Does Ultralinear kill dynamics


There are manufacturers (no names) that state that Ultralinear circuits will impact dynamics in a negative manner. I’m sure it also depends on design. Maybe I should consider an integrated change.  Comments welcomed. Thanks. 

bigwave1

Friend

 

IMHO Ultralinear mode is just not as friendly to the overall musical performance as triode.  To me Triode just seems to have more of a "you are there" effect!  The decision is along the lines of Ultralinear's higher power output vs Triode's detail, sonic purity, and warmth.   

@bigwave1 

Thanks for the invite, but you would have to put up with me for a week. That's the minimum stay (I told Donna), for me to suffer the DRIVE to/fm LI.

We have several friends who live out there, haven't seen em in a long while.

You can probably just scoot over to Jones Beach, that would be nice.

I have an Ayon amp, pre, and CD player and couldn't be happier. I previously owned PL ultra linear mono blocks, and I definitely prefer the class A Ayon. The Ayon can be switched from pentode to triode. I am about 25 minutes from Elliot in CT.   

'The term 'ultra-linear' was used to describe the invention that is the subject matter of US patent number 2710312A. You'll see it used in the text of the patent. Its an accurate description of  the time about a break thru in amplifier technology. Diagrams of how it works are at the link.

It can be made switchable by having a switch connect the screen of the power tube to its plate as opposed to the tap on the output transformer.T

To do it properly, the output transformer would have to have taps for triode operation since the optimal plate to plate load for a power pentode wired in triode is a lower impedance than that used for UL operation. That could make the transformer a lot more expensive and the switching a bit more complex.

If the UL taps are set up properly, the amp should have less distortion in UL mode. FWIW, this was well understood in the 1950s when UL was first patented. Distortion obscures detail; so if the output transformers are properly designed it should be no surprise that the UL mode sounds better.

A secondary aspect of this is power tubes in UL mode are easier to drive than the same power tubes in triode mode. So the amp very likely is also making less distortion on this account too.'

from one of the previous discussion on the subject, all written by R.K. from Atmasphere

First thing that you want in an amp is enough clean power. Then the rest. In my case of VAC Avatar SE it doesn't have enough power in Triode mode even for my quite sensitive speakers and average size room so I don't use it. And it doesn't have any other possible advantage, I don't even know why Kevin of VAC put it there.