? About Low Wattage Class A Amps

tonyb

Yashu......blow up any speakers in your lifetime?
Seeing that you like to turn the volume up past noon and all the way around....
Distortion must be musical to you....:eek:

Yashu

I have tried SET amps and various speakers, Troy... don't pretend to peep through my windows man, that's creepy.

Haha... the old amp thing... hell that was more than 15 years ago. It never clipped, I just wasn't expecting my new speaks to have such lower sensitivity. I was used to speakers with a very high sensitivity, so the modern stuff threw me off at first.

I have more than enough power now, hell, I even adjust the gain on my pre out so I can use more than 1/5 of the volume control. With a separates system it actually makes sense to use the most of your pre's volume, especially if you have an all class A pre, like most good ones are. That way, you are getting the most out of the class A gain stage, and also if you have an AB amp, it helps keep it biased towards A for a longer swath of DB.

Those old speakers are long gone, and the old amp is in the closet. It used to be my garage amp for a while when I had a garage. Mated nice to some vintage JBL 2500s.

TroyD

I form my opinions based on the fact that you don't seem to know a hell of a lot about tube amps.

Somehow, I think you inherited liv4fam's big bag of nothing.

BDT

Yashu

There you go again... don't make accusations Troy, unless you are peeping through my window... which, again, would be kindof creepy.

There is nothing I have said that is incorrect about tube amps so far, so perhaps you are also predicting future or alternate events? Peeping tom with ESP, that is... a not a comforting thought there, but since you may have ESP, you, perhaps, already knew what I was thinking?

I hope that you do not start another macho man war in audiophile land, I was kindof glad when the last one ended, and was hoping that you would keep your word, and you know... not instigate one?

Not that you can't disagree with what I have to say about SET amps, as if I expected you to actually agree with ME on anything! I could say the sky is blue and you would accuse me of having no knowledge of the sky, when what should be happening is you just stating that you think it is pink and then letting the conversation move on like intended. That is what a forum is for... discussion and debate.

TroyD

I'm not looking to start anything with you...in fact, if you go back, I never started anything with you in the first place. In point of REAL fact, I asked you SEVERAL times to not reply to me. So, at least get your facts correct.

Second, your point about a low powered tube amp being able to run a pair of Monitor 10's is horseshit, which causes me to wonder if you have experience with either lower powered amps and/or the Monitor 10's as what I and others have experienced doesn't square with what you are saying. In other words, we've looked into your big bag and there was nothing there.

BDT

Yashu

No offense, but you just aren't going to get much from a 2w SET amp on the 10s. The music might sound fine at lower volumes... most volumes even, but that is for the midrange and treble, the bass on the otherhand... anyway, SET amps are great, I don't mind the warm fuzzy sound of the pleasant harmonic distortion, I just wouldn't try to crank it, is all I am sayin', unless you have a 300B 9w per channel, then I can see most listening levels sounding wonderful, even taming the SL2000 a bit if you have one. When I say crank it, I don't mean concert level, I mean the level at which the sound envelopes you completely.

I do a lot of low volume listening (with tubes! imagine that), but it doesn't beat the dynamics of listening at a level where the sound... it just surrounds you almost. This is not ear deafening, but it is something I would desire in my system, and you would not quite get there with a little 2w SET amp on the monitor 10s, unless... you sat close enough I suppose.

Maybe we are thinking of different amps... There are 2w common SET (EL84? I know there is a less than 2w tube as well, don't remember...) amps, 6w EL34 amps, 9w 300b, all the way up to a 30w (which really WOULD power about anything within reason.)

I have not heard a 30w SET amp, I am sure it costs more than my car, but I have heard some of the lower watt SETs and various tubes, and various speakers, incl. vintage Polk. Did you know there was a huge audio community group here where I am living that meets every month..? I have heard all sorts of goodies, plenty to fill a bag.

Anyway, the OP said low wattage class A amps, and it doesn't get much lower than a 2w SET amp, so that became my example.

