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Tube versus SS


Since I just installed some rather expensive NOS 6922 Telefunken tubes in my Phono-preamp, that yielded outstanding results, I decided to compare CD to Phono.

From the best of "Jacintha", CD, I selected "Danny Boy". Her voice emerged deep center stage from a jet black noise free back ground. It sounded more like what I expected from the analog.

That was followed by special LP's of Dinah Washington that had recently arrived. Those LP's were everything I expected with the NOS 6922 Telefunken Tubes in the Phono, but the surprise was the fact that I couldn't tell the two apart; both were outstanding.

What may surprise you, is the fact that I attribute these outstanding results from the COVID 19 "lock-down" which has given us the quietest "grid" ever in history. That means those of us with lesser means have the same AC power as the richest who can afford expensive AC power "clean uppers".

BTW, I have made extensive comparisons to recordings made before and after, the lock-down that confirm just how much of a difference it's made. I must admit that I had doubts about expensive power conditioners, but this confirms that fantastic results come from taming the wild AC.

It's my belief that we can not achieve better results than we have from the current "quiet grid", which means power conditioner or no power conditioner, we are all presently getting the same results.

Could it be that the dominant factor when comparing tube and SS when they both are of comparable quality is "The quality of the AC"?
   
orpheus10
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,166 posts
 
Guys, you know those tin cans hanging from the telephone poles? Those are transformers that turn the several thousand kV (depends where you are. Ours is 8 kV) into the 220 V for your house. There may be 10 houses or so hooked to the same transformer. The Transformer isolates you from the high voltage lines. The only "trash" you get is from the other houses on your transformer. On my street the transformers are lawn warts, two houses to each wart except me. I have my very own wart because the power company thought my work shop would dim the other houses lights.
Power cleaning devises do absolutely nothing for me.

I had Telefunken 6922's The SLN tubes from RAM Labs absolutely swamped them and you know I am not prone to superlatives. 

For low level devices like phono amps battery power supplies are king. The quietest phono amp made the Channel D Seta L20 runs on a huge battery supply.

Frankly, when you are talking about the best equipment I really do not think tubes or SS makes a whole lot of difference. Tubes certainly look a whole lot cooler and there is nothing like sitting by a big tube amp in the winter.

Raul you rascal. I didn't know you lived in Mexico! I've got jalapeno's in my garden this year. Come up to New England and I'll show you how a Jew makes Mexican food. Turn up the heat:)
mikelavigne
2,143 posts
 
@wsrrsw

Does it matter where the power get cleaned as long as it get’s cleaned?

@mikelavigne https://www.equitech.com/products/wall/wall.html is very cool "cleaning" the power in the room but would’t an AudioQuest Niagara 3000/5000/7000, Son of Q or any high end cleaner do the same thing?

Power here (semi rural) is poor. Put in a whole hose surge protector and room where beloved stereo is from wall out has all the usual treatments.

there are a few issues with power. (1) low noise, (2) dynamics, (3) dynamics, (4) dynamics.......etc., etc. muscial connection comes from micro-dynamic flow and life. PRAT if you will.

this is where the 400 pound big boy Equi=tech wall panel system makes the stand alone boxes that plug into 120v outlets not ready for prime time in direct comparison. Equi=tech is not the only choice in those large scale regenerating transformer products.

i have a pair of 500 watt into 8 ohm mega watt amps that do like lots of power on peaks, 4 x 1000 watt class D amps on my bass towers that while efficient appreciate plenty of power. and lots of other gear that don’t like any sag in power.

10kva of regenerated power gives me lots of headroom. not every system needs the amount of power mine does, but some do. the smaller units might be entirely sufficient depending on the system.

headroom = ease, effortlessness and authority in the music. large scale music in a large room comes alive.

ease = suspension of disbelief.

yes.......it matters.
tzh21y
1,654 posts
 
Tube will always sound different from solid state as digital will always sound different from analog. They are inherently different in every way. Digital will never be able to produce the smoothness of an analog sine wave. So you choose what you like best and your tastes will probably change over time. There are positives and negatives in these types of audio playback and I guess it comes down to what am i willing to live with? The higher end systems generally do most things better but then it comes down to your room and component matching.
kennyc
1,171 posts
 
How much is lowering the noise floor worth? That’s a subjective question that only you can answer for yourself.

I’m a big fan of “more info is better” aka “another data point” (echos of MikeL), so I suggest you can try a power conditioner for free from a retailer that allows returns. On Amazon, there are a few power conditioners $100 and less with good ratings - I haven’t checked anywhere else so there’s more out there. If you like what it does in your system, you can also buy used to save some dough or move up to a better model.


tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,532 posts
 
@mikelavigne,

If you don't need massive amounts of power to run your system would a  stand-alone box regenerator be enough?
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