Valves consigned to history?

[Tony_R]

Valves, like vinyl and turntables, seems to have been undergoing a gradual revival over the years - although valves still have many disadvantages against silicon, such as massive amounts of heat output and large size.

As for your comments on opamp rolling - this refers primarily to small signal circuitry rather than power output stages.

The vast majoriy of transistor amplifiers over 60w still use discrete output stages as against IC's / opamps.

Even discrete designs still have their own sonic signature, just like an Opamp. An Opamp after all, is merely a collection of discrete transistors embedded on the same silicon substrate.

Certainly different opamps do sound different - there is no question about that - and this is down to different topologies, i.e. circuit design, layout and type of transistor used e.g. FET or Bipolar.

There are also many desings out there claiming to be valve powered, but I know of at least one design that uses valves as a driver stage, driving generic TDAxxxx power output chips. Yes, it has that familiar valve sound, rich in second harmonic distortion which is more friendly to the ears apparently - whereas transistor designs produce more third harmonic distortion, which is unkind to the ears.

However, hybrid designs cannot mask this third order distortion...

Sorry for the length of this post (for those still reading)

Tony.

 

[PJPro]

No, thanks for that Tony_R. I'm interested in what you have to say.

My experience at the moment is strictly limited to headphone amps which just about all use transistors. There are exceptions.....but not that many. It's amazing how few bits you have to string together to get something which sounds really rather good.

The point I was trying to make when I posted this thread was that not so long ago I viewed valves as non-audiophile...due to colouration. I now realise that this was me being silly.....and am considering trying out some valve amps (headphone) in the future. However, that's gonna have to wait until I've got a really decent transistor amp. I've even tracked down a soruce for my boutique parts thanks to this thread!

 

[Tony_R]

I think older valve designs were perhaps guilty of 'colouring' the sound.

However newer designs are quite neutral sounding.

I recall reading an article about valve designs, and the author mentioned a discussion with (I think..) Tim de Paravicini, who if i recall correctly, was responsible for some of the esoteric EAR designs back in the 70's - and the author quoted Tim as saying that he (Tim) could design a valve amp to sound like a transistor amp if so desired - and vice versa.**

And indeed I believe there are some valve designs out there, with the so called "transistor sound" - just as there are transistor designs, particularly Mosfet power amps - that do replicate the valve sound to a certain degree.

**I hope my jaded memory recalls this correctly!

Tony.

 

[Anonymous]

PJPro:It's amazing how few bits you have to string together to get something which sounds really rather good.

Definitely, reading the cmoy amp articles it is surprising how little you need to hook together. A valve amp does sound like an interesting idea, certainly there are cheap versions coming from China, so the component cost can be low.ÿ

ÿHeadphone amps seem like a great place to explore, a combined dac / headphone amp is something I'd like to find time to make.ÿ

 

[matengawhat]

my little dot MK III headphone amp has just been delivered to my home but i am stuck in the office now till five hate having new toys sat at home - thought wasn't going to get for Xmas since only ordered it from China on Thursday last week. So new amp and headphones to set up tonight and relax with.......

 

[the record spot]

Tony_R:

...Tim de Paravicini, who if i recall correctly, was responsible for some of the esoteric EAR designs back in the 70's - and the author quoted Tim as saying that he (Tim) could design a valve amp to sound like a transistor amp if so desired - and vice versa

He still does Tony; I know of at least one dealer (Retro Reproduction in Edinburgh) who carries new EAR stock as an authorised stockist. Bound to be a few more out there I'm sure.