The Last Bass Outpost

I did a quick search and came up with a reference for "the Tube Amp Workbook" by Dave Funk. Looks to be pretty pricey at around $60. The exchange rate would do you well in this instance, Ken, and it looks like something you would definitely enjoy.


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=KiQ&q=The+Tube+Amp+Cookbook+dave+funk&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

Yep. I got the name screwed up. I just dug mine out to check.

The 200 watt rating is simply the maximum amount of continous power the speakers in that cab can take before they burn up their voice coils. The cab itself doesn't "draw" out 200 watts. It will be fine with the B25.

And most can't tell the difference between a .wav and a 320kpbs CBR.

I can.

None of this will ever satisfy purists, and that's okay.

This is not a matter of "cork sniffing." Make an mp3, at ANY resolution, in a digital audio editor from a PCM or AIFF file. Then make another at exactly the same resolution. Invert the polarity of the copy and mix the two together. The phase cancellation should leave you with a completely null track, but the pops, clicks and noises you have left are compression artifacts and are very real because your computer never does the compression math the same way twice. Do the very same thing with the original uncompressed file and you'll get silence.

Let me solve this one for you. Caps in series with a signal act as a low pass filter whose corner frequency is determined by the capacitance. The higher the capacitance value, the higher the frequency of the filter. (I have the equation for capacitance/ frequency somewhere.) The difference between mica and electrolytic caps (like the Orange Drops) is negligible with the low voltage output of a pickup. Even the hottest passive pickups put out less than 10 volts at absolute maximum on transients. Those caps are rated at 400 volts.

BTW, screw ipods. Mp3's sound like ass. 

but the physical object is nothing without an electromagnetic cartridge to convert the info in the grooves into voltage.

...just to be a nitpicker: tape heads are electromagnetic; turntable cartridges are electromechanical, using a piezoelectric system. You can spin a record with the power off, and if the needle is in the groove, you will hear sound off the cartridge.

In regards to vinyl sound versus CD, it's unfortunate that so many uninformed and incorrect myths persist about which format is "better." It's apples and oranges as each format requires its own set of mastering techniques, which means that identical recordings end up being different depending on the format.

I never really fooled with vinyl much until buying the Pearl Jam limited edition set, which has material only available on vinyl for my wife, and had to add a turntable and preamp to my stereo setup, which is far from being audiophile approved (though I'll wager mine's better than most "audiophile" setups.) Records DO sound different, and after scavenging through thrift stores just picking up whatever interested me, I ended up with some stuff that duplicates my CD collection. On several tracks, there is no contest; the vinyl tracks are more dynamic, and just plain sound better, but IMO, it's because the subsequent CD releases were mastered by engineers who had much less understanding about what they were doing and not the format itself.

Being a crusty old engineer myself, I tend to chalk it up to the 'kids don't know what to do with it, but ain't that new toy shiny' in regards to uncompressed digital audio. All it takes is a listen to some early 80's CD's that were mastered on BASF 1630 digital videotape to hear that.

a guy on the Vintage Amp forum suggested switching to KT88's is this a good idea?

Neither amp you have can run KT88's's without some-heavy-duty mods, and even then, the end result wouldn't be worth the effort.

also i'd like to learn more about tube amps, is there a book you can recomend?

Dave Funk's (the Thunderfunk guy) The Tube Amp Cookbook is awesome. There are also lots of free online resources, but you'll need more than just entry-level knowledge to take advantage of them. Avoid books by Gerald Weber (Kendrick Amplifiers); he's full of it about a lot of stuff and Dan Torres' books are little better; he recommends lots of unnecessary mods, most of which, are crap. The best thing to do is find a local tech who is knowlegable and willing to teach you. There are things you get from hands-on experience that no amount of book material can cover.