Ozzy,
I understand , my speakers are 14 ohms and it seems as though my amplifier is just coasting along very relaxed and natural.
Charles
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Driving easier speaker loads (high impedance) should be beneficial for all types of amplifiers and not limited to just tube power amplifiers.
Charles |
Sophia Electric. com, their own site.
TJ Full Music tubes
1 DIY HIFI Supply
2 tubes-sale.com
3 Grant Fidelity. com
Charles |
Agree that’s there’s some method of selecting/rejecting tubes from the original vendor TJ Full Music. I was just making the point that they’re re-branded tubes under the Sophia name.
Charles |
Hi Ozzy,
TJ Full Music is the parent Chinese manufacturer. Sophia supposedly is selected from the "better" grade tubes made by TJ Full Music. Sophia doesn’t have their own tube making capacity/facilities.
Charles |
Full Music is the source for Sophia tubes.
Charles |
Yep, Ozzy you went from an easy load to an exceptionally easy load. 😊
Charles |
Ozzy,
Your results make sense, the OTL reveals more of its ultimate sonic performance driving the higher/easier impedance load. I bet your system sounds terrific, Congratulations.
Charles |
Ozzy,
When you described the Atma-Sphere as more natural sounding than the Pass Labs, case closed IMO. What's more desirable than improving that elusive characteristic? Natural = organic= realism.
Charles |
Hi Ozzy, IMO there's no specific areas to really analyze. I'd just listen to a variety of music you enjoy. Your ears and spontaneous response to what you hear will determine the best combination for your listening. Charles |
Ozzy,
I'm interested in your findings with the Zeros due to mixed results I've read about. Your easily driven speakers could sound better without the transformers.
Charles |
Hi Ozzy, I certainly acknowledge and give credit for a well thought out long term upgrade/updating pathway. Charles
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Ozzy,
Thanks and I sure you understand my observatIonal comment. Read the threads on Audiogon and many other audio forums and they're full of people discussing their various journeys through the maze of audio equipment over the years.
At some point some do finally find what they've been looking for. Relatively few build their first system and retain all the initial components for life. That's all I am pointing out. A friend of mine has the same Audio Research power amplifier he bought new in the 1980s. He's the exception rather than the rule.
Charles |
I understand their are people who hang on to their components/speakers for life. in addition to yours there are "lifer' ARC,CJ, Krell, McIntosh etc. They exist but don't make up the majority of the audiophile community. I suspect many more of them over their life rotate through much equipment. Charles |
Ralph, I am not disputing that you have very loyal and long term customers at all. I'm merely stating that given the nature of some audiophiles there is always some degree of movement between various choices of components including amplifiers. Tube to solid state, Class A/AB to class D, single chassis to mono blocks and back and forth it goes. Some former OTL owners are now SET owners and certainly the converse is also true. Charles |
Understood. yet people move between OTL and SET with traffic flow and preference moving in both directions. No doubt you have customers who formerly owned SET. SET builders can cite former OTL users as their current customers . These things never move in only one direction. Charles |
Hi Ozzy,
No I do not know of any direct comparison. My point is that both would sound excellent yet appeal to different sets of ears.
Mac,
The Berning design avoids the traditional output transformer but uses a very unique radio frequency form of an "-output transformer ".
Charles |
Ozzy,
I believe a more compelling and "competitive" comparison would be the Line Magnetic 805ia. This is a very highly praised 805 tube SET with 45 watt output. Of course with these types of comparisons, final choice has much to do with plain old taste. Both of these fine amplifiers will have their passionate and loyal advocates.
Charles |
Hello Ozzy,
Well, that says quite a lot. Purity is immensely desirable yet hard to achieve, it goes hand in hand with naturalness. This is the mark of genuinely top tier components IMHO. Congratulations 😊
Charles |
Ozzy,
I'm glad that the acquisition of the Atma-Sphere power amplifiers worked out well for you, it's apparent that you're very pleased with their sound. What is their most noticeable contribution to your system?
Charles |
Bob,
Fremer spent about 3 hours at Jeff's listening and they had a good time. Yes I'm still full Coincident, just as you're Atma-Sphere. we're both quite happy so why change? By the way Israel (Coincident) will be debuting 845 SET mono blocks in the near future. I'm all for getting together for some listening, its been awhile.
Charles
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Hi Bob (rfogel8),
It’s good to see your post and I’m glad to know you and your family are doing well, life is precious. I can’t say that I am up until 4 am but I still listen to music pretty much the same as always. Roughly 3 to 4 hours (sometimes longer) 4 or 5 days a week.
I still very fondly recall my SET amplifier with your easily driven DIY speakers and your MP-1 preamplifier, it was really a fun and memorable evening, natural, engaging and relaxed. Wow, the years fly by 😊. I am happy that you are finding the time to enjoy your wonderful system. Music is good stuff to spend time with and appreciating its charms.
Charles |
Pass Labs vs Atma-Sphere, two thoroughbreds, should be quite interesting.
Charles |
If the question is which of the three options is the most impactful, I’d say addressing the power supply. Power supply quality is foundational and as a result mandatory for high quality sound performance. The other two upgrades are important contributors to good sound, everything seems to matter (of varying degrees) when it comes to audio products. But again power supply would be my initial step.
Obviously Ralph can provide expert guidance as he both designed and built your amplifier.
Charles |
Ozzy,
You're moving from very high power transistors to moderate power OTL with very high quality part upgrades. Keep us posted on this quite interesting comparison. I'm curious about what contrast you may hear.
Charles
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Ozzy,
Believe me I understand. These two amplifiers are of such different design and topology and I'm always very interested as to what someone hears in comparison.
Charles |
Ozzy,
I agree with Al, what you've assembled looks impressive and I am sure sounds equally so. Curiosity leads me to ask how the music presentation differs in going from the esteemed Pass to the highly regarded Atma-Sphere mono blocks? Congratulations on a terrific audio system.
Charles |
Ozzy,
You said the speakers you have built are 8 ohms. Assuming that there are no widely varying impedance dips below 5 or 6 ohms (particularly in the mid to upper bass region) I don’t see the necessity of using the Zero transformers. Someone above mentioned a 94 dB sensitivity as a cutoff point and I disagree with that. Zero transformers are used to increase speaker load impedance as seen by the power amplifier. It has no meaningful bearing on the speaker sensitivity.
Charles |
