2. amps-preamps
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Is this clipping?

I listen to jazz music mostly, using a 10 watt SET (300b) amp and a pair of high efficiency single driver speakers. Sounds great at any volume with any and all jazz. But when I try to play HEAVY rock music loudly, it sounds like a completely different system: The soundstage flattens, instruments blur, and dynamics are lost.
We all know that a system like mine is not intended for certain types of musics, but I wonder what is the main reason for this behavior. Is it clipping? Is it a characteristic of this particular type of tube or amplifier? Or is it a charateristic of full-range drivers like Fostex, Lowther, PhyHP?
psag
psag OP
450 posts
 
Dob,
I've read that paper and I agree. The 300B amp can reach the peaks, but can't sustain them.
Fortunately I have Spectron monoblocks in my other system!
mapman's avatar
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mapman
15,679 posts
 
"The 300B amp can reach the peaks, but can't sustain them. "

That sounds like clipping to me?
psag OP
450 posts
 
Thinking more about recent digital rock recordings, seems to me that people make the mistake of associating compression and loudness with a poor recording. I disagree- they're supposed to sound that way. Unfortunately too much of the current audiophile equipment is unable to reproduce it well. This is one of the reasons we hear so much Norah Jones-type music at audiofests.
Last night I tried to listen to Katatonia-Night is The New Day on my 300b/single driver system, but simply unlistenable. Listening today through headphones- fantastic!
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mapman
15,679 posts
 
Psag,

I think it is a safe thing to say that it is generally harder and more expensive to get a system to sound really good when played (realistically) loud than unrealistically soft.

Louder requires more power than soft. That is pretty intuitive, right?

Well, a lot of new recordings are louder overall, so more power than ever is now required as well.

Efficiency helps. Suitable degrees of efficiency overall to deliver loud recordings without clipping can be achieved readily these days with a more efficient amp, like Class D, and/or more efficient speakers.
unsound
6,115 posts
 
Psag, while that might be true for some systems, why do those recordings sound so damn bad on systems that can handle dynamic range.
They're supposed to suck?!
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