@decooney , I found the receipt for the Mundorf capsI bought from PCX: they were the 71552s (0.22 uF 1000 Dc Supreme SilverGoldOil) @ 52.68 each.
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.
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@emergingsoul , at this point I am almost certain that you are troll posting. Did you actually read any of the circuit-technical posts from the more tech savvy members? Here is an article from Wiki that I do not expect that you will bother with, but I’ll post a link anyway: "Ultra-linear electronic circuits are those used to couple a tetrode or pentode vacuum-tube (also called "electron-valve") to a load (e.g. to a loudspeaker). " ’Ultra-linear’ is a special case of ’distributed loading’; a circuit technique patented by Alan Blumlein in 1937 (Patent No. 496,883), although the name ’distributed loading’ is probably due to Mullard.[1] In 1938 he applied for the US patent 2218902. The particular advantages of ultra-linear operation, and the name itself, were published by David Hafler and Herbert Keroes in the early 1950s through articles in the magazine "Audio Engineering" from the USA.[2] The special case of ’ultra linear’ operation is sometimes confused with the more general principle of distributed loading." And apparently, if you are not troll posting, you do not believe that switches could be used to toggle between two circuits, even if it was not the optimal way of achieving either circuit?
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@immatthewj IMO 'voicing' is a bad practice. I very much doubt this amp was 'voiced'.
@emergingsoul The term 'ultra-linear' was used to describe the invention that is the subject matter of US patent number 2710312A. You'll see it used in the text of the patent. Its an accurate description of the time about a break thru in amplifier technology. Diagrams of how it works are at the link. Loudness controls have to do with how the ear's frequency response changes with volume. Its a tone compensation. WRT UL, It can be made switchable by having a switch connect the screen of the power tube to its plate as opposed to the tap on the output transformer. Its not a marketing term any more than the word 'triode'. Its part of engineering lexicon. |
Ultra linear is a sexy term used by the manufacturer. Cary has not done a very good job to explain it on their website. I think they’re taking advantage of the technology to promote something that is questionable as to sonic credibility. It’s not a very popular feature. I have never seen it before. Most people who buy this have no clue what it actually does only that it sounds different. It’s a rabbit hole and it’s clear when you read through this thread how confusing it is. Again a nice diagram would be nice. Genius is the ability to explain involved complex things in a manner that can be understood. |
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