Can any one throw some light on this, does changing the transformer of an amp with the same companies transfomer change the previous quality of the way it sounded? if yes would it be better or the same.
If it is the power transformer, then Amir is right. It needs to be good enough to do its job without humming or vibrating or creating excess heat. But if it is the output transformer of a valve amp, then absolutely yes. The job of the output transformer is to match the output impedance of the amp to the loudspeaker. Low quality transformers are responsible for much of the coloration of valve amps.
Does this mean that as long as the power transformer provides sufficient power for the amp's design without humming or vibrating or creating excess heat that it has no effect on that amplifier's sound?
Tim
Hi
You may want to add RF and EMI shielding to that list ...
Can any one throw some light on this, does changing the transformer of an amp with the same companies transfomer change the previous quality of the way it sounded? if yes would it be better or the same.
I would strongly suggest asking the guys who actually make them: Careful, you get quite a few answers, where they claim, that you cannot hear a difference. Audio Consulting are the ones who made a name because of their knowledge of transformers. I can vouch, that you can hear a difference if you put an AC transformer in front of a, lets say CD-player, or a DAC.
One of the reasons Serge Schmidlin states, is that their transformer are made up to way higher standards than anybody elses.
Whatever the claim: Why don't you ask him personnally, the guy makes a living out of transformers.egidius
ps. http://www.audio-consulting.ch/
pps. no affiliation, happy owner..
I know in the guitar amp arena, there is a company that sells aftermarket transformer kits for all sorts of amps, can't remember whether they are only power transformers or also output transformer kits. Mercury Magnetics, as I recall. Not that the needs of musicians have anything to do with hi-fi , but they apparently change the sonic performance of guitar amps.
So the selling point of the Mercury stuff is 'crunch'? I have a handwired Marshall that is tube rectified, and a repro Vox, but left them stock.Yeah, this is about sag generating lots of harmonic distortion and making amps very touch sensitive -- the harder you attack the string the more sag, the more crunch and grind. None of this would be desireable in hifi.
Tim
tube or solid state? if the maufacturer is making his own they might be the same. if he is outsorcing tio spec they might be very different. In any event this sounds like a question for the manufacturer.Can any one throw some light on this, does changing the transformer of an amp with the same companies transfomer change the previous quality of the way it sounded? if yes would it be better or the same.
So the selling point of the Mercury stuff is 'crunch'? I have a handwired Marshall that is tube rectified, and a repro Vox, but left them stock.
We've talked about tube sag in connection with rectifiers in another thread.
TimI'm not a technical guy, and I don't have an answer myself, but I sure would like to have one. My question is, and I apologize that it is somewhat tangential, is there a point at which a good, quiet power supply is delivering the power an amplifier needs to achieve its peak performance, and beyond that point, can a more powerful power supply make the amp sound different? Follow-up questions: How? Is there an upper limit or does more power = better sound infinitely?
Tim
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