I like amorphous core for low or line level signals and/or in a parafeed app.. I have yet to listen to Finemet (nanocrystalline) double c-core transformers.. The overall skill and design chops of the winder/manuf is a bigger influence on SQ for me personally.. Anything from M6 steel EI core and higher grade up is already very good IMHO.. So if say you go Finemet (Hitachi), be ready to scrutiinze the quality of even your HT main filtering caps and resistors, etc., ‘cause you’ll hear their influence more IMO.
Hi Rick. Thank you for that report and yes I hope to listen to some more types of OTs - food for thought. I can see your point using it for lower level signals. I feel that my headphone and main amp(s) are mostly bottlenecked with OTs now although the Lundahls are very balanced tonally so its not directly obvious in listening. On the topic of components being influential to the sound quality in my experience, single ended is very sensitive to power supply.. in my main amp, the driver SE stage - despite drawing maybe 9,10ma only.. all improvements mattered a lot - far more than the power stage I'm a big fan of high value inductors feeding single ended tubes :) I'll have a video soon on my main amp as you requested couple of months ago...
@@EduardBroekman Hi Eduard, I also found that changes to the driver stage matter more than changes to the power stage in SE amps. People often overlook that... most of the focus appears always on the power tube, but the driver / input is often far more critical. I'm curious how the new AM transformers will sound! Thank you for the source tip! I'm really tempted to try them out myself. :)
@@realworldaudio All the driver faults get amplified :-) Because I use a regulated pass tube setup, which is really not a natural fit for singled ended, I found that adding a LC stage (20H + very high current cap 25uF) for the driver, caused a major improvement in macro dynamics and articulation/clarity.. I'll email you another link with an interesting candidate, with higher inductance..
@@EduardBroekman Hi Eduard, You’re welcome.. Some well designed OPT’s that offer “very low” signal loss like AM and Nanocrystalline cores are more sensitive to associated passive components surrounding it, even the type of Filament heating (plus the nuances of its variations).. So you’d have to tinker more IMO to get a more natural balanced sound.. SE is technically more sensitive to PSU issues and stiffness, but PP with zero nfb too, just to a lesser degree.. Some advocate for using one single type of core material for everything in an amp and even the whole system.. I tend to like to mix things up like a chef, like AM for Linestage OPT and input trafos, Nickel (permalloy) for IT’s, and maybe Double C-core steel a la Hashimoto for the OPT.. Cool about your main amp getting a video soon.. I would not expect less from you, than an “Iron-rich” PSU =) feeding both the Input/Driver, and Output stages.. I think ThorstenL published a good article on his old website on how driver stage types and variations influence the amp in more obvious ways than the output stage..
@@EduardBroekman Thank you, superb! Yes, that's a very elegant solution, adding the big L after the regulation. That reminds me that it's high time that I rebuild my main SE amp... I'm going to change the 807/KT66 to 801 ; ). Been planning for a while, but so many projects and so little time...
I like amorphous core for low
or line level signals and/or in a parafeed app.. I have yet to listen to Finemet (nanocrystalline) double c-core transformers..
The overall skill and design chops of the winder/manuf is a bigger influence on SQ for me personally.. Anything from M6 steel EI core and higher grade up is already very good IMHO.. So if say you go Finemet (Hitachi), be ready to scrutiinze the quality of even your HT main filtering caps and resistors, etc., ‘cause you’ll hear their influence more IMO.
Hi Rick. Thank you for that report and yes I hope to listen to some more types of OTs - food for thought. I can see your point using it for lower level signals.
I feel that my headphone and main amp(s) are mostly bottlenecked with OTs now although the Lundahls are very balanced tonally so its not directly obvious in listening.
On the topic of components being influential to the sound quality in my experience, single ended is very sensitive to power supply.. in my main amp, the driver SE stage - despite drawing maybe 9,10ma only.. all improvements mattered a lot - far more than the power stage I'm a big fan of high value inductors feeding single ended tubes :)
I'll have a video soon on my main amp as you requested couple of months ago...
@@EduardBroekman Hi Eduard, I also found that changes to the driver stage matter more than changes to the power stage in SE amps. People often overlook that... most of the focus appears always on the power tube, but the driver / input is often far more critical.
I'm curious how the new AM transformers will sound! Thank you for the source tip! I'm really tempted to try them out myself. :)
@@realworldaudio All the driver faults get amplified :-) Because I use a regulated pass tube setup, which is really not a natural fit for singled ended, I found that adding a LC stage (20H + very high current cap 25uF) for the driver, caused a major improvement in macro dynamics and articulation/clarity.. I'll email you another link with an interesting candidate, with higher inductance..
@@EduardBroekman
Hi Eduard, You’re welcome.. Some well designed OPT’s that offer “very low” signal loss like AM and Nanocrystalline cores are more sensitive to associated passive components surrounding it, even the type of Filament heating (plus the nuances of its variations).. So you’d have to tinker more IMO to get a more natural balanced sound.. SE is technically more sensitive to PSU issues and stiffness, but PP with zero nfb too, just to a lesser degree..
Some advocate for using one single type of core material for everything in an amp and even the whole system.. I tend to like to mix things up like a chef, like AM for Linestage OPT and input trafos, Nickel (permalloy) for IT’s, and maybe Double C-core steel a la Hashimoto for the OPT..
Cool about your main amp getting a video soon.. I would not expect less from you, than an “Iron-rich” PSU =) feeding both the Input/Driver, and Output stages..
I think ThorstenL published a good article on his old website on how driver stage types and variations influence the amp in more obvious ways than the output stage..
@@EduardBroekman Thank you, superb! Yes, that's a very elegant solution, adding the big L after the regulation. That reminds me that it's high time that I rebuild my main SE amp... I'm going to change the 807/KT66 to 801 ; ). Been planning for a while, but so many projects and so little time...