TroyD

The original conversation had NOTHING to DO with SET amps.

We were talking about lower powered amps, in general. YOU are the one that brought up the whole SET amp thing.

I've been looking into some of the lower wattage class A amps lately but have several questions about them. I'm most baffled about the volume level with these 8 wpc amps.

I, and other members, have run speakers like the Monitor 10's (and other similar speakers) to quite satisfying levels on amps between 8-15wpc. That's it. End of the story. Got anything else to add other than a derail? NO? Thanks for playing.

Back on the bozo list.

BDT

mhardy6647

Do I need to drag my 10s and my Paramours upstairs and put this to rest? :-)

I can tell y'all that 10s on an EICO HF-81 (14-ish wpc, PP EL84) sound just fine with all types of music I've tried. The 10s are actually fairly efficient; remember that they are in essence ported speakers (albeit with a somewhat bizarre LF impedance curve due to the PR). I probably already said all this before though...

sorry to intrude

TroyD

I'm whipped on the subject as well....

Those that don't know...well, they just don't know.

BDT

hypertone

stereo_luver wrote: »

I'm wondering how a pair of older Monitor 10's would sound? I've got a load of old Altec's, Jensen's & EV's somewhere and some horns and crossovers. I think I'm going to find some time to dig this stuff out and try and put together something just for fun. I knew I should hang onto that stuff for some reason.

I'm running 11W RMS into some Monitor 10's. Although I never listen at rockin' loud levels because I live in an apartment, I never feel I am lacking power. When I first got the monitor 10's, I was actually suprised at how well my amp (Tripath 2024C based) drove these speakers.

beardog03

are 8 ohm speaks better to use than 4 ?

treitz3

beardog03 wrote: »

are 8 ohm speaks better to use than 4 ?

That's a broad question.

beardog03

Would I get more from my tubes with 8 ?

I have gotten the impression that 8 ohms is easier to push

treitz3

Oh it's easier to push, but in my limited experience, it seems that tube amps don't have as much of a problem with lower impedances as with SS amps. Allow me to step back out of the conversation and let someone who is more knowledgeable/experienced with tubes chime in.

mhardy6647

You make better use of the output transformer's secondary winding using the higher-impedance taps. Thus, in the (first!) tube era, many loudspeakers were 16 ohm loads. My Valencias are 16 ohm speakers, and I use the 16 ohm tap for 'em with fine results.

The 10s are 6 ohms; whether the 8 or 4 ohm tap will sound better should be determined empirically :-)

An impedance mismatch of "up to 100 percent" (i.e., 4 ohm speakers on an 8 ohm tap, or vice versa) won't do any harm, although it will have some "tone control" effect on the frequency response (sort of like high-$$$ speaker cables and interconnects).

I'm ducking now! :-)

ohskigod

for note, I have heard Fireman32's setup with 8 watts push pull on RTA12b's (would make sense, since Dave's my friend and I sold him the gear )

I know the RTA 12's are above 90 in efficiency, but not sure ofthe exact figure.

you'd be very surprised how clean they sound, and downright stunned how the bass loaded up in his small livingroom at the time (he has since moved since I heard them)

sounded good. damn good. good enough to make his next serious purchase a turntable and NOT an amp or speaker upgrade.

Troy calls it right, youre not getting concert level volume, but it's loud and clean enough to move you, thats for sure.

Yashu

90+ sensitivity and 8+ watts and you should be ok for most listening. I mean... how often do audiophiles crank the volume anyway..? half of you guys don't even have a remote.

Systems

I got a remote....wheres the damn remote?

TroyD

Yashu wrote: »

90+ sensitivity and 8+ watts and you should be ok for most listening. I mean... how often do audiophiles crank the volume anyway..? half of you guys don't even have a remote.

That's what we've been saying all along. :rolleyes:

BDT

Yashu

Then why were you arguing with me! hehe... if we have been agreeing all along?

At least we agree, so I am looking at the bright side.

TroyD

You must be exhausted at the end of the day from switching feet so often.

BDT