What will raising the Va of atransformers provide?


I have a dual-mono custom built solid state power amplifer with a pair of 500Va transformers. The power supply is in a separate chassis/housing.

Is there any merit to increasing (upgrading) to upwards of 1000Va transformers? What kind of sonic benefits can this provide?

I realize in my lay understanding of amplifer design that this retrofit will likely require a cascading change-out of other components (resistors, etc.) as their requirements will have to be matched to the higher Va transformers.
If so, what are some examples of the better quality manufacturers? I am not concerned about price.

Scott
scott_wolff
Larger transformers should be able to handle current swings better and have a higher capability but may not necessarly sound better in every case. It is all in the excution of the design. Avil-Lindburg [sp?] are the ones I used when I had some custom designs made up years ago; they are excellent and were used by Mark Levinson in some of their amps. Large and expensive then, I suppose they are more so if still avalable.
If your amp runs in pure class A, there is no benefit in upgrading the transformers besides slightly less internal heating of the transformers.
If your amps are the more popular class AB or AB1, depending on how good was the design to begin with, you may hear more dynamics (increased headroom) with larger transformers.
You will certainly need to upgrade the rectifiers, because a higher wattage transformer usually has less series impedance, therefore it will deliver more instantaneous current to the rectifiers during the power up cycle.
Also, you may need to reduce output stage bias, because an over-specified transformer may output up to 10% over-voltage. In summary, this is not as simple as it seems.
Here is a good read about choosing a transformer supplier;
http://www.powertransformer.us/choosingcustomtransformermanufacturer.htm
Casouza,
I found your reply intriguing. Why would`nt a class A amp not improve with a larger transformer?
Best Regards,
Because Class A runs at full output all the time while AB varies with demand. Since the transformers already handle full output bigger ones will not improve the sound. An insight into why well designed Class A amps are so large and expensive.
Thanks, Stanwal, excellent explanation.
Class A amps are fully on (conducting 100% of the rated power) most of the time, therefore the power transformer, rectifiers and power supply capacitors must be over-specified, in order to supply the high current demand, stay relatively cool, not buzz or fail.

On the contrary, Class AB amps pass a fraction of the maximum power most of the time, while playing music. On musical peaks, a larger transformer and stiffer power supply MAY help output more peak power.

Some amplifiers are current-limited by the choice of output devices or the size of the heatsinks. In that case a larger transformer would be of little help.
I suggest that the OP contact the amp's designer for guidance.