I would have posted this in the home audio forums but
Jstas
Posts: 14,820
I don't think any of them would really care and I would just get needlessly and endlessly harrassed anyway.
The point is that I have been playing with this tube amp and Parametric EQ for a few weeks. I grabbed the EQ from a friend out near Pittsburgh and I built the amp myself earlier this year.
I'm sitting here listening to music. Just for the hell of it. Nothing else to do on a rainy Saturday afternoon. I've been switching between an all-digital setup I have and this Tube EQ and amp. The digital setup has a digital out CD player, pre-amp, EQ and then it goes to a Sansui amp. Roughly 12w x 2. Not a powerhouse, no but I'm comparing it to an 8w x 2 tube amp. I'm using the same set up speakers, a pair of KLH 17's. The tube amp is hooked up to the tube EQ and that is getting signal from a CD player on a line level output.
The digital setup is clean and clear and has a hell of a range. The range is so wide the older KLH's can't handle the full frequency band that it is playing. The EQ does a good job of limiting it though. I can crank the volume pretty hard before I get distortion. The response is kind of peaky but I am attributing that to the level settings of the various bands of the EQ being set the way they are.
Now the tube setup is much more simple than the digital setup. For it's simplicity, compared to the digital setup, it is surprisingly clean and clear. But, as with what is expected from tubes, the sound is much warmer. It is not as clean but it is extremely clear. The lack of cleanliness of the sound I think is attributable to the recording itself and not the system. Reason being is, if I run the more particularly dirty tracks through my brother's audio/video editing software, I can see the dirty info in the signal. Most of it is just hissing.
But given that, I have a few very clean, digitally mastered recordings. Playing those through each setup reveals alot. The digital setup will play very very loud with the cleaner recordings. It will play clean and the bandwidth with which the EQ is operating in can easily be expanded and increase the depth of the sound stage. Now the tube setup will play clean and clear as before but will not be able to play as loud as the digital setup and that is entirely understandable due to the nature of a tube circuit. However, the tube setup plays things in the recording that the digital setup just simply doesn't. You can't hear it all. The tube setup though allows you to hear alot of stuff. I can differentiate the sound of the lead guitar vs. the harmony guitar. When a drummer goes "round the world" on the set, you can hear the tonal change between each cymbal crash, each snare drum hit and even the difference in where and how a tympani or tom-tom was hit. When listing to jazz, I can hear the buzz of a clarinet or saxaphone reed. You can hear the popping of the valves closing on a flute. You can even pick out the 1st chair violinist. Key changes in the music are pronounced and noticable. I can even hear the musician taking a breath on some tracks! It's like the recording comes alive!
Now I understand that the level of the digital equipment is low and that higher end equipment would probably make much more of a difference but I don't have access to that right now. What I can say is that for what I paid for the tube setup vs. the digital setup, I can safely say that no digital system can come close to the quality for the price I paid. I can find a digital system to play louder but not cleaner, not yet at least. It's a big claim but every time I try somthing different to improve the sound, the tube setup just amazes me more and more.
The KLH 17's, just for some info, are speakers made in like 1967. They have a 3 inch cone tweeter with a 10 inch woofer in a common cabinet baffled and crossed-over. What the exact curve is I am not sure. It is a simple setup, looks alot like what you can buy at Radio Shack in kit form. I'll wager to say that it is not as primitive of a crossover though. The KLH 17 is an acoustic suspension speaker. That makes it very dynamic in its sound and it reacts to changes in the system very well. They don't seem to reach much belwo 35-30 Hz but for musicality, that is just fine. They won't hit as hard as some newer speakers but then again, I am only running 8 watts per channel. They sound incredible for speakers that are about 35 years old. They sparkle on the digital stup and are just flat out nummy on the tube setup!
OK, that's enough of that. Just rambling really.
The point is that I have been playing with this tube amp and Parametric EQ for a few weeks. I grabbed the EQ from a friend out near Pittsburgh and I built the amp myself earlier this year.
I'm sitting here listening to music. Just for the hell of it. Nothing else to do on a rainy Saturday afternoon. I've been switching between an all-digital setup I have and this Tube EQ and amp. The digital setup has a digital out CD player, pre-amp, EQ and then it goes to a Sansui amp. Roughly 12w x 2. Not a powerhouse, no but I'm comparing it to an 8w x 2 tube amp. I'm using the same set up speakers, a pair of KLH 17's. The tube amp is hooked up to the tube EQ and that is getting signal from a CD player on a line level output.
