Powerful Push Pull Triode Amplifiers

Altec 1570B monoblocks (when modded by Tom Tutay) using 811's in triode for 160 wpc...

This is what I've discovered regarding authority and ease at high volume levels...

1. Adding a 20amp Elrod Statement power cord to my power conditioner made a huge difference. (It replaced an excellent Harmonix Studio Master 20amp cord).

2. Adding an electronic crossover didn't make any difference.

3. Using 450 wpc amps (VTL 450s) in place of my 125 wpc amps didn't make any difference.

This has me thinking that I may just be in need of -better- power, not -more- power.

There is a lot to be said for clean power! Clean power means you can run the amps close to (but not) clipping and still have them be musical.

MBLs being what they are it is nice to have some power behind them, but FWIW the difference between 220 watts and 440 is only 3 db, which is only just detectable as a volume difference to the human ear- IOW, slight.

So if you have things set up right you should be able to get by with less power. That will open the door to a number of excellent possibilities!

It sure will and at the top of my list of "excellent possibilities" is your MA-2 mkIIIs.

One question...what difference would the:

"1/4 Farad of power storage capacity per channel" in the MA-3, make vs. the MA-2 mkIII's "1100 Joules/chassis".

Since I don't know how to do the Farad-to-Joules conversion, I'm not sure what these numbers are telling me.

For what it's worth, my amps are "3800uF x 2".

Thanks.

Voltage plays the major role in the conversion from Farads (or MicroFarads) to Joules. Joules = ½CVoltage²

So you would have to know what voltage your filter caps were charged at. The MA-3 works out to 2838 Joules, since the actual capacity is 270,000uf or .27F, and the B+ voltage is 145 Volts.

If you have a typical solid state amplifier, the voltage might be plus and minus 60 volts. That would work out to about 13 Joules. If on the hand you are talking a tube amp, the voltage might be 475V. Then its 429 Joules. Voltage makes the big difference.

I hope this makes things clear... if you walk through it with a calculator you will see how it works.