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Re: [Amps] Western Electric

To: amps@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [Amps] Western Electric
From: Kim Elmore <cw_de_n5op@sbcglobal.net>
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2022 20:14:30 -0500
List-post: <mailto:amps@contesting.com>
Well... Maybe.

I've read that tube amps are "better" because when they're over driven, they don't clip as "hard" as solid state amps. After some thought, I've concluded that it's not an inherent characteristic of vacuum tubes that causes this: the "soft" clipping is due to the inherently limited frequency response of the output transformer. Clipping introduces all sorts of extra frequencies required to create the square wave part of, say, a clipped sine wave. A transformer cannot pass the required high frequency components required to create the sharp corners. The output transformer acts as a band-pass filter: it can't pass extremely low frequencies nor can it pass extremely high ones. Solid state amps have no output transformer and so pass whatever frequencies the device can handle and they can likely go much higher that 20 kHz. Thus, we see sharp, square corners on clipped output form solid state amps that we will never see from vacuum tube amps all because of the output transformer.

Kim N5OP

On 3/25/2022 11:39 AM, BILL KENNAMER wrote:
  This is true. Tube amps and vinyl do sound better. Also, Tube guitar 
amplifiers sound better, and a Hammond B3 sounds better than an XK-3 (but it's 
hundreds of pounds heavier).
K5FUV

     On Friday, March 25, 2022, 11:05:06 AM CDT, Mark - N5OT<r-emails@n5ot.com> 
 wrote:
Roger.  From what I understand, vinyl records played through a tube
amplifier sound better (technical term).

73 - Mark N5OT


On 3/24/2022 8:54 PM, Anthony R. Gold wrote:
On Wed, 23 Mar 2022 23:24:11 -0500, you wrote:

So, someone needs to explain to me again what's so magical about the
WE91B because I simply don't get it.
It glows in the dark.
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