The digital setup is clean and clear and has a hell of a range. The range is so wide the older KLH's can't handle the full frequency band that it is playing. The EQ does a good job of limiting it though. I can crank the volume pretty hard before I get distortion. The response is kind of peaky but I am attributing that to the level settings of the various bands of the EQ being set the way they are.
Now the tube setup is much more simple than the digital setup. For it's simplicity, compared to the digital setup, it is surprisingly clean and clear. But, as with what is expected from tubes, the sound is much warmer. It is not as clean but it is extremely clear. The lack of cleanliness of the sound I think is attributable to the recording itself and not the system. Reason being is, if I run the more particularly dirty tracks through my brother's audio/video editing software, I can see the dirty info in the signal. Most of it is just hissing.
But given that, I have a few very clean, digitally mastered recordings. Playing those through each setup reveals alot. The digital setup will play very very loud with the cleaner recordings. It will play clean and the bandwidth with which the EQ is operating in can easily be expanded and increase the depth of the sound stage. Now the tube setup will play clean and clear as before but will not be able to play as loud as the digital setup and that is entirely understandable due to the nature of a tube circuit. However, the tube setup plays things in the recording that the digital setup just simply doesn't. You can't hear it all. The tube setup though allows you to hear alot of stuff. I can differentiate the sound of the lead guitar vs. the harmony guitar. When a drummer goes "round the world" on the set, you can hear the tonal change between each cymbal crash, each snare drum hit and even the difference in where and how a tympani or tom-tom was hit. When listing to jazz, I can hear the buzz of a clarinet or saxaphone reed. You can hear the popping of the valves closing on a flute. You can even pick out the 1st chair violinist. Key changes in the music are pronounced and noticable. I can even hear the musician taking a breath on some tracks! It's like the recording comes alive!
Now I understand that the level of the digital equipment is low and that higher end equipment would probably make much more of a difference but I don't have access to that right now. What I can say is that for what I paid for the tube setup vs. the digital setup, I can safely say that no digital system can come close to the quality for the price I paid. I can find a digital system to play louder but not cleaner, not yet at least. It's a big claim but every time I try somthing different to improve the sound, the tube setup just amazes me more and more.
The KLH 17's, just for some info, are speakers made in like 1967. They have a 3 inch cone tweeter with a 10 inch woofer in a common cabinet baffled and crossed-over. What the exact curve is I am not sure. It is a simple setup, looks alot like what you can buy at Radio Shack in kit form. I'll wager to say that it is not as primitive of a crossover though. The KLH 17 is an acoustic suspension speaker. That makes it very dynamic in its sound and it reacts to changes in the system very well. They don't seem to reach much belwo 35-30 Hz but for musicality, that is just fine. They won't hit as hard as some newer speakers but then again, I am only running 8 watts per channel. They sound incredible for speakers that are about 35 years old. They sparkle on the digital stup and are just flat out nummy on the tube setup!
OK, that's enough of that. Just rambling really.
Expert Moron Extraordinaire
You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you!
You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you!
Post edited by Jstas on
Comments
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Dude tubes kick ****, i'm goin with tubs for my car speakers
KLH made some badass speakers, my friend has a pair with the 15" woofer and they shake his whole house. hang onto those till they die Jstas.
Sounds like a pretty sweet setup from what you said of the clarity. Have fun with it bud Hemi: (HEM -e) adj. Mopar in type, V8, hot tempered, native to the United States, carnivorous, eats primarily Mustangs, Camaros, and Corvettes. Also enjoys smoking a good import now and then to relax. -
considereing you built your own amp --- you might wanna consider another project --- (not knocking your current ones but...) build your own speakers... two cabinets with 10" woofers, 6" mids, and 2" tweets.The Artist formerly known as PoweredByDodge
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Not sure exactly why you would want 2 inch tweeters. That would be overly harsh mind me. Not trying to deny that there is no good 2 inch tweeter out there (but is unheard of, or atleast I have never heard of it).
I would stick to a 1 inch dome tweeter, or possibly the Ring Radiator from Vifa.
Also might want a 6.5" or 5.25" Mid-bass. To round it off a 10 inch woofer, or possibly a subwoofer. That might do the project a tad more justice.
That with a thick enclosure, heavily braced, a good crossover mixed with some gold plated binding post and you should be rolling.- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
