codhead

---------------- On 4/24/2005 9:41:32 PM ben. wrote: I do realize that most of you guys were probably just trying to crack a joke, and that if you were a guest in my home (or vice versa), you'd listen with an open mind if I played you something that I liked. Just making a point. ---------------- I remember being in a situation like that. A friend told me I had to hear a song by Ice T & Body Count. First thing that went through my head was "Man, this is gonna suck." Turned out to be a Hendrix Tribute CD, with Ice T singing "Hey Joe". For anyone who likes Hendrix, give this a listen. The man can really sing.

This guy installs a blue LED under a functioning tube in his DAC to give it "Kind of a gassy 300B in miniature vibe." An orange LED, and you could add tube power to almost anything (up to an EL84 or so).

Hey, I wanna be a VRD when I grow up!

---------------- On 4/19/2005 2:55:01 AM edwinr wrote: This is not all that SET amplifiers do. They also appear to compress the signal somewhat. I believe they do this because they are limited in outright power, and as a result the dynamic range of the music being reproduced is limited. They sound somewhat louder subjectively, because the signal is compressed. This is not intended to be a criticism of SET. The very characteristics I have identified, combine to present a sound that is highly palatable to many people. ---------------- I can remember listening to my folk's big tube console as a kid. The early FM stations seemed to have a lot more range and clarity, but music on a strong AM station just had a kind of relaxing smoothness to it. While SET amps can hardly be compared to AM radio, I find they do have a very smooth, listenable presentation. I've found SETs to be more enjoyable on vocals from artists which tend to sound a little raspy to begin with, but probably not as true to their original sound. A SET also seems to take the edge off of some music (like a sax solo, or loud brass instruments), but IMHO it can also add too much of a good thing to lower piano registers and acoustic bass.

---------------- On 4/18/2005 10:06:40 PM tillmbil wrote: Very interesting read. Codhead, I really like your style in that you never lost control and for that reason this thread has been very civil. Set amps--just haven't bit on those yet. It does concern me when some of you say ignore the facts, figures and information from articles like those presented and go with your ears. Then we will turn around and say buy an amp because it has good specs. It seems the only amps that should be bought with a few parts with poor specs are set amps. Just an outsider's view. I can tell you that the Yamaha M80's you mention at 90dbs have way more bass slam and over all sound quality than my newer 85wpc Yammie...go figure. I prefer tubes to SS, and more watts to less...set amps aside. My MC240 sounded better than my St70, and my VRD's sound better than the MC240. As noted by all listeners/visitors. The visitors did have claim to musical knowledge,,,one Florida Orchestra Musician...one band member...and one wannabe band member. friends of course. ---------------- Well, this one was all on style - Dean's got a pretty good handle on the substance side of things. He's probably better looking, so he'd always win if we were lawyers. If SET amps were almost any other product, they'd be giving them away. Not exactly impressive from the spec side, but somehow they manage to sound pretty good despite themselves. My M80's are nearing retirement age (in SS amp years). Think they were about the end of the line for the really well built Yamaha gear. They're currently in semi-retirement, waiting for an especially noisy neighbor to call them back to duty. IMHO, the MC240 is about as classy as a tube amp gets. I've seen a couple of places that do beautiful restorations. That's the kind of industrial art that I could just stare at for hours on end. I like the new 275, but I can't understand why they put stickers on the transformer covers, and those big funny-looking rings around the output tube sockets.

Looks like something "marked it's territory" on the side of one.