NOSValves Posted December 19, 2004 Share Posted December 19, 2004 ---------------- On 12/18/2004 2:52:22 PM mdeneen wrote: Dean-- What are the five black square pieces they look about like MOSFET transistors??? Unusual construction. mdeneen ---------------- Those five black square pieces resemble bridge rectifier I have seen before. Although I'm not sure why the amp would need 5 of them. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted December 19, 2004 Author Share Posted December 19, 2004 A close up of those things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted December 19, 2004 Author Share Posted December 19, 2004 Back to the top (left channel). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted December 19, 2004 Author Share Posted December 19, 2004 Next section (panning down). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted December 20, 2004 Author Share Posted December 20, 2004 This thing is growing on me in a big way. I can go from 0 to 160 and the sound just doesn't change, and I can't get the thing to clip -- at least, not that I can hear. It can easily hit the levels reached by the QUADs, and does it just as effortlessly. The biggest difference is that I'm getting my fill at 85-95db instead of 100-110db. There is just more of everything early on. I've finally decided I'm not very good at describing the sound of things -- but I see the VAC hanging around for a while. Something I thought of earlier today is the max gain of the Peach. Isn't it something like 40db? If so, then it's not surprising that I should have to turn it down so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 Dean, I run my Blueberry at 9:00 also with everything except vinyl, then it's noon. This waiting for the next picture to come up is like a soap opera. "Come back tomorrow for the next anventure in Ampland. Will Dean keep VAC for a while or dump her like a wet hankie? Do the resistors get red hot? Tune in tomorrow!" Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 The VAC is nicely put together. I know tidy wiring doesn't necessarily point to something sounding good - but it's a start isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted December 20, 2004 Author Share Posted December 20, 2004 True, but when you see attention to detail -- it's makes things sound better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 Dean, Mark, You all should have a look at the Mesa/Boogie site. Someone had posted about a Mesa Stereo tube amp he got off of ebay. They have a new 12 tube 'audiophile' amp with 12 6L6 output tubes. You can stet some of the tubes for ultralinear and some for triode AT THE SAME time. Pretty interesting. It's under the audiophile link. It's the Mesa Baron. http://www.mesaboogie.com/Product_Info/For_Audiophiles/The_Baron/the_baron.htm Marvel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 great before pictures - before DeanG mods the h*ll outa them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 Mark, You are probably correct about all the mumbo jumbo. I guess I had never thought of them making something beyond guitar and bass amps, but they obviously have the right resources to do it. Although it isn't a cheap amp, I can't imagine how expensive it might be if they only make hi fi gear. I'm just happy to have my Dynaco up and running again. Marvel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfogg Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 "Hasn't the Baron been around a while?" It has been discontinued for a few years at this point. I think they had a mod that would allow EL34s as well. They also had an integrated amp (Tigris or something like that) which uses a combination of EL84 and 6v6 for output tubes. Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 It is still listed as a current amp on their website. You can use 5881, E34L, KT99, and not in the discontinued category. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysal Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 I almost bought the Tigris, which was the integrated, lower powered version of the Baron. I was thrilled by the idea of being able to flip a switch and have different amp sounds on hand. pentode power? flip the switch, strapped to triode for smooth, sweet sound? flip the switch. I ended up putting a switch on my mkIVs to allow the same functionality. still, a great idea. tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 ---------------- It seems people are building amps with far too much gain these days. My guess is so people can plug CD players directly into them. The idea that this amp has so much gain, could also be adding significantly to the noise on the outputs. mdeneen (Paul - yes the Peach and BlueBerry output level controls are set the same - 6:00 o'clock position = 0.) ---------------- See, this I don't understand. I just got off the phone with George Wright (someone here wanted pics of the AU-30 ) and we were discussing this whole fascination with the "tube amp sound" that most people looking for tubes think they want - that warm, fuzzy, non-linear whatever-the-hell it is. He told me about one guy who bought his amps and declared that they were the best sounding thing he ever bought - but "they didn't have enough bass" - George told him that he builds his amps with the "straight wire with gain" philosophy in mind - no tone control, no "bass boost", just the sound of the source. End result, the guy returned the amps, George gave him his money back, shaking his head at the idea that this guy was somehow expecting an amp that artificially added bass to the source signal, and that an amp that he admitted was better than anything else he'd ever heard wasn't good enough because it didn't color the source material... Oh well. His loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piranha Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 You can certainly tell a good recording from a horrible one with no tone controls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 ---------------- On 12/20/2004 4:44:41 PM Piranha wrote: You can certainly tell a good recording from a horrible one with no tone controls. ---------------- That was what I suggested as a reason. People listening to their favorite recordings on ultra-linear systems that present the source nearly perfectly discover that those recordings sound awful, and they want to try and "fix" them with EQ. I say if that's your deal, go buy a frickin' EQ. Hell, I'll sell you my Furman dual 30-band for $300. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted December 20, 2004 Author Share Posted December 20, 2004 "It seems people are building amps with far too much gain these days. My guess is so people can plug CD players directly into them. The idea that this amp has so much gain, could also be adding significantly to the noise on the outputs." "See, this I don't understand... I think Mark is talking about one thing, and you are talking about another. It has become more and more popular to drive the signal from a CD player with just a passive preamp. CD direct is popular too, where you have a player with a volume control. Higher gain amplifiers better accomodate these ways of doing things. Whether Kevin Hayes, the designer had this on his mind when he worked out the details of the amp's operation is open to speculation. More than likely, he just built it to work the best with his preamps. The irony of this is that I steered away from the 805 tube because I figured there would be a lot of gain in the driver stage, and so more noise. So, I have a little bit of noise - there are worse things for a headbanger. "...I just got off the phone with George Wright...and we were discussing this whole fascination with the "tube amp sound" that most people looking for tubes think they want - that warm, fuzzy, non-linear whatever-the-hell it is." The tube amp "sound" covers a lot of territory. The interest in tubes lies in the discovery of how much cleaner they sound -- and this regardless of topology. What people "want" is the natural, unforced nature of the sound that comes with them. From there, they begin to move around within the color spectrum. Nothing wrong with that. Hey, there's as much difference between different solid state amps. "He told me about one guy who bought his amps and declared that they were the best sounding thing he ever bought - but "they didn't have enough bass" - George told him that he builds his amps with the "straight wire with gain" philosophy in mind - no tone control, no "bass boost", just the sound of the source." Kind of a major oversimplification in my book. What, he would argue the source has no bass? LOL. Sound in my home is measured against the live event. Good bass is the foundation of music. I have to agree that he builds with the "straight wire" with gain philosophy -- the last time I looked underneath one of his amps that's about what I saw. "End result, the guy returned the amps, George gave him his money back, shaking his head at the idea that this guy was somehow expecting an amp that artificially added bass to the source signal, and that an amp that he admitted was better than anything else he'd ever heard wasn't good enough because it didn't color the source material..." Wish I knew what he meant by bass "boost". I have a feeling he means increasing the damping factor by adding feedback. If so, I don't think I can agree that this "artifically" boosts bass. I can't believe he actually believes his amps don't "color" the source material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysal Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 I am not ashamed of EQ...many recordning need it, heck many systems need it to sound thier best. thus straight wire with gain is not always the be-all and end-all for most of us. I use my tone controls, I love my tube amp, I enjoy my music. Flat response is for the bird IMHO. tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted December 20, 2004 Author Share Posted December 20, 2004 Not so uncommon to see EQ built into networks too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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