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Does anyone care to ask an amplifier designer a technical question? My door is open.

I closed the cable and fuse thread because the trolls were making a mess of things. I hope they dont find me here.

I design Tube and Solid State power amps and preamps for Music Reference. I have a degree in Electrical Engineering, have trained my ears keenly to hear frequency response differences, distortion and pretty good at guessing SPL. Ive spent 40 years doing that as a tech, store owner, and designer.
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Perhaps someone would like to ask a question about how one designs a successfull amplifier? What determines damping factor and what damping factor does besides damping the woofer. There is an entirely different, I feel better way to look at damping and call it Regulation , which is 1/damping.

I like to tell true stories of my experience with others in this industry.

I have started a school which you can visit at http://berkeleyhifischool.com/ There you can see some of my presentations.

On YouTube go to the Music Reference channel to see how to design and build your own tube linestage. The series has over 200,000 views. You have to hit the video tab to see all.

I am not here to advertise for MR. Soon I will be making and posting more videos on YouTube. I don’t make any money off the videos, I just want to share knowledge and I hope others will share knowledge. Asking a good question is actually a display of your knowledge because you know enough to formulate a decent question.

Starting in January I plan to make these videos and post them on the HiFi school site and hosted on a new YouTube channel belonging to the school.


ramtubes
ramtubes's avatar
ramtubes OP
451 posts
 
@djones

 I have never owned a tube amp , always used SS and this doesn't come up if it's rated for 8 and 4 Ohm. I have what is I am sure a novice question. My speakers are 6 Ohm and I notice most tube amps have 4 Ohm or 8 Ohm taps and sometimes 2 Ohm. Where would I connect a 6 Ohm speaker?


Here is where experimentation will produce very real and obvious results. Always use the lowest tap that gives you enough volume without distortion (clipping). You will then get the most damping and the speaker will have frequency response as close as possible to the designers voicing. If you want more detail on why that is ask me. Its long.

Also experiment with the taps at low listening levels where clipping will not be an issue. Listen for tonal changes and peaky or mushy bass. The bass is most affected. 

FInd an impedance curve for your speaker and send me a link. Impedance variations are the largest cause of response variations with most tube amps and tap choices.
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
4,946 posts
 
Welcome Roger and thank you.

Just a point in case this also gets trashed by you know who,s.

The relatively new Insiders Lobby allows you to post a thread and I believe block certain members from adding dross to it.

just a thought n case the worst happens.
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
4,946 posts
 
Now a novice question.

i have zero tube amp experience.

a lot of my equipment runs xlr connections 

i have not seen many tube integrated amps sporting xlr inputs.

is there a good reason for this?
nycjlee
279 posts
 
Roger, great advice!  When I owned a pair of Harbeth C7s, I ran into the same issue. The speakers were rated 6ohms. I was using a Rogue Cronus Magnum 2 and tested with both the 4ohms and 8ohms taps before deciding on 8ohms.  The bass was just better.  
djones51
617 posts
 
Sorry I deleted my question. I thought it might be to much of a novice question. I knew 6 Ohms would be harder than 8Ohms but easier than 4 Ohm which is why I thought a 6 Ohm speaker might be hard on the amp connected to the 8 Ohm tap and might blow a speaker connected to the 4 Ohm tap. Thanks for the answer.
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