transcendence masterpiece vs. tubes4hifi SP14

[johnnycamp5]

Roys a real treat to work with and his products speak for themselves. I like the tubes enclosed.

DITTO!!

I’ll never forget the night I was listening to my recently completed ANK kit 1- 300 B S.E.T. amp...through my high sensitivity 4pi speakers.

Tubes exposed on top.
I was rolling at a pretty high level that night, somewhere around 87db average on my cheesy I-phone db meter.
As I was enjoying the sound as a proud new builder, I was in heaven....
until my cell phone rang through my loudspeakers!

Then it hit me....the original tube amp designers put these amps (and tubes) in enclosures (Faraday cages) for a reason!

Back in the day tubes where not "nostalgia", they were simply the only amplification device.
After that night I realized something.... The real reason I like tube circuits is for the SOUND!

 

[canton]

The sound is the whole deal to me. Some guys have a museum of audio but hardly listen then if they do it is to pop or some lightwght stuff. I know PC PC if you enjoy it that is all that matters. Specs were a big deal with like old tuners and it helped me pick up tuners, some old rough looking tube amps can fool me and blow my mind. But it has to all match up for it to be melt into the music set up. Sometimes it happens by accident usually by just screwing around and wondering what would these sound like together. Think I am going to try that with an old pair of Klipsh speakers in the next week or two.

 

[Lavane]

DITTO!!

I’ll never forget the night I was listening to my recently completed ANK kit 1- 300 B S.E.T. amp...through my high sensitivity 4pi speakers.

Tubes exposed on top.
I was rolling at a pretty high level that night, somewhere around 87db average on my cheesy I-phone db meter.
As I was enjoying the sound as a proud new builder, I was in heaven....
until my cell phone rang through my loudspeakers!

Then it hit me....the original tube amp designers put these amps (and tubes) in enclosures (Faraday cages) for a reason!

Back in the day tubes where not "nostalgia", they were simply the only amplification device.
After that night I realized something.... The real reason I like tube circuits is for the SOUND!

Cages were put on to keep the hot tubes from being touched and protected. I only have one amp with a cage. Its cathode biased so I can't adjust the bias anyway. Another I never bought the cage because I hate having to remove it just to make adjustments to the bias. Especially with new tubes, they may need a few adjustments until they settle in. Many amps that were installed in consoles never had cages because there were no worries about anyone getting to close to the hot bits or exposed circuitry. I'm one that likes having the tubes exposed for easy access and the glow is nice to see. If I had small children about, I would probably use cages. Its hard to see a tube flash, arc or red plate with a cover over them. Being able to see a tube short out probably saved one of my amps from more damage being able to see the problem and shut it down fast.

 

[johnnycamp5]

With hot tubes,
I did have kids I was worried about for a while, but now they are teenagers and know better.

My mono blocks can be bias adjusted from the back, without removing the cages.

 

[canton]

Nothing like the glow of the tubes at night and the feeling of being in the music like right now with Lowell Fulsom a Eur pc on Arholie Records what a collection of recordings they put out, every time I am at a record show I see Arhoolie I just grab it Schwartz had an ear for the blues. And the older guys who designed amps knew what they were listening for and passed it on...............