Jeff Matthews Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 Solid state amplifiers in general are rated "with both channels driven at full output". The reason they spec them like this is because solid state has lower distortion at the top of its operating range -- at the bottom the numbers don't look so hot. Interesting. I saw on mine where they show how THD goes from less than .05% at 20Hz through 1 kHz, then, increasing linearly to .1% at 20kHz based on frequency at 500 watts. That's not the same as what you said. I wonder what the distortion is at lower outputs. I always though distortion was lower at lower outputs and higher at higher outputs. Mine also shows less than .05% IMD from less than 164 milliwatts to 520 watts at 26dB gain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 Jeff, With very high effiency speakers the figure to find is the THD+Noise at 100mW. I am planning a complete rebuild of my 300B SET amp to seperate the power supply and amplifier sections. There is a minimum residual 60 cycle output of 0.0015to 0.002VAC which is audible on the Khorns. Put another way, that is it's "only" about 40Db down at full output of 8 Watts. The hum is inaudible with music but is in a frequency range that our ears are not most sensitive to. If such a noise were at say 3Khz, it would appear as harshness. Bi-polar transistors in class AB or B complimentary push/pull can exhibit such harshness because they each turn on or off sharply at .7VDC. That can generate harmonic spikes and noise. With a careful design's selection of bias point, carefull component selection and lower effiency speakers, this so called "notch distortion" can be mitigated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrestonTom Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 "Bi-polar transistors in class AB or B complimentary push/pull can exhibit such harshness because they each turn on or off sharply at .7VDC. That can generate harmonic spikes and noise. With a careful design's selection of bias point, carefull component selection and lower effiency speakers, this so called "notch distortion" can be mitigated." The thread has certainly gone of topic, but in reply to the above point .... This has been the standard argument. However, Class B solid state is not all that common, so we can dismiss that. While, I believe, Class A/B actually is biased for "A" at lower levels and AB at higher levels. Since the notch or crossover distortion is a function of (and measured as) a percent of output, then the distortion is relatively low at high output (hence the perference for that spec by the manufacturer). So really you need to address your argument regarding the distortion of Class A solid state amps. Good luck, -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 I knew that! I was playing along to see if I was right.... That is, that you need to spend $10k on an SS amp to compete with a $3k set of tube blocks. [] No you have it wrong I wasn't referring to excellent sound. For that in SS you have to spend about 30K......... and about 5K in tubes. I'm talking amp preamp combo's. The price disparity from good sound to excellent sound is extreme. Just like going from a quick drag racing car to a fast car. Craig Wow, the disparity is now $25k. That's how much I can "save?" [] No in your case with your listening habits you have no need to change anything. When you push your Klipsch speakers too and beyond thier limits your going to hear the same out of almost any amplifier that isn't 100% into clipping. The speakers were never designed for those levels. At those levels the speakers/room are the bottle neck on the sound and not what is driving them. In other words your playing them beyond there intended output level. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 then why does Klipsch list a max SPL . of 121 dB ..?? your saying this spec is ...bogus ..?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triode Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 then why does Klipsch list a max SPL . of 121 dB ..?? your saying this spec is ...bogus ..?? The spec doesn't say it will sound good. - which it won't Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRBILL Posted March 4, 2006 Author Share Posted March 4, 2006 Let's see now. My memory isn't as good as it used to be. Oh, yes! It was tweeters wasn't it? Crites Tweeters![:@] DRBILL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 Speaking of tweeters.................. I'll break my silence by saying I can't imagine going back to the K77s. At first I was afraid they were a bit too bright but either they've broken in nicely or my ears have adjusted. They definitely improve the high-end and allow more detail to come through without any shrillness. Very smooth sounding. I really didn't think I could suck any more detail out of my system but these tweeters did it. I'm very impressed. Nice job Bob! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 That's what I'm talkin about. They are musical little rascals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 Mine are due Monday. Maybe I should, uh, "work" from home...;^) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 Mine are due Monday. Maybe I should, uh, "work" from home...;^) Yes, that's a good idea. Have a bottle of Vin breathing for the arrival of the UPS guy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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