Single Ended Triode vs Pentode

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPS

the link refers to the triode class a front end.. which i would guess is the driver valve... and not the kt88 ?

i would guess its very nice sounding amp.. but i've not heard it

best way is to get your kit in your car and spend a bit of petrol money first.. listen to others kit next to your own.. you would learn far more about valve amps with little cost.. you would know how many watts you really needed and how your speakers compare, and find out which valve amps actually do bass... and that sweet mid range.. and if it would be worthwhile or wasted with your present speakers..

most valve amp users eventually go for high(er) eff speakers... usually for good reason..

I'm nr the humber bridge .. your more than welcome to come and see what my valve amps do well. and if they are to your tastes.
cheers
steve

Thanks Steve and thanks for the offer, I'll bare that in mind. :)

I'm interested in what you say about the Icon Audio amp. So you think that it will actually only be the driver valves that are wired as single end and that the KT88 will be wired as ultra linear or something? I'm interested in finding out more about this as this amp seems to offer excellent value for money. Can anyone shed some light on this?

From what I've been told by the previous owner I don't think my speakers would be suitable for any single ended amps as they are fairly tricky to drive well and drop down to about 3 Ohms somewhere in the bass region. :( However, I have a pair of Musical Fidelity 550K Supercharger power amps. These are 550W solid state power amps which can be used to boost the output of a lower powered amp (or used as a standard power amp, which is how I currently use them). They provide a constant 50 Ohm load for the smaller amp, so perhaps this would get round the problem of SET's liking an easy load. Perhaps this would also make a SET amp more usable for a wider range of music. This would be important to me as I listen to all types of music, especially rock/metal and bass heavy stuff.

Can anyone think of any reason why a SET amp wouldn't like driving a 50 Ohm load? Or would a pentode/tetrode based amp be more suitable in this application.

I know this would hardly be a purist approach as the solid state amps will no doubt remove some of the valve magic but I've heard of people using push pull valve amps with the superchargers with good results but I've not heard of anyone doing it with a single ended amp. I'd like to give this a try but I just wanted to check if SE amps would handle the 50 Ohm load ok? I'll probably initially look at borrowing a couple of SE amps from local dealers you see and I don't want to fry them. :eek:
I'm just intrigued to hear what difference this would make to the sound of my system, as a little extra mid-range valve magic could be a nice addition.

Cheers. :)

There is an Owston coming up...

...bring the superchargers and your speakers and you could try them with a variety of amps.Regarding your power requirements,if you wanted to go the SE route,you could try an Audioromy 813.About 30w/ch.

Apologies for my ignorance but what's Owston? I did a search but didn't find any threads on the subject, so it's probably quicker for me to just ask.

Cheers. :)

It's a DIY get-together we have two or three times a year at a place called Owston Park Lodge near Doncaster.

Cheers. What's the date of this get-together?

May 15 & 16th.

Thanks, I'll give this some thought. Moving my speakers is a bit problematic as they're rather large and heavy and I only have a Fiesta, so they only just fit with the seats down.

Are many people taking valve amps?

Cheers. :)

Yes,mostly diy,but there will be quite a few,mainly SE but there will be some PP too.

Ok thanks. I'll try to make it with or without my speakers and amps.

Cheers.