ka7niq Posted December 23, 2017 Share Posted December 23, 2017 In lived in Seattle, and Bob Carver taught me something I would like to pass on to those of you that may not know about it. Will this make your solid state amp sound exactly like a Tube Amp, not exactly. But, Bob Carver did that, and demonstrated it to Stereophile. In fact, I picked Bob up from Sea-Tac airport when he flew back home to Seattle from New Mexico. I heard it at Bob's home in Snohomish for myself on Bob's Dahlquist DQ 10's. Bob had a Conrad - Johnson tube amp, and his transfer function modified transistor amp he demonstrated to Stereophile, and the 2 amps sounded absolutely identical. To make your solid state amp sound more tube like, here is what you do, buy some 20 to 25 watt resistors like these http://www.electronicsurplus.com/vishay-dale-electronics-cpwn20-3-resistor-power-0-3-ohm-20w, then place only one resistor in series with one of your speaker terminals. Bob suggested buying 3 of these resistors (6 total) starting at 1/4 ohm, 1/2 ohm, and 1 ohm. The more resistance you use, the more tube like your amp will become, however, past 1 ohm on most speakers, the bass will get sloppy past 1 ohm. The resistors can be inductive or non inductive, feel free to experiment with both kinds. This is a quick and dirty little trick that will change your sound, give it a try. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richieb Posted December 23, 2017 Share Posted December 23, 2017 I'm sure its quick and Dirty for sure. I'll pass. Nelson Pass -- 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ka7niq Posted December 23, 2017 Author Share Posted December 23, 2017 1 minute ago, richieb said: I'm sure its quick and Dirty for sure. I'll pass. Nelson Pass -- LOL, yes, if you are fortunate enough to have a Nelson Pass amp, no need for this 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjptkd Posted December 23, 2017 Share Posted December 23, 2017 I love Bob Carver, as much as Paul Klipsch, both are my audio heros. That being said I have Sunfire amps that have the "current source" output with I believe what you described added in at the factory. Besides eating up 100 watts of power they really seem to "muddy" up the sound to me on horn speakers although I did like the sound on my old Carver Ribbon speakers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ka7niq Posted December 23, 2017 Author Share Posted December 23, 2017 4 minutes ago, jjptkd said: I love Bob Carver, as much as Paul Klipsch, both are my audio heros. That being said I have Sunfire amps that have the "current source" output with I believe what you described added in at the factory. Besides eating up 100 watts of power they really seem to "muddy" up the sound to me on horn speakers although I did like the sound on my old Carver Ribbon speakers. I left Seattle in 1989. My friend Mark Ormiston owns Definitive Audio, that is how I met Bob. I was a Pacific Northwest Audio Society member back then. Bob and Diane Carver had a home in Snohomish. I also breifly met Paul Klipsch at Cobo Hall in Detroit when I was a teenager ( I am 63 now) He had a big Bullshit button on 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted December 23, 2017 Share Posted December 23, 2017 Why not buy an amp that IMPARTS a sound... There are many choices to choose from and most all of them sound different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ka7niq Posted December 23, 2017 Author Share Posted December 23, 2017 51 minutes ago, Schu said: Why not buy an amp that IMPARTS a sound... There are many choices to choose from and most all of them sound different. Of course, they do But a few dollars for some resistors can surely change the sound of an amplifier. And, so can room correction schemes. In fact, I am getting ready to run MCACC this evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimjimbo Posted December 23, 2017 Share Posted December 23, 2017 Or, just get a pair of Mcintosh MC30's, an MX110Z preamp, and call it a day..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ka7niq Posted December 23, 2017 Author Share Posted December 23, 2017 3 minutes ago, jimjimbo said: Or, just get a pair of Mcintosh MC30's, an MX110Z preamp, and call it a day..... Or, go see the Michigan Wolverines play here in Tampa at the Outback Bowl, and forget this audio addiction for a day 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted December 23, 2017 Share Posted December 23, 2017 20 minutes ago, jimjimbo said: Or, just get a pair of Mcintosh MC30's, an MX110Z preamp, and call it a day..... Sure, but kind of expensive. There are other avenues that net similar results for much less money. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimjimbo Posted December 24, 2017 Share Posted December 24, 2017 Or, go see the Michigan Wolverines play here in Tampa at the Outback Bowl, and forget this audio addiction for a day [emoji4] I wish.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wstrickland1 Posted December 24, 2017 Share Posted December 24, 2017 2 hours ago, ka7niq said: Or, go see the Michigan Wolverines play here in Tampa at the Outback Bowl, and forget this audio addiction for a day The ***** are gonna whip that ***... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldred Posted December 24, 2017 Share Posted December 24, 2017 2 hours ago, jimjimbo said: Or, just get a pair of Mcintosh MC30's, an MX110Z preamp, and call it a day..... Couldn't have said it any better. If you want tube sound .....buy tubes....Simple George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wstrickland1 Posted December 24, 2017 Share Posted December 24, 2017 Lol, the Gamecox are going to win the game handily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted December 24, 2017 Moderators Share Posted December 24, 2017 Here is the article from Stereophile. He did a tad more than wire in a resistor in series to get his $700 SS amp to sound like a CJ 4, and Bob wasn't told what it was until years later. Thank you for reminding me of this great story. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimjimbo Posted December 24, 2017 Share Posted December 24, 2017 Lol, the Gamecox are going to win the game handilyHere we go.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ka7niq Posted December 24, 2017 Author Share Posted December 24, 2017 Here is some more discussion http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/1-5-ohm-resistor-in-series-with-speaker.250403/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searing75 Posted December 24, 2017 Share Posted December 24, 2017 My MC2105 magically sounds tube like, while providing that strong SS power! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted December 24, 2017 Share Posted December 24, 2017 not much magic as to why Mac SS gear sounds like tube gear, did you not know that it is transformer coupled at the output? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ka7niq Posted December 24, 2017 Author Share Posted December 24, 2017 2 hours ago, wdecho said: Not to belittle Bob for he is a giant in amplifier design but he only duplicated the sound of one tube amplifier probably a push pull one. Not all tube amplifiers sound the same. There is plenty of information on how he did this challenge on the web. Duplicating the sound of a single ended triode with SS is much harder to pull off. Most all SS amps are trying to duplicate the sound of a tube amplifier with much more power. Some do a better job than others. With our efficient speakers one can achieve excellent sound using a modest priced tube amplifier vs a SS amplifier that will cost much more to sound as good. Those that have those conventional 85db speakers are the ones that need to spend much more money for a SS amplifier that will sound as good as a modest priced tube amplifier using our speakers. This debate has been going on since the introduction of sand devices and will continue far into the future. Nelson Pass from all accounts designed a SS amplifier that sounds very much like a single ended triode (SE 300B) using a special one of kind transistor that has curves that resemble a triode tube. Most all transistors have curves that resemble a pentode tube though there are some newer ones that are showing promise appearing on the market for other fields and not specifically designed for audio. The guitar amplifier guys are using computer modeled solid state amps and DSP to emulate a Tube Sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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