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oliverstoned View Drop Down
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Points: 6308 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: High fidelity amplifiers
    Posted: September 02 2005 at 09:29
To answer Mike’s request, here’s a little presentation of amplifiers issue.

I Technology

There are two kinds of technologies in amplification: transistor and tubes.

The fact is that (good) tubes are better to reproduce medium/high frequencies while (good) transistor are better in the low.

II Integrated or power amps

An integrated amp is an amplifier which integrates the preamplifier section. So it’s in one box. It’s cheaper, but not the best.

Another way is to use power amps with a preamp. In this case, as the name suggests, the two parts (preamplification and power amplification) are separated.

To go further, it’s possible to use power mono blocks, which means that you use one power amplifier per channel (left/right), and in the case of a bi amplification where high and low are fed by different amps (tubes in the highs and transistor in the low for example), that can make a total of four mono blocks for the whole! (2 tubes mono blocks + 2 transistor mono blocks).

There are also others technics like tri-amplification and multi amplifications, but it’s not the most efficient.

Budget integrated transistor amplifier:
Nad c320



Excellent -but still affordable- transistor power amp (400W)



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oliverstoned View Drop Down
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Points: 6308 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2005 at 09:36
Serious transistor power amps -Goldmund-







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oliverstoned View Drop Down
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Points: 6308 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2005 at 09:43
Excellent integrated tube amp that can be turn easily into a still better power amp: Jolida



The same in bigger.



Conrad Johnson: the cream of tubes amps:

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Points: 6308 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2005 at 09:47
Top hybrid (mostly tube with transistor)preamplifier:
Counterpoint SA5000 with separated tube alimentation



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oliverstoned View Drop Down
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Points: 6308 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2005 at 09:49
Top transistor preamplier:

Mark Levinson 32 reference

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MikeEnRegalia View Drop Down
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Points: 21121 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2005 at 09:52

You don't like my Harman Kardon HK 620 ... what do you think about my previous one:

With operation strongly biased into Class A, the A1 is a conceptually innovative product in both internal and external design, and its sound qualities make it a hot favourite among enthusiasts.

The Class A bias eliminates the vast majority of changes in distortion and power supply noise that can degrade sound quality, giving a recognisably "creamy" sound.

Paired with efficient loudspeakers, such as the MC-1, MC-2 or MC-4, the A1 gives an exceptional performance.

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oliverstoned View Drop Down
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Points: 6308 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2005 at 09:59
I don't know this special one, but yes, Musical Fidelity is a good brand, and class A amp are better in the highs than normal ones. It closer to tube sound.

I've got a friend who owns a Musical Fidelity F18, which is a monstruous (and excellent) 600W power amp. He uses it in the low in a bi-amp. It's very heavy too!



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oliverstoned View Drop Down
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Points: 6308 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2005 at 10:20
Yeah, it's considered a good integrated amplifier, well known of audiophiles.
Don't you make a mistake to replace it by a Harman Kardon?
Unless it was dead?
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oliverstoned View Drop Down
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Points: 6308 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 03 2005 at 06:16
KORA (Excellent french gear)



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MikeEnRegalia View Drop Down
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Points: 21121 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 03 2005 at 07:20
With these tubes exposed like that, it's obvious that they pick up all kinds of electromagnetic interferences. I guess you have to decide whether you want an amp that looks cool, or sounds good ... or you remove all electronic devices from the room ...
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Points: 6308 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 04 2005 at 07:12
Originally posted by MikeEnRegalia MikeEnRegalia wrote:

With these tubes exposed like that, it's obvious that they pick up all kinds of electromagnetic interferences. I guess you have to decide whether you want an amp that looks cool, or sounds good ... or you remove all electronic devices from the room ...


It sounds better than any transistor amp, and on theback it looks good.
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oliverstoned View Drop Down
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Points: 6308 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 05 2005 at 04:19
Originally posted by MikeEnRegalia MikeEnRegalia wrote:

With these tubes exposed like that, it's obvious that they pick up all kinds of electromagnetic interferences. I guess you have to decide whether you want an amp that looks cool, or sounds good ... or you remove all electronic devices from the room ...


To reply to you, know that it exists some pieces that you put on your tubes to make a
You have that in the mac Intosh tubes tuners for example.
It can happens that a tube amplifier get a frequency, be sensitive to a mobile phone in the room, which can generates a noise. Little problems which always find a solution, by removing the pollution’s source.
Moreover, know that these kind of tubes are military tubes, so very resistant, originally designed to go into Russian tanks, and designed to work even after a nuclear explosion...
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