2. amps-preamps
  3. 192205-171531

I hate to say it, but now I think maybe I like my amp in ultralinear mode versus triode

It's a Cary V-12; it features a dozen EL34s and each pair has a switch in between them that configures that pair to either triode or ultralinear. In full triode Cary listed in the specs that it makes 50 wpc and in full ultralinear 100 wpc.   For most of the twenty three years that I have owned this amp I have always felt that I preferred triode except for the occasions that I wanted to full out blast (it has literally been many years since I've felt the need to full out blast).

However, today I experimented with a couple of things in my system, and after listening to the same "Jazz Essentials" (compilation) red book CD a couple of times all the way through, the next thing I experimented with was switching to full ultralinear.

Maybe there was more "PRaT"?  (Which is a term I am still not sure that I completely grasp.)  Maybe . . . but what I do feel I noted for sure was that the imaging (particularly the imaging in the center) had more weight (meatier?) and was presented more forward, which I actually like.

I put a few more hours in (one more time with Jazz Essentials, Holly Cole/It Happened One Night, Dave's True Story/Sex Without Bodies, selected tracks from Rebecca Pigeon/The Raven and Once Blue/self titled and Norah Jones/Feels Like Home) after switching to ultralinear.  (No booze during this session, just coffee.) The jury is still out on this, but I do have some CDs in mind that I want to listen to over the next few days as I continue to evaluate.  

immatthewj
ghdprentice
6,998 posts
 

I always run my ARC Reference 160s or 160m's in triode mode. If I unplug it for some reason and it defaults back to ultra linear within a minute of listening I will start to wonder what is wrong...the hardening of the midrange, the reduction in rhythm and pace. I find rhythm and pace is almost always superior in triode mode... either design or when amps are switchable. 

 

Other folks that have heard my system and I have switched back and forth, I think all have preferred triode, an commented about being more musical. 

xenolith's avatar
xenolith
132 posts
 

@ghdprentice: I, and presumably atmasphere, and all other rational thinkers, would rationally conclude that your amps are optimized for triode topology...and, necessarily, that the ultralinear topology was added, presumably as a gimmick, to presumably, attract more purchasers. Let’s hope so anyway, as the other option is that the amps are not optimized for either topology and that you and the other folks just like the same not optimized topology over the other not optimized topology.

viridian's avatar
viridian
5,043 posts
 

LOL, those that agree with you are rational and those that disagree irrational. Argument from incredulity is a logical fallacy.

xenolith's avatar
xenolith
132 posts
 

That's not what I said viridian.  What I said is that there are two rational conclusions that can be drawn from the information provided, and that for ghdprentice's sake, I hope it's one conclusion instead of the other that he is experiencing.  If you think there are other rational, not irrational conclusions, that can be drawn, then please, tell us what those are. 

viridian's avatar
viridian
5,043 posts
 

That is hardly all that you said, but I appreciate the back pedal. We will agree to disagree and leave it at that, logical fallacy, or no.

From a design perspective, ultralinear taps must be added to an output transformer at the manufacturing stage. They have a cost associated with them, a PP output transformer designed strictly for triode operation would be less expensive without the UL winding. So if the manufacturer spends the extra money for a UL winding they would, seemingly, have optimised it for the tube type and circuit.

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