω and make, very roughly, 4X its 8 Ω power, in the process. Mass market guano need not apply.
While I lack both the $ and space to own a pair of big Thiel speakers, I am well aware of their impedance dips down to 1 Ω and maybe a bit less. IMO, no tube amp should be asked to feed that and many a SS amp can't. However, those speakers mated to top notch SS power amplification fed by tubed preamplification sound very good.
Never view amps and speakers in isolation. IMO, an amp/speaker combo constitute an "organic whole".
While I lack both the $ and space to own a pair of big Thiel speakers, I am well aware of their impedance dips down to 1 Ω and maybe a bit less. IMO, no tube amp should be asked to feed that and many a SS amp can't. However, those speakers mated to top notch SS power amplification fed by tubed preamplification sound very good.
Never view amps and speakers in isolation. IMO, an amp/speaker combo constitute an "organic whole".
Yet many tube amplifier in a commercial setting has driven next to a dead short and survived. I remember a newspaper whose system I was working on about 25 years ago had a tube amp for each floor and all of them were driving 2 ohm to 1/2 ohm and had run that way for years. I repaired the problems on each floor and updated the amps per owners request with SS amps. Unfortunately the new SS amps didn't fair as well as the old tube amplifiers.
Watts are watts and tube watts aren't any better than SS watts however the way a tube amp soft clips allows the user in some cases to drive the amp into clipping without realizing it thus allowing the user to think the tube amp has more power.
Watts are watts and tube watts aren't any better than SS watts however the way a tube amp soft clips allows the user in some cases to drive the amp into clipping without realizing it thus allowing the user to think the tube amp has more power.
Hi,
I build 2 MC-3500 clones the other day. They easily able to drive 2 ohm load at 4 ohm setting. They are real arc welders and heavy as a tank. (70kg).
The sound of the amps is incredible , you feel the power of the amps, even at low levels. The amp employ 8 x 6P45S , the soviet pendant ofthe 6LQ6. But they ruin your power bill if you use them all days.
I used it once as a ac power supply to run an old military aircraft radio , a old collins 618 hf transceiver which need 115V/400Hz to fire up , the output was set to 32 Ohms an the input driven with ma audio generator to clipping level. The amp did the job without grumble.😀
Homebrew MC-3500 clones
73
Wolfgang
I build 2 MC-3500 clones the other day. They easily able to drive 2 ohm load at 4 ohm setting. They are real arc welders and heavy as a tank. (70kg).
The sound of the amps is incredible , you feel the power of the amps, even at low levels. The amp employ 8 x 6P45S , the soviet pendant ofthe 6LQ6. But they ruin your power bill if you use them all days.
I used it once as a ac power supply to run an old military aircraft radio , a old collins 618 hf transceiver which need 115V/400Hz to fire up , the output was set to 32 Ohms an the input driven with ma audio generator to clipping level. The amp did the job without grumble.😀
Homebrew MC-3500 clones
73
Wolfgang
Attachments
Yes, a tube amp will drive under 2 ohms without failure. But the power reduction will be substantial. The power reduction is also instantaneous - like a very clean VI limiter kicking in because that’s really what’s happening when a tube runs out of current. You get less power (even peak power) at 2 ohms than at 4 ohms. For a solid state amplifier that would be unacceptable. Cheap “8 ohms only” receivers often limit like this, and the mechanisms they use are a whole lot dirtier than a tube simply running out of emission capability. Producing yuck sound and flirting with failure in the process.
A user can drive ANY high quality amplifier into clipping without realizing it. All it has to do is clip cleanly. Most tube amps do. Many solid state amps do. Many solid state amps do not.