Quick, possibly silly question re: Pilot 232

[GordonW]

Not by any means. The OPTs on the 240 are about half the size of those on the 232.

Dave

True- but, the SM-245, which, IIRC, uses larger OPTS than the 240, are fixed bias, whereas the SA-232 is cathode bias.

That means that the SM-245 can be set for lower idle bias- and if modded with individual bias pots for each output tube (highly recommended, IMHO), more accurately matched idle current between the two output tubes, compared to the SA-232- which makes the OPTs in the integrated amps capable of more power for their size, before saturation might take place. This makes up, somewhat, for the smaller transformer cores- there's less bass response/power difference between the SA-232 and the SM-245 than might seem to be indicated by the difference in OPT physical size...

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[dcgillespie]

Gordon -- The 240 to which I am referring to is Pilot's lower tier integrated amplifier (also what the OP was referring to and which I commented on), which is definitely a cathode biased unit. Of course, so is the SA-232. You are now referring to an SA-240, and an SA-245, which I am not familiar with, and is not the model number of the integrated unit I am referring to (which is simply the 240). Are the amplifiers you are referring to basic stereo amplifiers like Pilot's SA-232 and SA-260?

Dave

 

[GordonW]

Gordon -- The 240 to which I am referring to is Pilot's lower tier integrated amplifier (also what the OP was referring to and which I commented on), which is definitely a cathode biased unit. Of course, so is the SA-232. You are now referring to an SA-240, and an SA-245, which I am not familiar with, and is not the model number of the integrated unit I am referring to (which is simply the 240). Are the amplifiers you are referring to basic stereo amplifiers like Pilot's SA-232 and SA-260?

Dave

Sorry, I meant 240 and SM-245- NOT SA-240 or SA-245.

Mine was an SM-245A. Definitely both are integrated amps... and the SM-245A has fixed bias, for sure.

I remembered there being more similarity between the 240 and the SM-245 than there was in practice- they are more different than I recall! The 240, unless converted to fixed bias, will deliver significantly less power than either the SA-232 or the SM-245- and even with fixed bias, the smaller cores will prevent it from making even what the SM-245 did.

I will correct the designation in my post above...

Regards
Gordon.